Thanks to Brian for his excellent wrap-up.
 
The slim chance for Cornell to win the RS title (and NCAA auto bid)
consists of first of all beating Clarkson in Ithaca, and then playing a
hoping game on Saturday night.  Note that Cornell actually has a remote
chance of beating Clarkson in a tie-breaker if Princeton replaces RPI in
the top four, but the more "likely" chance is picking up another point on
the Knights on the season's final night and thus winning the RS outright.
 
Couple notes to add to brian's wrap-up:
 
Laing's great play (leading to his assist) was to take advantage of a bad
line change.  At the time, the nature of the goal made a number of Cornell
people
who'd seen the Union debacle think "oh no, not again".
 
In the second period, Cornell finally started finishing their checks, and
the momentum definitely shifted their way.  I was surprised by the shot
total (Laing was listed as having 20 saves), and I also noticed the
following stats, updated through last week:
 
RPI GF-GA: 110-87
RPI ShF-ShA: 958-1036
 
My impression in past years is that the RPI scorer is a bit liberal with
opponent's shots.
 
The goal credited to Kendall that iced the game looked like more than a
fluke from where we were sitting (behind the RPI net).  It appeared to us
that Oates actually pivoted with his back to the net and intentionally
deflected the shot enough to elude Laing.  This was only seconds after
Oates had tried the same maneuvar and deflected the shot fractionally wide
of the net.  At the time I recall thinking, "there is no way in hell he
just did what I think he did," so it may actually have been a deflection
off a leg or a skate instead, but several people in the crowd seemed to
independently attribute the goal to Oates.
 
Dailey gave us all a trip down memory lane with his spirited gesture after
his gorgeous goal.  Skating back to center ice, he went down into that one
knee glide, arm pump, "yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyes!" signal.  Flashback to Geoff
Lopatka's similar move on the Lynah ice during last year's QF.
 
What the heck has happened to the RPI crowd, anyway?  I noticed a lot of
empty seats, and I was surprised by how placid the fans were.  This for a
team that went into the game with a shot at second place?  I've been inside
Houston when the place rocked, and I'm surprised by the change of tone.
 
Greg R. Berge
Let's Go Red!
 
p.s.  Hi to the hockey-l RPI fans we met before the game.  Nice to meet you
folks.
 
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