RPI vs Clarkson at Houston Field House in Troy,NY
Saturday, January 30,1999
attendance 5119
officials: Dan Murphy, Brian Bouyea, Martin St. Louis
period -1-
G 2:15 Clrk (1-0) Reid(Turgeon,Saper)
P 2:47 RPI Henkel (charging)
P 8:13 Clrk Maidment(holding)
G 11:39 RPI (1-1) Gardiner(Vickers,St. Hillaire)
G 16:08 Clrk (1-2) Maidment(Smith,Drakensjo)
period -2-
P 0:32 Clrk Huskins (holding)
G 4:13 RPI (2-2) Tapper(St. Hillaire,Reigstad)
P 5:06 Clrk Grant (roughing)
P 6:52 RPI Shepherd (interference)
P 10:06 RPI Riva (delay of game)
G 10:51 Clrk (2-3) Mitchell(Ollila,Roy) ppg
P 11:50 RPI Caley (holding the stick)
G 13:03 Clrk (2-4) Maidment(Mitchell,Turgeon) ppg
13:03 RPI changes golatenders: Prekaski out, Laing in
P 13:47 Clrk Manzano (hooking)
G 14:14 RPI (3-4) Murley(Riva,St. Hillaire) ppg
period -3-
G 2:47 Clrk (3-5) Gates(Drakensjo,Turgeon)
P 5:13 Clrk Cole (interference)
P 8:35 Clrk Ollila (cross check)
P 13:30 RPI Murray (high stick)
P 15:12 RPI Tapper (charging)
P 15:35 Clrk Sheehan(interference)
18:52 timeout RPI
after ensuing faceoff, RPI pulls goalie
saves 1 2 3 t
Prekaski/Laing(RPI) 18 13 10 41
Grant(Clarkson) 8 9 9 26
RPI's brief ride to the top of the ECAC and into the national
top ten came to a screeching halt this weekend as the Engineers
Cinderella run turned out to be just a pumpkin after all.
After losing a heart breaker to St. Lawrence on Friday
with 4.1 seconds left in the third period, the Engineers
were soundly beaten by the Clarkson Golden Knights on Saturday.
The final score was 5-3, but the score makes it sound closer than it was.
The defense that generated RPI's 9 game winning streak, didn't show up
on Saturday and Clarkson's tenacious forechecking game didn't allow
the Engineers to get any momentum going for most of the night.
Clarkson opened the scoring just 2:15 into the game when the RPI defenseman
allowed the Clarkson forwards to cycle through the slot unmolested.
Yan Turgeon put a shot into Prekaski's chest and Prekaski gave up a
rebound right in the slot on Matt Reid's stick. Reid put it in to give
the Knights the 1-0 lead. At 11:39 of the first, the Engineers tied the
game when Alain St. Hillaire, forechecking deep in the Clarkson zone,
stole the puck in the corner and fed it back to Steve Vickers at the point.
Vickers put a soft shot on net that Pete Gardiner got his stick on and
got it past Grant for a 1-1 tie. Just 5 minutes later,Prekaski gave up another
dangerous rebound, when Don Smith took the initial shot and Prekaski
put the rebound on the stick of Ben Maidment in the slot. Maidment slid it
under Prekaski to give Clarkson the 2-1 lead. Just :35 seconds later, it
appeared
Clarkson had their 3rd goal on a play similar to the first two but
referee Dan Murphy waved the goal off calling a man in the crease.
The Engineers tied it in the 2nd when Jared Reigstad flipped an easy shot
in on
Grant from the point and Brad Tapper got his stick on it and deflected it past
Grant for the goal. Clarkson took the lead for good at 10:51 of the 2nd
when Willie Mitchell put an easy shot past Prekaski who was screened by
Matt Poapst
in the slot. Again, Poapst was standing in the slot unmolested.
Ben Maidement made the score 4-2 at 13:03 when he got his second goal of the
game on the power play. At this point, in an attempt to shake the
team up, Coach Fridgen pulled goalie Scott Prekaski and substituted Joel
Laing.
It was too little, too late. RPI did pull within one when Matt Murley
put in a rebound of a Danny Riva shot on the power play to close the gap to
4-3.
But Clarkson put it away at 2:47 of the third when Yan Turgeon skated behind
the net and found Aaron Gates in the high slot all alone. Gates put the puck
past Laing who was screened by three of his own players in front, who were
just standing around rather than covering the Clarkson forwards.
That's the way the game ended. Although RPI tied it twice, Clarkson
controlled the flow of the entire game. The Engineer offense could never
get on track, mostly due to an outstanding Clarkson defense. RPI
goalie Prekaski had an off night, giving up numerous rebounds right out in
front which was further complicated by the RPI defense (or lack thereof)
who just didn't show up tonight.
So RPI, who had sole possession of first place going into Friday night's
game, ends the weekend dropping to fourth place. Princeton and St. Lawrence
move into a tie for first place and Clarkson's win moves them past the
Engineer's into third. RPI plays a solo game against Brown at home next
weekend and finds themself facing a tough schedule from then on.
After next weekend, RPI faces Clarkson/St. Lawrence up north, comes
home to face Vermont/Dartmouth the following weekend, Cornell and Colgate
the week after and then closes out the season on the road with Yale and
Princeton.
The Engineers had a chance to give themself some breathing room this weekend
but couldn't produce.
Mark Lewin
RPI '69
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