After a tightly fought, closely played 2 periods, RPI
exploded for 4 unanswered goals in the 3rd period to defeat
the University of Vermont  7-2 at the Houston Field House tonight.
RPI's 1st line of Healey-Garver-St. Hillaire picked up where
they left off last night with All-American Eric Healey picking
up 2 goals and linemate Matt Garver picking up 2 more.
The other RPI scorers were Eric James, Jean-Francois Gosselin,
and freshman Brad Tapper.
This second line of Doug Battaglia-Steve Caley and Brad Tapper
really has me impressed. Everyone expected the Healey line to
be the powerhouse this year, but having one strong line usually
isn't good enough (witness Vermont last year). The second line
is providing speed and scoring chances and has given RPI a
balanced offense.
The game started out with end to end action and it was quickly apparent
that RPI was not going to roll over UVM like they did last night with
Dartmouth. It was wide open skating through the first 2 periods and
it looked like a very close match of skills between the 2 teams
with the 2nd period ending with RPI up 3-2.
 
Then, in the 3rd period, RPI turned it up a notch and dominated play
in both ends, scoring 4 goals and keeping the Vermont offense from
getting anything going. RPI finished with 31 shots on goal while
Vermont had 40.
 
RPI's next game is a non-conference game Tuesday night against Union
College in Albany at the Knickerbocker Arena (in my mind, this will
NEVER be the Pepsi Arena) in the second annual Capital Skate Classic.
 
Mark Lewin
RPI - class of '69
 
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