Not much to write about.  Minnesota simply took away the Engineer offense.
RPI fans watching at the Teletheatre kept muttering "It's New Hampshire all
over again."  Well, last year's New Hampshire game, obviously.
 
Nick Checco had a couple of nice goals for the Gophers, and Mike Tamburro
played a very solid net stopping around 94% or the Gopher shots.  But the
trouble was the shot totals, with the Gophers pounding Tamburro with some
44 shots (at least I think that was what the Midwest Sports Channel graphic
said, when it could be read without that awful programmer ad that kept popping
up on the satellite feed).  RPI managed only about 22, and most were not of
the quality variety.  The Gopher defense took RPI out of its offensive flow, or
rather prevented the Engineers from ever discovering an offensive flow.
 
I have to say that the Gravellese HE officiating crew wasn't the most outstading
I have seen.  I would never insinuate that their calls had anything to do with
the outcome, but I must cite a couple of obvious bad calls.  Pat Rochon was
called for a "torreador" crosscheck on a Gopher player as he went sprawling into
the net; Eric Healy received an extremely dangerous high stick to the face,
which earned a no-call from the officials.  The play I am most curious about
however was the 5 minute major/misconduct to Jon Pirrong.  The announcers
described it as a butt end to the Minnesota player, but on TV it didn't look\
like much more than a crosscheck with an augmented fall from the Minnesota
recipient.  MSC never replayed the incident, so it was impossible to ascertain
what really happened.  I assume the misconduct was a result of Pirrong assisting
with the officiating?  Anyone at the game, please give a complete blow by blow.
 
All in all, it was a fun season for the Engineers, exceeding most fans'
expectations for the season.  Tonight was no tragedy--the defense continued to
play fairly well, and Tamburro continued to amaze.  Minnesota was simply a
better team.
 
One additional observation: Dane Arena looked empty.  I assume the crowd will
have filtered in in time for the Badger game, but during the first game it was
an extremely quiet place.  In fact, there seemed to be fewer fans watching the
game than at the first game last year at the Albany Regionals (Wisconsin/
Western Michigan.)  The fickle fans of the West continue to perplex me.
**********************************************************************
Brian Morris                   RPI Engineers-1995 ECAC Champions
morrisc.rosnet.strose.edu      See you in Providence
           Denver 9, UNH 2????