A split of the North Country this weekend for the Engineers.
 
Friday:
 
RPI skated into Cheel, and came out early as Tim Regan came out and
scored the first RPI goal. This was off a nice feed from Bryan Richardson
at the blueline. He broke in on Currie and put it up top.
 
Craig Conroy then blasted on past Little as the Knights were on a 5 on 3
power play. Just a nice feed out top to Conroy and the blast.
 
On a 4 on 4 situation, Jeff Brick took the faceopff and headed to the
net and put it between the legs of Currie for the 2-1 lead.
 
The second period came out with RPI flying, and scoring the first goal.
Craig Hamelin with a feed from Majic put the puck past Currie as Hamelin
was standing at the foot of the goal.
 
RPI made it 4-1 when Brick came flying down left wing a put one off the
defensemen stick ppast Currie.
 
At this ppoint RPI's speed was very much key.
 
Then Clarkson's strength and power took over.
 
Tuomainen scored on the power play. He was alone at the right of Little and
took a cross ice feed from Palmer to tap it in on the power play.
 
Then on pure agility and skill, Palmer took a pass from JF Houle and
put it past Little, and made it 4-3.
 
On to the 3rd we go.  Both teams came out flying and hitting.
It wasn't until late in the game that Clarkson got called for a penalty
and Wayne Clarke picked up garbage in front of the net to make it 5-3.
 
Clarkson made it interesting as they scored with 16 seconds left with
Currie out of the net. Houle took a rebound and put it past Little.
 
Final Score: RPI 5 Clarkson 4
 
Some observations:
1) The referees played too much of a role in this game. And it went both
ways, it did not favor one team or the other.  It just seemed that everytime a team went on the power play they would get a penalty called on them.
Questionable icings also.
 
2) it seemed to me that Currie did not have good vision this particular
night.  He seemed late reacting to a lot of things, and couldn't handle a lot
of shots well.
 
3) Jeff Brick has turned into a fine player.  His shot has turned into
a tricky one, with spin and power.
 
4) RPI's speed was very apparent in the first 30 minutes of the game. Then
it seemed to be shut off. What happened?
 
5) Bartell is hurting. You could tell by his movement and by the
way he ssat a lot of the game out.
 
On to Canton..........
 
The Engineers skated into Canton for the first chance to sweep the NOrth
Country in a long time.
 
Immediately we noticed that one of the referees was Pierre belanger.
A long night with the whistle was upcoming.
 
Most of the action in the first period was 4 on 4 or 5 on 5 weith coincidental
minors.  The most interference and roughing calls I have seen in a long time.
 
No score through 1.
 
In the second more of the same. Penalties, ppenalties, penalties...
 
Then, Spencer Meany got called for a 2 minute minor and slammed the gate.
Uh oh. 10 minutes.
 
RPi picked it up and scored the first goal of the game on a 3 on 2 play.
Prpic came in on Little and took a long shot. little kicked the rebound to center ice in front of theSaint bench where SLU was changing. Rochon picks it up head upice and feeds to Pasco on his right. Bang. 1-0 RPI.
 
Then Richardson puts one through Spagnoletti as RPI takes a 2-0 lead.
 
The 3rd period b\egan a little rough for both teams a scuffle behind the net
results in burke Murphy bumping Pierre Belanger, and getting a gamer.
 
Meany breaks the SLU scoring as he comes in a tucks on past Little on a slapshot.
 
Then the tying goal comes on a playout in front wher the Engineers did not clear
the front of the net.
 
The winning SLU goal comes with less than 5 minutes to go in the game as
a scuffle out front results in a Saint goal.
 
Final Score St. Lawrence 3 RPI 2
 
Some observations:
 
1) It is obvious that the Engineer's main concern is their defense. As
the game wore on, Bartell did not play for the final 2 periods.
This caused the 5 remaining defensemen to play a lot of the game, as they
did the night bfore in Potsdam, and were getting beat on the ice.
SLU did the smart thing and worked the defensemen, getting penalties,
and shots by speeding past the defensemen of RPI.
 
2) This team has trouble putting other teams away. 2-0 tonight and 4-1
against Clarkson, letting teams back in a lot of the time. Is there a
Killer instinct on this team?
 
3) The refs again played a large role.  Pierre has got to be the
worst referee in the game today.  His calls are so borderline and
ridiculous at times. Checking someone into the boards so that they
do not get to puck for control is NOT an interference penalty!
 
4) Little looked very shaky this entire weekend. Who can blame him.
26 shots on Fri and 41 on Saturday. But his focus seems broken a lot
of times during the game, especially when he is not doing anything.
 
5) Will we see another line juggle?
 
Well, hope this helps everyone see ya Tuesday in Troy.
 
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*  Jayson Moy  RPI '89 '93      *  One of the Voices of Rensselaer Engineer   *
*  [log in to unmask]                 *  Hockey, Baseball, Football, and Basketball *
*  The "JMan"                   *  on 91.5FM  WRPI, Troy                      *
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