My $.02 re: greatest game(s)...
 
The greatest game I ever saw was probably Maine/Michigan in the
Providence Final Four in '95, but I think that's been mentioned.  So
I'll go back to the ECAC regular season of '91-'92.  RPI was in the
midst of the first PJ (Post Juneau) season, and it was a bit of a
rebuilding year.  The team was fighting to reach the play-in round of
the ECAC tournament.  SLU and Clarkson were both in the top four of the
league.  The North Country pair came to Troy the second weekend in
February.  RPI had tied Vermont and Dartmouth at home the previous
weekend.  Having arrived at RPI in the fall of '89, Clarkson was the
only ECAC team that the Engineers had never beaten in my days as a
student.  That Friday night, that streak came to an end as RPI won, 4-3
in overtime.  The next night, it was overtime again, and the Engineers
again prevailed, 4-3.  The Field House was in absolute pandemonium.
That season also featured my most heartbreaking moment.  The Engineers
wound up 10th.  They beat Vermont in the play-in game and then upset #1
Harvard to reach the last ECAC Final Four in the Boston Garden.  The
league was so sure that Harvard would be in the Finals that they only
booked rooms for three teams, and had to scramble to find accomodations
for a fourth.  At the Garden, RPI faced SLU.  The game was 4-2 RPI after
2, and RPI scored early in the 3rd for a 5-2 lead.  The Saints scored an
ominous goal to cut the lead back to 2, and then they scored again to
get within one.  With less than a minute to play, an Engineer took an
extremely ill-advised yet obvious penalty at the Engineer blue line to
put the Saints up a man.  I believe they pulled the goalie for the 6 on
4.  Of course, they scored the GTG, and then won the game after about 30
minutes of OT.
 
Some parallels:  Buddy Powers' first year at RPI features a great
season-long performance by Joe Juneau, culminating in being one of the
best teams not to make the NCAA's... Buddy Powers' first year at BGU
features a great season-long performance by Brian Holzinger, culminating
in being one of the best teams not to make the NCAA's... RPI's third
year under Buddy was mostly disappointing, but featured the
above-mentioned strong finish... BGU's third year under Buddy has been
mostly disappointing, but they're currently in the midst of a hot streak
(3-1-1 in the last 5).  I'll leave it to the Falcons to see if they can
extend these similarities any further.
 
Finally: I still wouldn't want to face Brown or Dartmouth in the first
round of the ECAC's.  Saturday's Engineers/Big Green matchup in Hanover
reeks of letdown potential.
 
Sorry for rambling.  Enjoy the big weekend, everyone.
 
Matt
RPI '94
 
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