It was quite apparent to hockey fans at RPI's Houston Field House tonight that the RPI Engineers are serious about their quest for an ECAC championship. The Engineers came out fired up and played three periods of solid hockey to handily defeat pesky Colgate 5-1. The first period started out under RPI's control, but that shifted fairly quickly as Colgate flooded the RPI zone and managed to keep the puck in for nearly 5 minutes. But Neil Little was back in force tonight and was spectacular for 58 1/2 minutes. He stopped 20 of Colgates 21 shots before a little lapse allowed a Colgate player to sneak one between the post and his pad with 1:30 showing on the clock. Tonight's game showed the RPI team that I've been bragging about for much of the year. For most of the game they hustled to the puck, passed crisply, and generally man-handled Colgate. Though they still didn't play 60 minutes of hockey, RPI certainly showed some of that teamwork that they used to beat Harvard just a few short weeks ago. My biggest concern tonight was with the reffing. I don't really know what is wrong with Harry Ammian, but he seems to have a chip on his shoulder when it comes to reffing RPI. He and Rob Hearn were fairly pathetic for most of the game, though they did make some good calls late in the game to dispel any potential fights. I was duly unimpressed with the overall quality of this weekend's reffing, though perhaps that is simply a reflection of the two teams who were playing. I have to once again reiterate my feelings towards the Colgate hockey team. I have very little respect for their style of hockey. This team is basically made up of guys who are slower and heavier than most of the ECAC and they make up for their deficiencies by clutching, grabbing, and generally roughing up the opposing team. I don't want to be totally unfair since RPI did it's fair share of roughing, especially on Friday night, but Colgate is much worse than the Engineers. To make my point, Jon Pirrong was clobbered over the head as he stood next to Colgate's Marcel Reauchard (sp?) awaiting a face-off. Yes, it was one of the best drawn penalties of the weekend, but it also very clearly showed the mentality of this Colgate hockey team. Sorry if I offended anyone. :-) The only bad note about this game is Neil Little losing his first potential shutout of his college career. The worst part is that it came in the last 2 minutes of the game with RPI on the POWER PLAY. RPI lost control of the puck in the zone and 3 Colgate players broke out against two RPI defenders with a third guy hustling back. Whoever was carrying the puck crossed the blue-line skated down the right wing circle and fired a quick shot between the post and Neil's left leg. It was very much Neil's fault but nonetheless it is frustrating not only to Neil but to the fans as well. To his credit, he received a standing ovation from the crowd after the goal. Like I've said, he's the key to RPI's success. For those of you planning on going to Lake Placid I would greatly appreciate info on any places that I might possibly stay overnight. Also, any of you interested in getting together Friday night after the games or on Saturday during the day, please e-mail me so we can make arrangements. SEE YOU IN LAKE PLACID!!! --Dan -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daniel Orchard-Hays Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute '95 "Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------