Tonight marks the return of one of the most heated rivalries in the ECAC as Union takes the bus up Route 7 to Troy to take on RPI. Since moving to Division I, Union has only beaten RPI twice. A 4-3 victory in the first game of the 1994 ECAC quarterfinals was the first one. This game is the one that opened a lot of eyes around the ECAC. The second was last season. Union dominated RPI in a thorough 5-2 defeat of the Engineers. Many in the Albany area have not yet accepted Union as a strong presence in this rivalry. A 2-9 record against RPI in the past 4 years probably hasn't helped, but Union has been playing much better hockey in the past two years. Their late-season run that propelled them into 6th place in the ECAC in 1994 showed a lot of the college hockey world that Union is here to play. Yes, they have disappointed as of late, but the heart is still there. The game tonight is being labelled as a "bragging rights" game for RPI. An article in today's Alany Times Union says that RPI needs this game to keep a hold on those rights. Should RPI win, they probably will keep those bragging rights. Should Union win, talk of "changing of the guard" is circulating around the area. A Union win will increase their confidence for the stretch run. An RPI win will hurt the Dutchmen. This is a game Union has been looking forward to for months (at least I've been looking forward to it for months!). The last matchup between these two was, by far, Union's best performance since I've been following the team. - can you back me up Jim? If they can duplicate that performance and keep it for the next two weeks, Union should make even more noise in the last two months of the regular season. I'm looking for a close, tight-checking game. Union has more upperclassmen than RPI, thus a little more experience in this rivalry. If Union can stay out of the penalty box and keep RPI from putting a lot of pressure on Trevor Koenig, we may see a Union victory. I don't think Union can rely on Trevor to stand on his head like he has a few times this year. They have to create a lot of offense against the young defense of RPI, which is the key for RPI. If the Engineers can stifle Union's offense and keep the puck away from Mike Tamburro, this will be a big advantage for them. Whoever stays out of the penalty box more will probably come away the winner. Then we will see who will obtain a stranglehold on the bragging rights of the Capital District. Andy +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ + + + Andy Weise Let's Go Tech! + + SUNY Potsdam '93 [log in to unmask] + + Union College '95 Let's Go U! + + + + Performance Systems International, Inc. (PSI) + + + + "If you think nobody cares you're alive, try missing a couple of + + car payments." + + + +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.