RPI Notes | RPI Lines | UNH Notes | Ticket Info | Audio | Video | Stats | Hockey Strong Academically

HOME AGAIN: RPI continues its four-game homestand with a non-league game against nationally-ranked New Hampshire on Saturday night ... The Engineers host Harvard on Tuesday in the ECAC Hockey opener for both teams before traveling to Cambridge for a rematch on Friday.

BLACK TUESDAY: Rensselaer's game with the Crimson on Tuesday is Black Tuesday ... As has become customary for the first home league game, all fans are encouraged to wear black ... Students with black on gain free admission, t-shirts are handed out and there is a raffle and auction for the one-time used RPI jerseys.

TICKETS: Tickets to all Rensselaer home games are available through the Houston Field House box office or by calling 518-276-6262.

FOLLOWING THE ACTION: All RPI men's hockey games can be heard live on WRPI, 91.5 FM, and on the Internet on www.wrpi.org ... Live statistics are also available as is live video, for most games ... Check www.rpiathletics.com, www.ecachockey.com or the opposing school's website for additional information and links.

LAST WEEKEND: The Engineers went 2-0-0, winning games on the road and at home.

ON FRIDAY: Junior Scott Diebold made 31 saves and classmate Ryan Haggerty scored twice to lead RPI to a 3-1 win at Boston University ... Captain Matt Tinordi had the Engineers other goal and junior Jacob Laliberte had two assists for Rensselaer, which was outshot, 32-29.

LAST SATURDAY: Ryan Haggerty led the offense again, netting his first collegiate hat trick in the Engineers' 7-1 win in the home opener … Thirteen different players got on the scoresheet for RPI, with senior assistant captain Brock Higgs getting a goal and an assist … Sophomore Chris Bradley, a defenseman, had two assists, his first multi-point collegiate game … Scott Diebold made 17 saves to get the win.

THE BIG 1-0-0-0:  With the victory over Sacred Heat, the Engineers won the 1000th game in their history ... The overall program record is now 1,000-882-119.

HOME TRICK: Ryan Haggerty's hat trick on Saturday was the first for an RPI player at home since Andrei Uryadov did so in 2006.

FIRST TIME, LONG TIME: With two wins last weekend, RPI begins the year 3-1-0, their best start since starting the 1999-00 season with a 6-0-0 record … The six-goal victory over Sacred Heart was their largest since beating Yale, 6-0 in February 2004 … It was the first time the Engineers had scored seven goals in a game since defeating St. Lawrence, 7-6 in January 2009.

FIRST CAREER: Freshman defenseman Parker Reno recorded his first collegiate goal on Saturday against Sacred Heart.

HAGGERTY HONORED: RPI junior Ryan Haggerty has been named the Player of the Week by ECAC Hockey ... The forward led the Engineers to a pair of wins by scoring five goals in the two contests ... He also had 14 shots and was a plus-2 in the two games, both non-league victories ... Haggerty had two goals, including the game-winner on the power-play, with six shots and a plus-1 in a 3-1 win at No. 15 Boston University on Friday ... He came back the next night and recorded his first career hat trick with eight shots and a plus-3 in a 7-1 win over Sacred Heart in the Engineers' home opener ... Haggerty is the nation's leading goal scorer with seven goals in four games.

RENSSELAER'S NUMBERS: The Engineers average 4.50 goals on 30.8 shots with 7.5 penalty minutes per contest ... Rensselaer allows 2.25 goals and 21.5 shots per game ... The opposition averages 15.0 PIMs.

OFFENSIVE LEADERS: Leading the way offensively for RPI is junior Ryan Haggerty, who has seven goals - the most in the country … He has scored multiple goals in three of the four games … Matt Tinori (3 goals, 2 assists), Brock Higgs (2 goals, 3 assists), and Jacob Laliberte (5 assists), are all second with five points … Eleven players have at least two points after four games.

IN GOAL: Junior Scott Diebold, who is 2-0-0 with a 1.31 goals against average and a .948 save percentage, has started the last two games and has appeared in three overall … Sophomore Jason Kasdorf, who is currently injured, is 1-1-0 with a 3.49 goals against average and a .786 save percentage.

SPECIAL TEAMS: The Engineers are 3 for 22 (13.6%) on the power play ... Ryan Haggerty leads the team with two power play goals ... Junior Matt Neal has three assists on the man advantage … RPI is 10 for 12 (83.3%) on the penalty kill, with one shorthanded goal, scored by Matt Tinordi.

PENALTY BOX: No player on RPI has more than two penalties for four minutes … Rensselaer is the third least penalized team in the nation when considering penalty minutes per game.

OPENING WEEKEND: The Engineers began the new season with a pair of road games … On October 12 they defeated Sacred Heart, 6-0 … Nine different players recorded a point in the contest … Jason Kasdorf recorded his fourth career shutout, stopping 13 shots … The next day RPI fell to Boston College, 7-2 … It was the Engineers largest margin of defeat since 2011-12, an 8-3 loss to Colgate.

EXHIBITION GAME: The Engineers hosted Saint Mary's in an exhibition game on their first day of official practice (Oct. 5), defeating the Huskies, 5-1 ... Sophomore Mike Zalewski opened the scoring less than two minutes into the game with a penalty shot goal and RPI saw four others tally ... Twelve different players got on the scoresheet with only Jacob Laliberte (2 assists) recording multiple points ... Jason Kasdorf had 13 saves in 31:38 before yielding to Scott Diebold, who stopped all nine shots he faced ... Saint Mary's held a 23-21 edge in shots.
 
VERSUS NEW HAMPSHIRE: RPI is 20-25-0 (.444) all-time against the Wildcats ... This is the first time New Hampshire has been in Troy since October 10, 2009, a 3-1 Rensselaer win.

NON-LEAGUE: The Engineers are 6-10-0 (.375) all-time against UNH in non-conference games ... The Wildcats were members of the ECAC before joining Hockey East.

JANUARY 5, 2013: The Engineers fell to the Wildcats, 5-2 in Durham … Curtis Leonard scored both RPI goals, while five different UNH players tallied … Scott Diebold stopped 22 of 26 shots in the net … RPI was outshot 27-22.

NO TIES: In 45 all-time meetings, Rensselaer and New Hampshire have never had a tie … It is the most games RPI has played against any opponent without a draw … Eight games have gone to overtime, with the Engineers holding a 5-3 advantage in those contests.

SHUTOUTS: The Engineers have posted just one shutout of the Wildcats ... Joel Laing backstopped a 6-0 win in New Hampshire on October 29, 1999.

HAT TRICKS: There have been seven Engineers who have had hat tricks against UNH ... Brad Tapper had the most recent, scoring three times on October 29, 1999.

PIRRI SCORES FIRST NHL GOAL: Former Rensselaer standout Brandon Pirri '13 recorded his first NHL goal last Thursday when he scored for the Chicago Blackhawks ... Pirri then had a goal and an assist in his next game and through his first four games this season he had a goal and two assists for three points ... He has played 11 career NHL games, all with Chicago, and has two goals and three assists ... Pirri spent the 2009-10 season at Rensselaer, tallying 43 points, including 11 goals and 32 assists, in 39 games ... He was named to the ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team.

BAILEN SELECTED: Former Rensselaer blueliner Nick Bailen was named to the 21-player roster for the 2013 U.S. Men's Select Team that will compete in the Deutschland Cup from November 8-10 in Munich, Germany ... He is currently playing in the Finnish Elite League.

NEW HAMPHIRE TO DATE: The Wildcats have started 1-2-1, opening with a win against Clarkson … They have gone 0-2-1 since against nationally-ranked opponents Minnesota and Michigan.

WILDCAT NUMBERS: The Wildcats, who are coached by Dick Umile, average 2.25 goals on 28.8 shots with 14.2 penalty minutes per contest ... UNH allows 2.00 goals and 30.2 shots per game ... The opposition averages 12.5 PIMs.

OFFENSIVE LEADERS: Defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk leads the team with five assists, which is second in the nation for defensemen … Three players lead the team with two goals with Kevin Goumas also having two assists.

IN THE CREASE: Two goalies have seen action for New Hampshire … Senior Jeff Wyer is 1-0-1 with a 0.96 goals against average and a .962 save percentage … Junior Casey DeSmith is 0-2-0 with a 2.98 GAA and a .913 save percentage.