THE FACEOFF
The Engineers host nationally-ranked Boston University on Saturday at 7pm at the Houston Field House in their only game this week. It is the final game of the fall semester for RPI, while the No. 2 Terriers have an exhibition game with the U.S. National Junior Team next Saturday night. This week's contest can be heard live at 91.5 FM and www.wrpi.org. Live stats are available at
www.rpiathletics.com and a free, high definition webcast can be found at
www.rpitv.org. Tickets are available at
www.rpiathletics.com/tickets.
BANGED UP
Rensselaer has had its full complement of players in only five games this season (Notre Dame, Bentley & Union) and have played the last two games without top offensive performers
Lou Nanne and
Drew Melanson as well as starting goaltender
Jason Kasdorf. In fact, Kasdorf has not dressed in any of the last four games and Nanne has sat out the last six contests. Their status for this weekend has yet to be determined. Others who have missed games due to injury or illness include
Chris Bradley (5 games),
Milos Bubela (5),
Luke Curadi (4),
Matt Neal (2) and
Zach Schroeder (4).
BACKSTOPPER
RPI junior goaltender
Jason Kasdorf has played 35 games in his career, posting a 21-12-2 record (.629) since joining the team in 2012-13. He was 14-5-2 with a 1.62 goals against average and a .935 save percentage as a freshman when he was chosen the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year and to the All-League Second Team. He is 6-6-0 with a 2.34 GAA and .922 save percentage this year. In 57 games Kasdorf has not played, RPI has gone 18-29-10 (.404).
BRAKE TIME
Rensselaer will attempt to stop a four-game losing streak and begin to turn around a 1-5-1 stretch when it hosts the second-ranked Terriers.
ALL-TIME VS. BOSTON UNIVERSITY
RPI has played the Terriers 67 times in its history, going 30-34-3 (.470). This weekend's game is the 38th non-conference game the former ECAC foe. RPI is 19-16-2 in non-league games against BU and 13-14-2 (.483) all-time at home.
PREMIERE TALENT
Boston University features the leading scorer in the nation in freshman forward Jack Eichel, who has 25 points (8 goals, 17 assists) in 15 games for an NCAA-leading 1.67 points per game. A projected No. 1 or No. 2 overall pick in June's NHL Entry Draft, he is second in the country in assists per game (1.13).
