BACK TO LEAGUE PLAY: The Engineers resume their ECAC Hockey schedule this weekend, when they host Dartmouth and eighth-ranked Harvard at the Houston Field House on Friday and Saturday, respectively ... Puck drop is set for 7pm on both nights.
FOLLOWING THE ACTION: Most RPI men's hockey games can be heard live on WRPI, 91.5 FM, and on the Internet on www.wrpi.org ... Home games can also be seen – for free – on RPI TV ... The video stream can be found at www.rpitv.org.
TICKETS: Tickets to all Rensselaer home games are available through the Houston Field House box office or by calling 518-276-6262.
HARVARD TAKES TOURNEY TITLE: The eighth-ranked Crimson turned a 1-0 first period lead into a 4-0 advantage after two, en route to a shutout victory over Rensselaer on Saturday at the Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Ind. ... Luke Esposito and Ryan Donato had a goal and an assist each, while Jimmy Vesey also tallied for Harvard ... RPI freshman netminder
Cam Hackett, who suffered his first collegiate defeat, matched a season-high with 41 saves.
RPI GETS JUMP ON BRONCOS: The Engineers built a 3-0 lead and held off a late Western Michigan push, en route to a 4-1 victory on Friday in the opening game of the Shillelagh Tournament at Notre Dame's Compton Family Ice Arena ... Freshman
Alex Rodriguez netted his second goal in as many games to open the scoring ... Junior
Riley Bourbonnais followed suit with his team-leading eighth of the season on the power play, while sophomore
Lou Nanne made it 3-0, early in the second ... The Broncos got one back on the power play, before senior
Jake Wood netted an insurance goal in the later stages of the third period ...
Cam Hackett finished with 25 saves for RPI.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: RPI sophomore defenseman
Mike Prapavessis earned All-Tournament Team honors after posting three assists in the two games over the weekend ... He was also even with four shots on goal ... Five Harvard players made up the rest of the honorees, including sophomore goalie Merrick Madsen, who was the Most Outstanding Player.
POINTS LEADERS: Junior
Riley Bourbonnais has eight goals and four assists for a team-high 12 points in 15 games ... Junior
Jake Wood (5 goals, 4 assists) joins sophomores
Lou Nanne (4 goals, 5 assists) and
Mike Prapavessis (1 goal, 8 assists) with nine points apiece ... Three Engineers have seven points, including senior
Zach Schroeder, who has two goals and five assists.
BETWEEN THE PIPES: Senior
Jason Kasdorf has started eight of the team's 13 games this season and is 3-4-0 with a 2.46 goals against average and a .927 save percentage ... Freshman
Cam Hackett (5-1-2) has factored into the last eight decisions (7 starts) and carries a 2.56 goals against average and a .929 save percentage.
SPECIAL TEAMS: The Engineers have started the season at 13.7% (7 for 51) on the power play ...The penalty kill has opened at 84.5% (60 for 71).
RECENTLY: Over the last five games, the RPI power play is at 11.8% (2 for 17), while the penalty kill is at 82.6% (19 for 23).
IN THE FACE-OFF CIRCLE: The Engineers have won face-offs at a 44.4% clip over the first 15 games ... Senior
Milos Bubela leads the way at 47.8%, while classmate
Mark Miller and junior
Riley Bourbonnais are tied at 47.5%.
HACKETT AMONG TOP ROOKIES: Freshman
Cam Hackett ranks second nationally among rookie goaltenders in wins with five ... He is fourth in save percentage (.929) and 10th in goals against average (2.56) ... Hackett is also 10th in total saves (249) and 12th in games played (8).
ENGINEERS OUTLAST UNH: After seeing its 3-0 lead evaporate, RPI got a late third period goal from freshman
Alex Rodriguez to beat New Hampshire, 4-3, on Tuesday night at the Houston Field House ... Rodriguez tipped home a shot from senior
Travis Fulton for the eventual game-winner with 4:01 to play ... Senior
Jake Wood, sophomore
Drew Melanson and junior
Riley Bourbonnais also had goals for the Engineers, while freshman netminder
Cam Hackett had 35 saves.
SHARING THE WEALTH: Rensselaer players have recorded two points on 13 occasions ... Sophomore
Mike Prapavessis' three-point game on Friday was the first by an Engineer this season.
ALL-TIME VS. DARTMOUTH: RPI leads the all-time series with the Big Green with a record of 46-35-5 ... The first ever meeting came on January 17, 1908, when the two teams tied, 4-4, in Albany.
RECENTLY: The Engineers have won six of the last 10 meeting with Dartmouth, including four of the last five.
PACING THE BIG GREEN: Junior Troy Crema leads Dartmouth with six points on a goal and five assists ... Senior Jack Barre (4 goals, 1 assist) and sophomore Corey Kalk (3 goals, 2 assists) have five points apiece.
IN GOAL FOR DC: The Big Green have used three different goaltenders in 2015-16, including senior James Kruger (2-2-0), who has a 4.86 goals against average and an .844 save percentage ... Classmate Charles Grant (0-3-0) has a 4.41 goals against average and an .829 save percentage, while sophomore Devin Buffalo (0-0-1) has a 1.90 goals against average and a .942 save percentage.
BUSY PENALTY BOXES: Friday night wil feature a match-up of the two most penalized teams in ECAC Hockey ... The Engineers average 14.7 penalty minutes per game, while Dartmouth is at 12.9 PIMs per contest.
ALL-TIME VS. HARVARD: The Crimson own a 51-36-6 lead in the all-time series, which dates back to December 27, 1951 ... RPI won the inaugural meeting, 6-2, in Troy.
CRIMSON SWEEP IN 2014-15: Harvard won both meetings last year by scores of 4-0 and 6-2 ... Jimmy Vesey had two goals in the shutout win at the Houston Field House, before netting a goal and adding two assists in Cambridge.
HARVARD UPDATE: The eight-ranked Crimson are 6-1-1 through seven games ... They are led by senior Jimmy Vesey, who has seven goals and seven assists for 14 points ... Junior Alexander Kerfoot (2 goals, 10 assists) has 12 points, while senior Kyle Criscuolo (6 goals, 3 assists) has nine.
BETWEEN THE PIPES: Sophomore Merrick Madsen (5-0-0) has a 0.60 goals against average and a .979 save percentage, while freshman Michael Lackey (1-1-1) has a 2.29 goals against average and a .918 save percentage.
