ROAD TRIP CONCLUDES: The Engineers finish off their 2016-opening three-game road trip on Thursday night, when they travel to Princeton, N.J., for an ECAC Hockey bout with the Tigers ... Puck drop is scheduled for 7pm.
RPI SPLITS AT MIAMI: The Engineers took one of two games in a non-league series at Miami University on January 2 and 3, winning 3-2, before falling 4-2 ... The RedHawks scored first in game one, just 1:20 in ... RPI answered with a late first period shorthanded goal by junior
Riley Bourbonnais ... The Engineers then took a 2-1 lead at 4:47 of the second, thanks to Bourbonnais' second of the game, from senior
Zach Schroeder and sophomore
Lou Nanne ... Miami freshman Jack Roslovic tied the score at 2-2 later in the period, but sophomore
Kenny Gillespie put the visitors back on top for good, with less than five minutes to go in the second ... Miami scored first again on Sunday, with the Engineers tying the game at 1-1, thanks to freshman Jesper Ohrvall's fourth goal in the last four games ... A
Jake Wood shorthanded tally gave RPI a 2-1, but the hosts used a three-goal third to earn a series split.
POINTS LEADERS: Junior
Riley Bourbonnais has 12 goals and six assists for a team-high 18 points in 21 games ... Sophomore
Lou Nanne (4 goals, 9 assists) has 13 points, while junior
Jake Wood (7 goals, 5 assists) has 12 ... Senior
Zach Schroeder (2 goals, 9 assists) and sophomore
Mike Prapavessis (1 goal, 10 assists) have 11 points apiece.
BETWEEN THE PIPES: Senior
Jason Kasdorf has started 12 of the team's 21 games this season and is 5-5-1 with a 2.12 goals against average and a .934 save percentage ... Freshman
Cam Hackett (6-2-2) has started nine games and carries a 2.34 goals against average and a .933 save percentage.
SPECIAL TEAMS: The Engineers come into play on Thursday at 11.6% (8 for 69) on the power play ...The penalty kill has climbed to 86.4% (76 for 88).
HOT PK: RPI has killed off penalties at a rate of 94.1% (16 for 17) since December 1 ... That ranks 1st among ECAC Hockey teams and seventh nationally.
IN THE FACE-OFF CIRCLE: The Engineers have won face-offs at a 45.5% clip over the first 21 games ... Junior
Riley Bourbonnais has won a team-high 52.5% of his draws, while senior
Milos Bubela is second at 48.8% ... Classmate
Mark Miller rounds out the top three at 45.7%.
SHORTHANDED LEADERS: RPI's six shorthanded goals are the second most in the country ... Penn State leads the way with seven ... Senior
Milos Bubela is tied for second individually with three shorties, while Robert Morris senior Zac Lynch has five to lead the nation.
SHORTHANDED II: Senior
Milos Bubela's three shorthanded goals are the most in a season by an RPI player since Bruce Coles at five during the 1989-90 season.
SEASON LOW IN PIMS: RPI's two penalties for four minutes on Sunday against Miami was a season-low.
OHRVALL HONORED BY LEAGUE: ECAC Hockey announced its weekly award winners for December 14 and Rensselaer freshman Jesper Ohrvall was named Rookie of the Week after scoring three goals in the two games against the Sun Devils, including one the power play ... He also registered a league-best nine shots.
DEVITO ASSISTS IN RETURN: Junior
Jimmy DeVito earned an assist in his first game of the season, Sunday at Miami University.
SCOUTING PRINCETON: The Tigers are 4-12-0 overall and 3-7-0 in ECAC Hockey play ... They are led offensively by freshman Ryan Kuffner (4 goals, 6 assists) and sophomore Davis Hallisey (3 goals, 7 assists), who have 10 points each ... Second-year forward Eric Robinson (6 goals, 2 assists) has eight points.
IN GOAL FOR THE TIGERS: Junior Colton Phinney is 4-12-0 with a 2.92 goals against average and a .928 save percentage ... He has played 98.0% of the team's minutes in the cage.
PRINCETON RECENTLY: The Tigers are currently on a five-game losing streak, which comes follows an ECAC Hockey weekend sweep of Brown and Yale on December 4 and 5.
[more...]