ON TO THE QUARTERFINALS: Follow a two-game series sweep of Brown in the opening round of the playoffs, the Engineers now travel to No. 12 Harvard for a best-of-three Quarterfinal series, starting on Friday (7pm) … The series continues with Game 2 on Saturday (7pm) and Game 3 (if nec.) on Sunday (7pm).
ENGINEERS EARN HOME SWEEP: RPI recorded its first home ECAC Hockey playoff series win since 2003-04, last weekend, topping Brown in two games … The Engineers won Game 1, 3-2, before erasing a 3-0 deficit to take Game 2, 4-3 … Meirs Moore opened the scoring on Friday, before Max Willman answered for the Bears, early in the second … Two straight tallies from Mike Prapavessis and Jared Wilson gave the hosts a 3-1 lead, before Charlie Corcoran made it a one-goal game (3-2) in the third … Jason Kasdorf made 33 saves for the win, while Tim Ernst had 20 for Brown … In Game 2, The Bears built a 3-0 lead after one period, including a pair of power play tallies … RPI senior Milos Bubelascored 30 seconds into the second and added a second goal less than eight minutes later … The Engineers tied the game, on the power play, at 9:27 of the third and got the eventual game-winner from Wilson with just 1:42 left in regulation.
POINTS LEADERS: Junior Riley Bourbonnais (14 goals, 11 assists) paces the Engineers with 25 points … Sophomore Lou Nanne (6 goals, 15 assists) is right behind him with 21 … Senior Zach Schroeder (4 goals, 15 assists) and sophomore Mike Prapavessis (4 goals, 15 assists) have 19 points apiece.
BETWEEN THE PIPES: Senior Jason Kasdorf has started 29 of the team’s 38 games this season and is 12-11-5 with a 2.20 goals against average and a .933 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.
RECENTLY IN THE PLAYOFFS: The Engineers are 8-10 in the postseason over the last four season, including a 4-4 mark at the Houston Field House.
SPECIAL TEAMS: The Engineers come into Friday at 12.5% (13 for 104) on the power play …The penalty kill is now at 83.8% (109 for 130).
POWER PLAY RECENTLY: The Engineers have two man advantage tallies in their last six opportunities.
IN FEBRUARY: The Engineers killed penalties at an 88.0% clip in the month of February, converting on 22 of 25 chances.
GOALIE POINT: Senior Jason Kasdorf recorded an assist on RPI’s first goal on Saturday against Brown … It was the first assist by an RPI goaltender since Allen York set up an Erik Burgdoerfer first period tally on Oct. 25, 2008 against Robert Morris in the Consolation Game at the Governor’s Cup in Albany … The Engineers won the game, 2-1.
STAYING OUT OF THE BOX: The Engineers have taken just 3.00 penalties per game since January 1, which is third lowest in the nation … RPI is first in the country in penalty minutes per game over the same stretch (6.00).
SHOT BLOCKING LEADERS: The Engineers have blocked 617 shots, which ranks first in the nation … Individually, senior captain Chris Bradley has a team-high 93, which is good for third in the country … Sophomore defenseman Mike Prapavessis is seventh nationally with 79.
ALL-TIME VS. THE CRIMSON: Rensselaer is 31-51-7 against Harvard in the all-time series, which dates back to December 27, 1951 … The Engineers won the inaugural meeting, 6-2, in Troy.
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 November 28 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 TIES NO. 8 HARVARD: Despite hitting eight pipes, the Engineers played to a scoreless tie with then-No. 8 Harvard, on December 5, at the Houston Field House … Senior netminder Jason Kasdorf returned to stop all 43 shots he faced to earn the shutout, while Crimson sophomore Merrick Madsen had 32 saves at the other end of the ice … SeniorMilos Bubela and sophomore Viktor Liljegren had five shots apiece to lead the Engineers.
ENGINEERS HOLD OFF HARVARD: Senior netminder Jason Kasdorf made a career-high 49 saves to lead the Engineers to a 2-1 victory over then-No. 9 Harvard on February 12 … After Brayden Jaw gave the Crimson a 1-0 lead, RPI junior Jake Wood tied the score, just minutes later … Sophomore Kenny Gillespie potted his fourth of the year in the second period and that goal stood as the game-winner … Harvard held a 50-22 edge in shots in the contest.
FOR THE CRIMSON: Harvard is led offensively by senior Jimmy Vesey, who has 21 goals and 20 assists for 41 points … Junior Alexander Kerfoot (4 goals, 28 assists) has 32 points, while senior Kyle Criscolo (18 goals, 12 assists) has 30.
HARVARD GOALTENDING: Sophomore Merrick Madsen (15-5-3) has a 1.95 goals against average and a .932 save percentage as the starter in 23 of Harvard’s 29 games … Freshman Michael Lackey (1-4-1) has a 3.58 goals against average and an .876 save percentage.
SHORTHANDED LEADERS: RPI’s six shorthanded goals are the 10th most in the country … Penn State leads the way with 10 … Senior Milos Bubela is tied for fourth individually with three shorties, while Robert Morris senior Zac Lynch has seven 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.
CARDIAC KIDS: With their 2-1 win over Harvard on February 12, the Engineers set school record for one-goal victories in a season with 10 … RPI, which is now 13-4 in such contests this season, has won nine one-goal games a number of times in its history, with the most recent occurrence coming in 2006-07.
SCORING FIRST: RPI is 12-3-4 when scoring first this season and just 6-10-2 when conceding the game’s first goal.
FREE HOCKEY: The Engineers have gone to overtime 11 times season … All eight have come in ECAC Hockey play and the team’s record is 2-2-7 in those contests.
ENGINEERS VS. RANKED TEAMS: The Engineers are 5-5-4 against ranked opposition this season, including victories over then-No. 1 Boston College (2-1), then-No. 10 Yale (3-2 in OT), then-No. 8 Cornell (1-0) and then-No. 9 Harvard (2-1).
SCORELESS TIES: The Engineers played to a scoreless draw for the just the fifth time in school history on December 5 against eighth-ranked Harvard … The most recent such occurrence took place on January 29, 1927 … The three other 0-0 ties came in 1912, 1916 and 1918.
