ECAC HOCKEY PLAYOFFS: The Engineers enter the 2016 ECAC Hockey postseason tournament as the sixth seed and will host 11th seed Brown University in a best-of-three series at the Houston Field House this weekend … Game 1 is scheduled for Friday at 7pm, with Game 2 to follow on Saturday (7pm) … If necessary, a Game 3 will take place on Sunday night (7pm).
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.
RPI GETS LATE TIE AT CORNELL: Senior Milos Bubela scored with 23.5 seconds left in the regulation to earn the Engineers a 3-3 tie at Cornell on Saturday … RPI came back to tie three times throughout the contest … Big Red freshman Anthony Angello gave the hosts leads of 1-0 and 2-1, before RPI senior captain Chris Bradley tied the game at 2-2 with 16 minutes left in the third period … Alec McCrea made it 3-2 Cornell at 9:33 of the frame, but Bubela was able to net the game-tying goal with an extra attacker … Jason Kasdorf made 29 saves for RPI.
COLGATE BLANKS ENGINEERS: Charlie Finn stopped all 25 shots he faced as the Raiders shut out RPI, 2-0, on Friday night at Starr Rink … Tylor Spink scored both Colgate goals, with Tyson Spink and Tim Harrison each earning a couple assist.
POINTS LEADERS: Junior Riley Bourbonnais (13 goals, 9 assists) paces the Engineers with 22 points … Sophomore Lou Nanne (6 goals, 15 assists) is right behind him with 21 … Senior Zach Schroeder (4 goals, 14 assists) is third with 18 points, while junior Jake Wood (8 goals, 8 assists) and sophomore Mike Prapavessis (3 goals, 13 assists) have 16 points apiece.
BETWEEN THE PIPES: Senior Jason Kasdorf has started 27 of the team’s 36 games this season and is 10-11-5 with a 2.18 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 6-10 in the postseason over the last four season, including a 2-4 mark at the Houston Field House.
SPECIAL TEAMS: The Engineers come into Friday at 11.2% (11 for 98) on the power play …The penalty kill is now at 85.5% (106 for 124).
PENALTY KILL IN 2016: RPI has killed off penalties at a rate of 85.4% (35 for 41) since January 1 … That ranks fourth among ECAC Hockey teams.
IN FEBRUARY: The Engineers killed penalties at an 88.0% clip in the month of February, converting on 22 of 25 chances.
BRADLEY BIAS: Senior captain Chris Bradley has two goals this season and both have come against Cornell, including the only tally in RPI’s 1-0 win on January 15.
SHOT BLOCKING LEADERS: The Engineers have blocked 588 shots, which ranks second in the nation … Individually, senior captain Chris Bradley has a team-high 91, which is good for third in the country … Sophomore defenseman Mike Prapavessis is eighth nationally with 76.
FORWARDS BLOCKING SHOTS: Junior Jake Wood (40), senior Zach Schroeder (37) and senior Mark Miller (35) rank first, second and fourth, respectively, among ECAC Hockey forwards in blocked shots.
STAYING OUT OF THE BOX: The Engineers have taken just 2.94 penalties per game since January 1, which is fourth lowest in the nation … RPI is first in the country in penalty minutes per game over the same stretch (5.88).
NOTHING MAJOR: The Engineers haven’t take a major penalty since December 4 against Dartmouth … RPI committed in majors in the two games prior as well, against Harvard and Western Michigan at the Shillelagh Tournament.
NOT RANKED: After eight consecutive weeks in the USCHO.com Poll, the Engineers are no longer ranked … They are the top team receiving votes … ECAC Hockey schools in the top 20 include, Quinnipiac (1st), Yale (8th), Harvard (12th), Cornell (18th) and St. Lawrence (19th).
ALL-TIME VS. BROWN: The Engineers are 60-26-8 against Brown all-time, dating back to Dec. 28, 1951 … The Bears won the inaugural match-up, 5-0, in Troy.
RPI TIES BROWN: The Engineers came back from a 3-1 third period deficit to earn a point against Brown on November 14, 2015, at the Houston Field House … Sophomore Kenny Gillespie and senior Zach Schroeder each tallied in the third and freshman netminder Cam Hackett made three saves in overtime to preserve the draw … Junior Riley Bourbonnais also scored in the game, while Hackett finished with 29 stops.
ENGINEERS RALLY IN PROVIDENCE: RPI overcame a 3-0 deficit to beat Brown, 4-3, on January 29 … Sophomore Viktor Liljegren had two goals and an assist in the comeback, while senior Zach Schroeder had two helpers … Senior netminder Jason Kasdorf had 29 saves in the win.
2015-16 VS. BROWN: RPI has a win and a tie against the Bears this season … Individually, sophomore Viktor Liljegren (2 goals, 2 assists) leads the club with four points, while senior Zach Schroeder (1 goal, 2 assists) has three … Four players have two points, including sophomore Lou Nanne (1 goal, 1 assist) and Jared Wilson (1 goal, 1 assist) … Cam Hackett is 0-0-1 with a 2.77 goals against average and a .906 save percentage against Brown, while Jason Kasdorf is 1-0-0 with a 3.00 goals against average and a .906 save percentage.
BROWN VS. RENSSELAER: Senior Nick Lappin (2 goals, 1 assist), freshman Tommy Marchin (2 goals, 1 assist) and senior Mark Naclerio (3 assists) all have three points against RPI this season … Junior goalie Tim Ernst (0-1-1) has a 3.39 goals against average and an .875 save percentage in the two contests.
BEARS UPDATE: Brown enters the series with a 5-17-7 overall record … The Bears went 3-13-6 in ECAC Hockey play … Senior Nick Lappin (16 goals, 16 assists) leads the team with 32 points … Freshman Tommy Marchin (14 goals, 11 assists) has 25 points, while senior Mark Naclerio (5 goals, 16 assists) has 21.
IN GOAL: Junior Tim Ernst is 5-14-7 as the starter in 25 of Brown’s 29 games … He carries a 2.91 goals against average and a .901 save percentage with one shutout.
