Wyatt Bongiovanni named ECAC rookie of the week

Wyatt Bongiovanni picked up his third ECAC rookie of the week

After a split of the weekend with St. Lawrence and Clarkson, Quinnipiac freshman Wyatt Bongiovanni took home his third ECAC rookie of the week honors per a press release from the league office. He had a hat trick and an assist in Friday's 7-2 win over St. Lawrence. Two of the goals came by way of the power play. It is the sixth time this season that a Quinnipiac freshman has taken home the rookie of the week honors.

Bongiovanni who picked up his first collegiate hat trick previously was the rookie of the week for February 4th and November 19th. It was his first four point game at Quinnipiac and his third game this year with three or more points. Bongiovanni is tied for second on the team with 14 goals scored and is sixth in scoring with 22 points. 

Congratulations to Wyatt on another great accomplishment. Quinnipiac concludes the regular season this weekend when they travel to Brown on Friday before a short drive down Whitney Avenue on Saturday to face rival Yale at Ingalls Rink. 

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Thoughts and observations from Quinnipiac's 5-3 loss to Clarkson

Chase Priskie finishes his highlight reel goal past Clarkson's Jake Kielly

It wasn't how Quinnipiac planned senior night at the People's United Bank Center as the Bobcats struggled in a 5-3 loss to Clarkson. It was a night the team honored their five seniors including captain Chase Priskie, assistant captain Scott Davidson, Craig Martin, Luke Shiplo and Brandon Fortunato for their service and dedication to the men's ice hockey program. Here are my thoughts and observations along with some quotes from Rand Pecknold and Chase Priskie following the loss.

- It was a sloppy effort all around for Quinnipiac as they struggled with puck possession all night as Clarkson did a good job in the neutral zone and preventing the Bobcats from having easy entry into the offensive zone. The second period was one of the worst periods of the season when they surrendered four goals to Clarkson. "We didn't buy in and we strayed from our identity, Rand Pecknold said following the loss." 

- The one bright spot on the night was Chase Priskie. His first goal was and end to end masterpiece where he dangled past multiple Clarkson defenders before putting it past Jake Kielly while his second one was a blast from the point that gave him 39 career goals which is the most in school history for a defenseman. What Chase Priskie has accomplished in four years is pretty outstanding. He came in as an undrafted freshman in the summer of 2015 to get an early start and put up a 26 point year to in his freshman season in helping the team reach the Frozen Four. He got drafted that spring by Washington in the 6th round. He followed up his sophomore campaign with another 26 point season and was named the captain for his junior season and had another consistent 25 point season. He returned to Quinnipiac after the team struggled and has turned in a 39 point season so far as a senior leading the team to the brink of the NCAA tournament along with being a Hobey Baker candidate. Throw in the fact that he got his undergrad degree and MBA in four years as a cherry on the top. Chase Priskie is the heart and soul of this team and one of the best players to ever put on a Quinnipiac sweater. 

- Andrew Shortridge was hung out to dry against Clarkson. Hardly any of those goals were his fault and Quinnipiac had sloppy turnovers in their own zone or the neutral zone to lead to breakaways. He did all he could back there with how poorly his defense played in front of him. "You are not going to win in this league or any league 6-5 or 7-6, Chase Priskie said following the loss. We have to be better and we can't give up grade A chances. Andrew played good tonight. We can expect those big time saves every night and we just didn't give him a chance on any of those goals."

- Quinnipiac's top line of Odeen Tufto, Wyatt Bongiovanni and Ethan de Jong really struggled tonight. The line was a combined minus seven on the night with six shots on goal. For this team to have huge success especially come tournament time that line is going to need to have success. Tufto also struggled on the face-off dot winning only 10-of-24. 

- I said after the Friday game that I wanted to see how Quinnipiac responded offensively especially on the power play as you couldn't judge them against a terrible team like St. Lawrence. Tonight they had two massive power play opportunities and fumbled them. In the first period the Bobcats had a five on three advantage for 1:24 and had very few shots while in the second period they had a five minute major which they did nothing on as well. Give Clarkson credit for their penalty kill as it was a difference in the game.

- Speaking of Clarkson that was a hungry and desperate team that played last night. They came into the night having gone 4-4-1 in their last nine games and having dropped to 15th in the pairwise a dangerous spot to be in this late in the season. While this win won't put them in the tournament right now it was a huge boost for them pushing them to 12th in the pairwise and also in position to clinch a first round bye next weekend at home. "I thought Clarkson was really good tonight, said Pecknold in his opening statement. They dug down and finished their chances. They were good on special teams and they deserved to win." 

- What is it with the struggles of Quinnipiac on Saturday night the second night of a back to back? They are 6-6-1 on the second night of the weekend with their Friday record 11-1-1. Part of it is you are practicing and game planning for your Friday opponent while its really unknown how much prep goes into the Saturday opponent until right after the Friday game ends. Add in the fact that this is a young team playing 9-10 freshman a night and you are going to have some struggles at times. However if you want to have success in the ECAC tournament and NCAA tournament you are going to need to prove you can consistently win those back to back games. 

- A night after RPI's surprise win put Quinnipiac in the driver's seat for the Cleary Cup, the Bobcats moved into the passenger seat with the loss to Clarkson coupled with Cornell's win over Union 3-1. The Big Red moved a point ahead of Quinnipiac with just two league games remaining next weekend. Cornell travels up to St. Lawrence on Friday followed by a huge showdown with Clarkson on Saturday night. Cornell should beat the Saints pretty easily but should be in a battle with the Golden Knights the following night.

- It's pretty amazing that as we head to the final weekend of ECAC play that no team has clinched a first round bye yet. Seven teams can still get a bye though teams in spots 5-7 need some serious help for that to happen but Cornell is in the drivers seat for the Cleary Cup needing just a win coupled with losses by Quinnipiac and Harvard on Friday to clinch it. Quinnipiac needs some help as they will likely need to sweep the weekend or get a win and tie with Cornell and Harvard both losing a game to win the regular season title. Whoever finishes 5th will get St. Lawrence in the first round as they are the only team locked into a spot. For any team on the pairwise bubble it is not an opponent that will help them either.

- It's on to Brown. The Bears came into Quinnipiac on February 9th and took it to the Bobcats winning 4-1 and really dominating the neutral zone and the fore-check. Quinnipiac needs to play a much better possession game and on defense if they want to beat a surging Brown squad who have clearly played above the 12th place finish they were predicted in the preseason. One mentality for Quinnipiac that they need to do is just focus on the Brown Bears and not the game against the Yale Bulldogs the next night in New Haven. Brown is the most important game on the schedule right now and if they want to win the Cleary Cup as regular season champions they will need to win that game in Providence first.

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Thoughts and observations from Quinnipiac's 7-2 win over St. Lawrence

Quinnipiac beat St. Lawrence handily on Friday 7-2

The penultimate regular season home game ended in a winning fashion for Quinnipiac as they took care of business on Friday night beating St. Lawrence 7-2. The Bobcats score three first period goals and five unanswered en route to cruising to an easy win over the last place Saints. The 23rd win of the season matches the teams total in the 2016-2017 campaign. Five different players scored for Quinnipiac who now welcome Clarkson on senior night on Saturday. Here are my thought's and observations from the St. Lawrence game.

- Quinnipiac's offense exploded in the win over St. Lawrence scoring 7 goals. The Bobcats got off to a fast start with three first period goals with all of them coming by way of the power play. Chase Priskie, William Fallstrom and Wyatt Bongiovanni each scored first period goals on the man advantage to stake Quinnipiac to the early lead. The offense did what they had to do against the last place team in the ECAC as they swept St. Lawrence this season by a combined score of 14-4.

- While it was a great offensive display and Quinnipiac scored three goals on the power play, I need to see if this will carry over to tomorrow's game against Clarkson and the rest of the year. Coming off three games of offensive struggles, the opponent tonight Quinnipiac faced is one of the worst in the country. If they can put say four to five goals in tomorrow against Clarkson then we may see the offensive struggles possibly in the rear view mirror. The power play did look improved with Ethan de Jong moving to the top line to fill the void of Brandon Fortunato.

- It was a huge night by Quinnipiac freshman Wyatt Bongiovanni with a hat trick along with an assist. Bongiovanni is now tied for second on the team in goals with 14 with five of them coming on the power play. He has 22 points on the season which is one behind fellow freshman Ethan de Jong for the most by a freshman this season. The Michigan native brings so much speed and skill for Quinnipiac along with the ability to finish something that was clearly lacking last season.

- St. Lawrence is a really bad and undisciplined hockey team. They hung with Quinnipiac for the first seven to eight minutes of the game then took a penalty which led to the first goal. They took another penalty right after Quinnipiac scored on its first power play but killed it off but ended the period with two penalties including a bench minor for too many men on the ice. Those two penalties led to another two goals for the Bobcats and they never looked back. The Saints are young and two of their talented younger players scored in Gleekel and Hanson but at this point in the season I feel like St. Lawrence should show a little bit more discipline on the ice.

- The Saints had two golden chances on the power when they had a full two minute five on three after Scott Davidson and Joe O'Connor took penalties for hooking and unsportsmanlike conduct respectively and a five minor major penalty when Brogan Rafferty made contact to the head of one the St. Lawrence players. However both times St. Lawrence put up a big fat zero on the man advantage as Karlis Cukste blocked three shots on one power play alone. When you have these types of advantages you can't waste them and St. Lawrence big time tonight.

With the win and a Cornell loss Quinnipiac moved back into 1st place

- Speaking of Brogan Rafferty that was a dangerous penalty he was assessed and totally unnecessary to do in that situation. Rafferty is one of Quinnipiac's most important defenders and with Brandon Fortunato sidelined for the season becomes even that more important on the defensive and offensive end as you saw with his three assist night. His contact to the head penalty resulted in a five minor major and a game misconduct. Its unknown if any additional supplemental discipline with be handed down by the ECAC.

- It was an easy night for Andrew Shortridge who only had to make nine saves before getting some rest and giving way to Keith Petruzzelli in the third period when the team had a big lead. He lowered his goals against to a nation leading 1.24 along with his .950 save percentage which also leads the country. Right now he is the favorite to win the Mike Richter award in my opinion as the top goaltender in the country.

- Really nice to see senior associate captain Scott Davidson have a two point night. He assisted on the sixth goal by Nick Jermain and scored the seventh and final goal of the game. While points have not come every game for him he brings toughness and good defensive play from the third line and is a glue guy for for this team. Tonight he was rewarded for a really good effort.

- Quinnipiac honored head coach Rand Pecknold prior to the game with a 500 banner to commemorate reaching that milestone earlier this season. Already the greatest men's ice hockey coach in school history, Pecknold is also one of the great coaches in college hockey today. Its a been a true honor having him coach this university to the success it has had.

- It was great results for Quinnipiac around the conference on Friday night. Yale lost to Dartmouth pushing them three points behind the Bobcats but the biggest stunner of the night came up in Ithaca as RPI stunned Cornell 3-2 in overtime as Quinnipiac now has a one point lead on Cornell and will control its own destiny from here on out for the Cleary Cup. Quinnipiac will clinch a first round bye with a win tomorrow night against Clarkson

- Whats on tap? Senior night takes place tomorrow night at the People's United Center against Clarkson as Quinnipiac will honor its five seniors which include Chase Priskie, Craig Martin, Scott Davidson, Luke Shiplo and the currently injured Brandon Fortunato. While this team will play a minimum of two more home games with a maximum of three its a good chance to go out and thank these players for the years of service they have given to Quinnipiac hockey.


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Weekend Preview: St. Lawrence/Clarkson

Captain Chase Priskie will play his final two regular season home games this weekend

St. Lawrence Head Coach: Mark Morris (3rd year) 29-64-11, 335-220-53 overall

2018-2019 St. Lawrence record: 4-24-2 (2-14-2 ECAC)

All-time vs. St. Lawrence: St. Lawrence leads series 15-14-5

St. Lawrence Key Players: Carson Gicewicz (F), Zach Risteau (F), David Jankowski (F), Cade Gleekel (F), Michael Ederer (F), Jake Stevens (D), Bo Hanson (D),  Emil Zetterquist (G)

Its been three weeks since Quinnipiac last played and beat St. Lawrence and in that time the Saints have yet to get a single win. They tied Dartmouth last Saturday and the night before skated to a tough 3-2 loss against Harvard. Since the 7-2 loss to Quinnipiac, St. Lawrence has been competitive in the last two weeks of ECAC play. Will they bring that same effort this weekend against Quinnipiac. Right now that is unknown but you can never overlook an opponent even as one as bad as St. Lawrence has played this season. Quinnipiac needs these two points as they continue to chase Cornell in the standings for the Cleary Cup crown.

St. Lawrence comes to Hamden with one of the worst offenses still in the country ranked 55th averaging 1.93 goals per game. That however isn't even the worst in the ECAC as that honor belongs to Colgate. Over their last four games, St. Lawrence has only average 1.75 goals per game.  They still do not have a goal scorer who has double digits in goals scored. Freshman David Jankowski has seven goals this year while sophomore Cade Gleekel has six and freshman Zach Risteau has five. Its a young offense with very experience that is suffering growing pains but should get better in the next couple of years. The Saints power play is almost middle of the pack at 17.2% which is 35th in the country.

The Saints continue to boost the worst defense in college hockey. However when these teams last played they were giving up over four goals per game. That number is now just below that at 3.93 per game. So there has been some slight improvement but part of it can be attributed to playing Colgate and Dartmouth in that four game stretch. Is this defense turning a corner or will Quinnipiac blow them out of the water like they did when they met in North Country? The penalty kill has not improved either as it has dropped to 77% which is down from 78.% when these two teams previously met.

Freshman Emil Zetterquist has played the past four games in goal and has given up 2.75 goals per game for the Saints. Those numbers may not be anything special but they are vast improvement over what St. Lawrence has done over the course of the season. At 6'1, 190, Zetterquist brings solid size in net for the Saints. This will be his first game against Quinnipiac should he get the start on Friday which is likely considering he has started the past four games.

Associate Captain Scott Davidson will be honored on senior night on Saturday

Clarkson Head Coach: Casey Jones (8th season) 139-126-36

2018-2019 Clarkson record: 20-10-0 (11-7-0 ECAC)

All-time vs. Clarkson: Quinnipiac leads series 16-11-3

Clarkson Key Players: Nico Sturm (F), Haralds Egle (F), Jack Jacome (F), Devin Brosseau (F), Josh Dunne (F), Aaron Thow (D), Greg Moro (D), Connor McCarthy (D), Jake Kielly (G)

The last four weeks have been up and down for Clarkson. Over that time frame the Golden Knights have gone 4-4 and are currently sitting at 13th in the pairwise rankings which is a tough spot to be in this late in the season. For Clarkson they are going to need this game along with the Cornell one the following week in order to boost their pairwise status as they are clearly close to the cut line and a possible bubble team heading into March. For Quinnipiac they need to be able to continue to keep pace with Cornell in the race for the top seed and the regular season title.

While Clarkson has a very good offense, over the past eight games there has been some drop off. They are no longer in the top ten in goals scored as they are currently 17th at 3.10 goals per game while the power play has also dipped below 20% at a current rate of 19.4%. This is still a dangerous offense lead by Nico Sturm's 36 point and Haralds Egle's 31 points. Freshman Josh Dunne is third on the team with 11 goals scored while Jack Jacome and Devin Brosseau have 20 points apiece. It will be interesting to see if their recent offensive issues translate a bit this week on the road.

The defense has also slightly slipped in terms of stats but not a great as the offense has. Currently they are allowing 2.00 goals per game which is 7th in the country up from the 1.88 they allowed when Quinnipiac played them in North Country. The penalty kill is just a shade off from where it was a month ago as it is currently at 84.9% which is good for 12th in the country. Their top four of Aaron Thow, Greg Moro, Jordan Schneider and Connor McCarthy have been workhorses playing in every game this season for Clarkson.

Jake Kielly continues to put together another fine season in between the pipes for the Golden Knights. He has started all 30 games for Clarkson and is 20-10 with a 1.92 goals against average and a .929 save percentage with five shutouts this season. Against Quinnipiac the last time out he made 19 saves and gave up three goals in a 4-2 loss to the Bobcats. Over his last eight games during the up and down stretch for Clarkson, his goals against average is 2.12. Despite a little bit of down play, he has the capability of turning in a strong effort on a nightly basis.

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Thoughts and observations from Quinnipiac's 2-1 win over RPI

Quinnipiac got three much needed point in the capital region this weekend

Quinnipiac got into the win column and got two much needed ECAC points after a late Odeen Tufto power play goal stole a win in regulation on the road. Coupled with losses by Harvard and Cornell, Quinnipiac sits only one point out of first place with four games to play. Here are my thoughts and observations after the RPI game.

- Quinnipiac probably stole this game in regulation but they will take it. A late penalty on RPI's Donovan Ott opened the door for Quinnipiac to get out of Houston Field House with a 2-1 win after Odeen Tufto banged one home from the slot for his 14th goal of the season. It was the first power play goal for Quinnipiac since the St. Lawrence game.

- Andrew Shortridge only made 18 saves but really kept Quinnipiac in this one with a key save on Brady Wiffen on the power play to keep the score 1-0. He made the saves he had to make and continues to play at a high level and likely will be the ECAC goaltender of the year if this play continues.  

- This game was a dogfight with RPI and frankly I am not surprised one bit. The Engineers have been one of the better ECAC teams since the calendar has turned to 2019 and they have a very good goaltender in freshman Owen Savory who continues to play at a high level and keep RPI in games. The RPI defense was also very good cutting off lanes for Quinnipiac to shoot. Color me impressed by RPI and I believe they will be a tough out in the ECAC playoffs with the way they are playing.

- It is definitely time to be a bit concerned with this offense as they have a combined four goals in their last three games. The injury to Brandon Fortunato is showing up right now as they have not been able to get into a rhythm offensively the past three games. If they can't improve the offense over what we have seen the past three games then this injury is clearly going to loom large for this team.

- It was a big night for the Bobcats on the face-off dot as they beat RPI 44-18 in that category. 

William Fallstrom continues to remind me of Tommy Schutt on face offs as he won 10 of 12 tonight while Nick Jermain won 15 and Odeen Tufto won 12. Scott Davidson also went 5 for 5 on the face-off dot as well.

- Daniel Winslow returned to the lineup and scored the tying goal in the second period and had a great celebration to boot. Winslow has given this team four goals this year but none bigger than that one so far. Two of his four goals have come against RPI in both of the games this season.

- I thought the Quinnipiac power play struggled at times with too much cycling of the puck and not enough shooting. They need to put the puck on net and create chaos in front of the net to cause redirects and deflections for goals. Good things happen sometimes when you put pucks towards the goal. 

- The win moved Quinnipiac back to 5th in the pairwise after Saturday night as Ohio State was swept on the weekend by Minnesota. The Bobcats remain in a good spot right now and can still get a number one seed depending on how they finished the regular season and conference tournament. 

- Next weekend is the final regular season home stand of the year with St. Lawrence on Friday followed by a very good Clarkson team on Saturday night which is senior night. Chase Priskie, Brandon Fortunato, Craig Martin, Scott Davidson and Luke Shiplo will be honored for their four year careers with the Bobcats. 

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Thoughts and observations from Quinnipiac's 1-1 tie against Union

Andrew Shortridge was the best player on the ice for Quinnipiac against Union

While this wasn't the most pretty performance for Quinnipiac, they were still able to salvage a point after a 1-1 tie against a tough Union team on the road. In the ECAC there are no easy games each and every week you look up and down the league scoreboard and you can constantly find upsets. Both teams battled hard and goal-tending stole the show. It was a fast paced game with a good amount of action despite only two goals scored. Here are my thoughts and observations after the Union game.

- Andrew Shortridge made 27 saves and on this night Quinnipiac needed every single one of them. He made a huge save in the first period on a shot from close range and another one in overtime with the game on the line. Shortridge showed why he should be a finalist for the Mike Richter award with this performance as he was the best player on the ice for the Bobcats and they might have lost this game tonight if it weren't for him. In each of the seasons that Quinnipiac has reached the Frozen Four they have gotten outstanding goal-tending first from Eric Hartzell in 2013 when he was a top three finalist for the Hobey Baker award and in 2016 from Michael Garteig. With the way Shortridge has played this year, he could carry this team to Buffalo. 

- Quinnipiac's top line provided the only scoring when Odeen Tufto sent a pass from the end wall into the slot where Wyatt Bongiovanni sent one past Hanson for his 11th goal of the season. Ethan de Jong got a secondary assist on the goal. Bongiovanni is third on the team in goals scored with 11 trailing Chase Priskie (14) and Odeen Tufto (13). He's been an excellent add to the Quinnipiac roster this season. 

- William Fallstrom was a monster on the face-off dot. He won 20 of 24 face-offs on the night for the Bobcats and helped win some key possession battles. His teammate Odeen Tufto really struggled on face-offs tonight winning onlly 7 of 25 face-offs. They need better than that from their top line center especially when some of these are happening in the offensive zone and could lead to extra scoring chances for Quinnipiac. 

- The ice at Messa Rink was really terrible all night. Pucks weren't being controlled like they usually are and they were bouncing over sticks multiple times. Its pretty unacceptable for the ice of a Division I hockey team especially one that has won a national championship in the past five years to be as bad as it was tonight. 

- Union's defense was really good tonight taking time and space away from Quinnipiac and making it difficult at times to get pucks into the zone. The Dutchmen also blocked an astounding 25 shot attempts on the night. Darion Hanson also was fantastic for Union with 27 saves on the night. He continues to make a difference for Union in goal and has been a thorn in Quinnipiac's side twice this season only allowing two goals against a powerful Bobcat offense. 

- This was a very chippy game was a bunch of extra curricular stuff after whistles. However the officials swallowed their whistles tonight and assessed only two minor penalties on the night with a boarding call on Union's Zachary Emelifeonwu in the first period and a hooking call on Quinnipiac's Karlis Cukste in the third period. These are the types of games you want to see the players win on their own and not have the referees decide it.

- Quinnipiac is still hasn't won in six games against Union dating back to the 2015-2016 season. They also have not won at Messa Rink since the 2014-2015 season. The Dutchmen will be a tough out in the ECAC playoffs and not a team that I would want to face in the quarterfinals should Quinnipiac get a first round bye. 

- The tie dropped Quinnipiac to 6th in the pairwise after Friday night but they remain three points behind first place Cornell who tied Brown 3-3. Quinnipiac is now tied for second place in the ECAC standings with Harvard at 22 points with identical 10-5-2 record. Spots 2-7 in the ECAC standings are now separated by a total of four points so expect a lot of chaos in the next few weeks of conference play.

- Tomorrow's game against 9-17-2 RPI will be a challenge. This is a team that has started to play well in the second half of the season and has found themselves a goaltender in Owen Savory. They can't be overlooked at all especially after rallying from two goals down against Princeton and winning 6-2. The Engineer players are starting to buy into second year coach Dave Smith.


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Weekend Preview: Union/RPI

Alex Whelan and Quinnipiac head out on their 2nd to last road trip of the regular season

Union Head Coach: Rick Bennett (8th Season) 172-93-37

2018-2019 Union record: 14-9-5 (7-8-1 ECAC)

All-time vs. Union: Series tied 16-16-4

Union Key Players: Cole Maier (F), Brett Supinski (F), Ryan Walker (F), Sebastian Vidmar (F), Liam Morgan (F), Jack Adams (F), Anthony Rinaldi (F), Vas Kolias (D), Brandon Estes (D), Greg Campbell (D), Jake Kupsky (G)

For a team that got off to an 8-3-2 start, it has been a struggle at times for Union to find consistency. At 14-9-5 the Dutchmen find itself 20th in the pairwise but two losses and a tie to RPI and along with being swept by Brown and a loss to Princeton loom large right now. They probably need to win all six remaining regular season games to get into the top 16 prior to the conference tournament. Union has won five straight games against Quinnipiac with the Bobcats not winning since the 2015-2016 season ago the Dutchmen. The last Quinnipiac win in Schenectady was back in the 2014-2015 season when they won 4-3.

The Dutchmen are a top 20 offensive team in the country averaging 3.04 goals per game. Its a balanced roster that brings the scoring as the top seven players have scored six or more goals and have 16 or more points this season. They are led by three senior forwards in Cole Maier, Brett Supinski and Ryan Walker who have 23, 20 and 20 points respectively this season. Walker leads the team with 10 goals. As we have seen this season this is a team that can score in bunches with the their 5-1 win in Hamden as proof. The Union power play has been solid this season at 18.8% (19-of-101) which is good for 25th in the country.

On defense Union has been a little above average this season giving up 2.64 goals per game which is good for 25th in the country. Sophomore Brandon Estes has had a breakout season with 15 points and a plus 7 on the blue line while junior Vas Kolias and senior Greg Campbell have been steady presences for the Dutchmen. If there is an area where Union struggles it is on the penalty kill as they have one of the worst in the country at 74.4% (67-of-90) which is 56th in the nation. This is an area where Quinnipiac's top five power play unit needs to capitalize but we must see how they adjust especially with the season ending injury to Brandon Fortunato.

Sophomore Darion Hanson has taken over the starting duties in the second half of the season from senior Jake Kupsky due to the more consistent play from the second year goaltender. Hanson was spectacular against Quinnipiac earlier this season when he made 34 saves in a 5-1 win over the Bobcats in Hamden. His numbers this season are solid with a 2.37 goals against average and a .922 save percentage which are superior to Kupsky's and the reason he is seeing more time in net for the Dutchmen. Expect Hanson to get the nod Friday night.


RPI Head Coach: Dave Smith (2nd Season) 15-44-7 (187-267-66 overall)

2018-2019 RPI record: 9-17-3 (6-9-2 ECAC)

All-time vs. RPI: Quinnipiac leads 14-7-9

RPI Key Players: Jacob Hayhurst (F), Patrick Polino (F), Brady Wiffen (F), Ottoville Leppanen (F), Todd Burgess (F), Will Reilly (D), Kyle Hallbauer (D), Owen Savory (G)

While RPI has a poor record of 8-17-3, they have been pretty solid since the calendar changed to 2019. Since the start of the new year, RPI is a respectable 4-4-3. They tied Cornell, Dartmouth and Union in that stretch and also played to competitive losses against Harvard, Yale and even Brown. Give this team a lot of credit for battling and playing hard in the second half of the season as Dave Smith continues to mold this team into his own. This should be a competitive game against a team that is clearly starting to get better as the season winds down.

Scoring continues to be an issue for RPI as they only average 1.93 goals per game this season. Junior Jacob Hayhurst has 23 points but only 3 goals this season while Ottoville Leppanen has 16 points on 3 goals and 13 assists. Juniors Todd Burgess (13 points) and Patrick Polino (11 points) along with defenseman Will Reilly (15 points) make up the majority of the Engineers offense. With RPI not being a high scoring team they have to rely on their defense and goal-tending to keep games low scoring in order to get a bounce here or there on offense to win some of these games. The RPI power play has struggled this season to a tune of just 14.5% (12-of-83) which is 53rd in the country.

Defensively RPI has played much better in 2019 than 2018 so far. They are a middle of the pack team in goals allowed at 3.07 which is good for a tie at 36th with Boston University. While Will Reilly has been a consistent point guy for RPI his plus/minus has vastly improved this season as he is an even right now after being a minus 36 combined the past two seasons. Three freshman in Kyle Hallbauer, Jake Johnson and Brady Ferner have given the Engineers a lot of games on the blue line for young players. The experience these players are getting now will only help in the long run and its seemingly paying off with better defensive play in the second half of the season. RPI's penalty kill is middle of the pack at 80.2% (77-of-96) which is good for 34th in the country.

Freshman goaltender Owen Savory has taken over the reins in between the pipes from an ineffective Linden Marshall and has run away with the job. Savory has started the last eight games for RPI and has kept the Engineers in pretty much every game against the one against Clarkson. In 17 games played he has a 2.30 goals against average and a .933 save percentage which are excellent numbers despite having a record of 3-9-3. His team has been on the short end of the stick but has been very competitive. He has given this team stability in between the pipes which gives them a chance to compete every single game even with the lack of talent on the roster. Expect Savory to be in goal when they face Quinnipiac on Saturday night.

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