{"id":100363,"date":"2019-10-30T10:00:24","date_gmt":"2019-10-30T15:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=100363"},"modified":"2020-08-24T11:24:04","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T16:24:04","slug":"rensselaer-playing-500-hockey-early-on-as-engineers-still-working-on-little-things-necessary-to-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2019\/10\/30\/rensselaer-playing-500-hockey-early-on-as-engineers-still-working-on-little-things-necessary-to-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Rensselaer playing .500 hockey early on as Engineers still working on ‘little things necessary to win’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Patrick<\/a>
Patrick Polino has registered three goals and six points over six games thus far for Rensselaer (photo: Bradley K. Olson).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the last several seasons, Union and Rensselaer have begun conference play in ECAC Hockey with a home-and-home series between the two travel partners.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, Union has been perceived as the favorite in those matchups, although that wasn\u2019t the case this year.<\/p>\n

The Dutchmen entered the weekend winless in their first six games, and that streak extended to seven before a desperate Union team broke through with a 2-1 win over the Engineers Saturday.<\/p>\n

“I was talking last night [Friday] about how it was one of the hardest losses since I’ve been at Union, and it’s funny, 24 hours later, it’s one of our best wins,\u201d Dutchmen goalie Darion Hanson told the Schenectady Daily Gazette<\/i>.<\/p>\n

While RPI couldn\u2019t come away with the sweep, it\u2019s been a solid start to the season for the Engineers, who are on pace to surpass last year\u2019s win total.<\/p>\n

However, coach Dave Smith said RPI is still working on the “little things necessary to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, what our group is learning what it takes to win every shift, every minute. And that\u2019s a really hard lesson to teach,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s easy for a team to come in with an edge after a loss, Smith said good teams know how to bring get up for a game after a win.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe teams that win consistently find that edge after a win,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not hard to bring the effort; we know how to play. What we\u2019re learning is how difficult that is and what it takes. To me, that\u2019s the most important item that we\u2019re trying to solve with our leadership group, who have been terrific, is that you if you want to win it starts the moment last night ended.<\/p>\n

“It needs to burn and burn, so that now all of a sudden, you bring it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ivies getting underway<\/h4>\n

The first major milestone of the college hockey season takes place this weekend, when the six Ivy League schools will become the final teams in Division 1 to play a game this season.<\/p>\n

The late start is due to Ivy League rules defining the starting dates and practice dates for all sports. As a result, that means some Ivy teams will be starting their season against teams that have already been playing for several weeks.<\/p>\n

One of those teams is Princeton, which travels to St. Cloud State for a two-game series this weekend. The Huskies, last year\u2019s top-seeded team in the NCAA tournament, have already played four games this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a fast game,\u201d Tigers coach Ron Fogarty said of facing St. Cloud. \u201cThey\u2019ve obviously going to have a chip on their shoulder after an early exit from the [NCAA] tournament. We like that challenge to set us up for a tough ECAC conference.\u201d<\/p>\n

The late start is just one of several challenges facing Ivy League schools, which also have higher academic expectations and no athletic scholarships. However, those hurdles haven\u2019t stopped several schools, notably Cornell, Yale, and Harvard, from becoming national contenders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are challenges for any school out there, and with us at Princeton, we know what it is and we find solutions for those issues,\u201d Fogarty said. \u201cWe believe every incoming freshman group can help us. The biggest part is that we may not be able to get the best players, but we believe we get the right players that fit our culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Ivy League starts play this weekend, several of the league\u2019s former players have already made their NHL debuts this year.<\/p>\n

Defensemen Adam Fox and John Marino were stalwarts for Harvard\u2019s NCAA tournament team last season, and each has started the year in the NHL for the Rangers and Penguins, respectively.<\/p>\n

Marino is joined on the Penguins by former Brown forward Sam Lafferty. The 2018 Bears graduate grew up less than two hours from Pittsburgh and made his NHL debut on Oct. 8.<\/p>\n

Also making his NHL debut is former Cornell forward Cole Bardreau, who has appeared in four games for the Islanders so far. It\u2019s a good story for the 2015 graduate, who suffered a severe neck injury as a sophomore, but returned to the ice and finished his career as a solid two-way contributor for the Big Red.<\/p>\n

Clarkson splits<\/h4>\n

A split with a top-10 team on the road is never a bad outcome, but Clarkson nearly came away with more last weekend at then-No. 6 Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

The Golden Knights shut down the Badgers\u2019 high-powered offense in a 4-0 win on Friday, and then rallied to turn a 3-0 deficit into a 3-3 game Saturday before Wisconsin scored in the closing seconds to come away with a split.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a really tough loss but it\u2019s even tougher when you start with the faceoff in the offensive zone and win it,\u201d Clarkson coach Casey Jones said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what the percentages are that with 15 seconds left that it ends up in the back of your net.”<\/p>\n

While the last second loss was disappointing, it was still a positive series for Clarkson.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we started to play our style this weekend. It was a good stepping stone for us,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n

Goaltending strong for St. Lawrence<\/h4>\n

Not a lot went right for St. Lawrence last season, but the Saints\u2019 inability to possess the puck led to a lot of extra stress on the teams\u2019 goalies. St. Lawrence\u2019s goalies faced 1,450 shots last season and the team was outshot by nearly 16 shots per game.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been better this year, as the Saints are only getting outshot by a little less than three shots a game, and that\u2019s translated to better goaltending numbers in the first month of the season. Senior Daniel Mannella has a .938 save percentage, while the Saints have a .923 mark as a team.<\/p>\n

Mannella was named the league\u2019s goalie of the week after stopping 55 of 57 shots against Holy Cross and Bentley last weekend. He\u2019ll face off this weekend against one of the league\u2019s other top goalies in the early going in Clarkson\u2019s Frank Marotte, who has a .945 save percentage in six games.<\/p>\n

The Saints and Golden Knights will play both games of their series at Clarkson\u2019s Cheel Arena due to ongoing renovations at St. Lawrence\u2019s Appleton Arena.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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