Re: RPI 2012-2013 Season Thread
Comments from "Wednesday Women: Topsy-turvy"
http://www.uscho.com/2012/10/17/wednesday-women-topsy-turvy/
Arlan: RPI is a team that looks like it could move up if it could make improvements in a couple of glaring areas. Sometimes lower-ranked teams can struggle in every department, so trying to fix all of the problems can prove overwhelming. The Engineers finished tied for eighth in last season’s ECAC, but missed out on the playoffs as Brown won a tiebreaker. In league action, their power play clicked only 8.7 percent of the time, last in the conference. That’s less than one out of every 11 power-play chances. Any improvement, any at all, should translate into a win or two, some more conference points, and postseason action. The other area of need is in goal. Both of Rensselaer’s rookie goalies had sub-90 percent save percentages. If they can tighten up as sophomores and save an extra goal or two on each weekend, the Engineers are a far more dangerous team. Against Connecticut, goaltending was still a concern, as Engineers goalies surrendered four goals on 25 shots in the tie and three more tallies on just 19 shots in winning a day later. Kelly O’Brien got both starts against supposedly stronger offenses last weekend, and the numbers were improved. She held BU to three goals on 33 shots and Northeastern to only one on 21. The power play has inched up to 11.1 percent through four games, so while far from explosive, at least it is heading in the right direction. Before 2012 wraps, Union, Vermont, Princeton, Syracuse, Brown, and Yale are among the opponents that RPI will see, so the potential for wins certainly exists. Now the task is turning that potential into points.
One of the difficulties for teams trying to scramble up the ladder is that those rungs can get pretty crowded, as other teams are attempting the same climb. For RPI, Colgate is one of the teams it needs to best in the standings. After getting overrun by Minnesota and losing more respectable games to Northeastern and New Hampshire, the Raiders under new coach Greg Fargo got into the win column twice versus UConn over the weekend. Given the improvement we saw last year from programs like Brown and Union, does this bode well for the overall competitive balance of the ECAC?