What's new
By:
USCHO Fan Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.

RPI 2013-2014 Season

Re: RPI 2013-2014 Season

hab said:
The Engineers seem to be on a mission this year to demonstrate that shots on goal don't count:rolleyes:. They swept St.Cloud this weekend despite being outshot in both games. In games where RPI has outshot their opponents they have only won once (1 win, 5 losses, 1 tie) but in games where they have been outshot they are 5-3-1.
Click to expand...

Kelly O'Brien is an absolute superstar on that team.
 
Re: RPI 2013-2014 Season

You would think that no-point weekends would hurt us more than this one did (or at all, really):

Range - 3rd - 12th
Mean Rank - 7.98
Median Rank - 8th
Mode Rank - 8th
Home Playoffs - 0.1%
Playoffs - 79.4%
Most likely opponent - @Cornell
 
Re: RPI 2013-2014 Season

As I noted in the men's game score thread (surprisingly logical placement as the games were played simultaneously) I thought the women's team played a solid game against QU on Saturday. Their skating, stick work, breakout, forecheck, etc. were comparable to the Bobcat's ranked squad. At times (such as the 6-8 minutes after QU's first goal) they even controlled play and looked as skilled as any squad the Engineers have put on the ice since the move to D-I. The problem is that they lack a finishing touch and strength between the circles in the offensive end. This leaves them no margin for error so a single mistake such as the fanned clear that resulted in QU's second goal can be fatal. With a solid overall skill level hopefully the light will go on (figuratively and literally) for a few of the forwards in the second half of the year.
 
Re: RPI 2013-2014 Season

I'd tend to look at the 5 losses where we badly outshot the other team but lost anyway before I declared someone was a superstar. 2 goals on 12 shots vs Yale. There have been a number of games this season where we have badly outplayed the oposition and lost that usually falls on the defense/goaltending. She does have a talent for keeping the losses close but give me the big wins that have been posted in the last two years.

Harvard this year, Dartmouth last year, any others?
 
Stat Man said:
There have been a number of games this season where we have badly outplayed the oposition and lost that usually falls on the defense/goaltending.
Click to expand...
To be fair, if you badly outplay the opponent but score only one goal, you can't lay that entirely on the defense and goaltending. Games where one goal is enough to win are few and far between.
 
Re: RPI 2013-2014 Season

Liked all three of the last posts by Arm, Statman, and RPI82 even 'though they are taking somewhat different positions. From what I have seen this year (and I admit I have seen less of their video than most years, and no live games) goaltending certainly has not been 'Superstar' status this year (so far), but is certainly not solely to blame. The team's performance in games where they completely dominate in puck possession and then give up two or three or more goals on few shots is a bit of a mystery, but it does seem to me that in games like that they sometimes become so focussed on offence that the defence then gets caught off guard and gives up breakaways or other clear scoring opportunities AND the goalie has had so little action that she is not ready to come up with the big saves. Hopefully the whole team will find a way to maintain a defensive mind-set even in games where they are dominating. A bit more offensive production would take the pressure off. Still believe that this team will be tough to beat as the season progresses.
 
Re: RPI 2013-2014 Season

Whitney Renn of the Little Caesars U19 team is mentioned as an RPI recruit on the 2014-15 recruit thread. Her Twitter page also states that she has committed to RPI. https://twitter.com/Whitney_Renn. She's from Troy, MI. :eek:
 
Last edited:
Re: RPI 2013-2014 Season

Within the last three days these were added to the RPI directory:

Name: Shayna Nicole Tomlinson
Class:
Curriculum: Biomedical Engineering

Name: Amanda Jo Kimmerle
Class:
Curriculum: Business and Management
 
Re: RPI 2013-2014 Season

Last year's leading scorer, Alexa Gruschow, seems to be having a tough time getting it going this year, with only 6 points in 16 games.

Maybe she's upset because the name of her hometown is misspelled on the RPIathletics website. It should be spelled Mechanicsburg, not Mechanicburgh.

My wife buys her sheep feed in Mechanicsburg all the time, so I know.

Hey, the Harrisburg Patriot-News did an article on her last year and they spelled Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute correctly. The least RPI can do is learn how to spell Mechanicsburg. :)
 
Re: RPI 2013-2014 Season

USCHO article that hits the nail on the head:

"Speaking of the Engineers, they are a team that continues to be an enigma. Wins over Harvard and Robert Morris, a tie with BU, but losses to Dartmouth, Yale, Vermont, and twice versus Connecticut. The latest was an RPI win at Providence followed by a two-goal comeback with an eventual overtime loss to the Friars. Are you starting to get a better handle on the Engineers? I confess that they still mystify me.

Candace: I don’t really think I have any better handle on the Engineers than you do. My correctly picking the split was more about Providence (and trying to gain ground on you in the picks race, which was futile since I missed the first games of the Minnesota State-Bemidji series and the Union-RIT series), than anything else.


"I kind of write off the win against Robert Morris, as it was the first game for both and the Colonials had yet to establish themselves as the powerhouse that they have become. The win over Harvard is more confusing to me, and I still don’t know what to make of it. Harvard had 30 shots in the game and just couldn’t score, so perhaps we chalk it up to the fact that the Crimson do struggle offensively a little, and that RPI goalie Kelly O’Brien played an amazing game.

If you look at RPI overall though, they generally win against teams they should beat and lose to those above them. They’ve lost to Cornell, Princeton, and Quinnipiac in the ECAC, and also have a loss against Northeastern. Some of it could be youth, as players we expected to do well for RPI, such as Alexa Gruschow, are off what should be their scoring pace. RPI looks to me to be a team likely to make the ECAC playoffs and then bow out in the first round against a much stronger opponent"
 
Last edited:
Re: RPI 2013-2014 Season

Something that I've noticed over the past few years (going back to '02-'03) is that, excepting the '09-'10 season, the leading scorers have been typically underclassmen. I know the classes typically get harder as you get to junior/senior level. Would that explain the fall off or is there something else going on?
 
Re: RPI 2013-2014 Season

Hockeydad4two said:
Something that I've noticed over the past few years (going back to '02-'03) is that, excepting the '09-'10 season, the leading scorers have been typically underclassmen. I know the classes typically get harder as you get to junior/senior level. Would that explain the fall off or is there something else going on?
Click to expand...

Noted this on other teams as well, particularly the lower performing ones. Couple of possible explanations I've heard (take your pick - different ones apply to different players/programs):

- Girls youth hockey in general is improving at a significant rate. As a result, entering freshman have gained the advantage of that improvement and when they come in in many cases are playing at a higher level then the juniors/seniors as a result.
- Many college coaches don't really develop players but largely take advantage of their already developed skills. As a result, juniors and seniors have spent 3 or 4 years without significantly improving and, because the level of the game is rising around them, they fall back against the competition.
- There is too much emphasis on endurance and strength training in college and not enough on skill development and as a result players lose the agility that enabled them to be successful as freshmen
- Players, realizing that hockey is ending, start focusing on other things (like a career for instance) and lose the drive that enabled them to be so successful as freshmen. This would be particularly true of players on losing teams.
 
Re: RPI 2013-2014 Season

What a great game tonight! RPI 3-2 over Quinnipiac. Engineers skated circles around the Bobcats for two periods but then QU put in a very strong third period to make it close. This RPI team may have its weaknesses, but man are they fast!!! At times tonight they looked like an entire team of Whitney Naslunds.
 
Re: RPI 2013-2014 Season

Great 3 point weekend for the Engineers. Apart from a 6 minute slumber party at the start of today's game this was a VERY impressive performance by RPI. Can't stress enough what an exciting team this is to watch! They are at their best when they use their considerable speed to mount an aggressive forecheck...and when they hesitate they get in trouble.

BTW: anybody know why Smelker was out of action this weekend?
 
Last edited:
Re: RPI 2013-2014 Season

First predictions after the long break:

Range - 2nd - 12th (We ended up in 2nd once in the 100,000 simulations)
Mean Rank - 7.4
Median Rank - 8th
Mode Rank - 8th
Home Playoffs - 0.5%
Playoffs - 83.7%
Most likely opponent - @Cornell (32.8%)
 
hab said:
What a great game tonight! RPI 3-2 over Quinnipiac. Engineers skated circles around the Bobcats for two periods but then QU put in a very strong third period to make it close. This RPI team may have its weaknesses, but man are they fast!!! At times tonight they looked like an entire team of Whitney Naslunds.
Click to expand...

We owe a big thanks to the QPac coach who sent Babstock off the ice about 6 min into the second for attatidue. Once she left the ice we completely dominated play for the rest of the period scoring 3 goals and allowing only a single shot on net by QPac During their power play.

QPac recovered coming out strong in the third but our girls managed to hang on for the big win.

Smelker has a concussion but was cleared to start practicing today.
 
hab said:
Great 3 point weekend for the Engineers. Apart from a 6 minute slumber party at the start of today's game this was a VERY impressive performance by RPI. Can't stress enough what an exciting team this is to watch! They are at their best when they use their considerable speed to mount an aggressive forecheck...and when they hesitate they get in trouble.

BTW: anybody know why Smelker was out of action this weekend?
Click to expand...

With Princeton losing to Union the day before we had to expect them to come out flying at the start. Not sure why the girls were not ready.

RPI Did a great job taking control of the game and earning the tie .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top