Tonight's game really felt like a low point for this team to me, and outside of goaltending which was fantastic, looked to me like some of the worst low effort hockey by RPI I've seen in at least two years. Union came in with a goal in mind: win any way possible. RPI on the other hand came in looking tired, and then appeared like they gave up after conceding the first goal. On offense they wouldn't shoot, choosing to pass the puck leading to Union getting it back the majority of the time. I get they're looking for the perfect shot, but you're not going to get it in D1 hockey. When it feels like every time we get the puck we don't shoot, it signals to the fans we are not trying to win the game, making it a dread to watch.
Likewise, Union on the other hand was taking every possible opportunity on offense. If it was not for an outstanding performance by our goaltender, this could of, and probably should have been a 5-0 or 6-0 game. I listened to the game last night on the radio, and watched today's game, and I am convinced that the team that WRPI was talking about yesterday was not the same team that played today.
Worst of all, they played like that on Blackout night, meaning a large portion of attendance is people who wouldn't normally go to games. If the one game you went to because of the special event had the team you were rooting for looking tired and unmotivated, why would you ever go back that same season? Its no wonder that attendance has been terrible this season.
I'm holding out faith that Lang can fix this, but the fact of the matter is, if RPI is this outmatched by Union, how are they going to be able to be competitive against any of the ECAC schools? Likewise, we have now been shut out in 3/9 (2/8 not counting exhibition) times. How many more times are we going to be shut out before this team going to start using their time on offense to shoot rather than pass?
On the plus side, I think we found our goaltender. Talk about an outstanding weekend in net for RPI.