RPI, Union, advance in ECAC playoffs
TROY, N.Y. » In a thrilling First Round matchup of the ECAC Hockey Playoffs, the No. 12 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Engineers emerged victorious against the No. 5 Clarkson Golden Knights with a final score of 3-2 on the road. The win, led by a decisive third-period goal from sophomore Sutter Muzzatti, marked RPI’s second triumph in Potsdam this season.
The Engineers wasted no time asserting their dominance, with Tyler Hotson finding the back of the net a mere 40 seconds into the contest. A deflected pass from Ryan Brushett set up the early 1-0 lead for RPI, with Dovar Tinling earning the other assist.
Clarkson had a chance to tie the game while on the power play, getting two solid chances on hard shots from Ayrton Martino and Noah Beck, but RPI goaltender Jack Watson was up to the task, smothering both shots without a rebound.
RPI would get a second goal on its first chance on the power play just a few moments later. Jack Agnew controlled the puck in the high slot and slid a pass to Austin Heidemann at the left circle. Heidemann patiently waited for the play to develop and, instead of passing the puck back up to the point, stayed low and sent a pass to the opposite side of the crease. Although a Clarkson defender held up John Beaton’s stick from converting on the one-timer, the puck caught enough of the blade and trickled over the goal line to make it 2-0 at 11:38 in the first.
The second period was fairly quiet for the first nine minutes as each team had only one shot on goal in that run of time. Clarkson had several good scoring chances in the final six minutes, only to see Watson deny them all. Jesse Tucker was denied by a sliding stop at the 13:54 mark and about 90 seconds later Watson covered up another shot that went off the post. In the waning seconds of the frame, Watson kicked away one
shot and had another sliding save to keep the Knights off the scoreboard through 40 minutes.
Clarkson looked to get some momentum going in the third when the Engineers were whistled for a penalty, but the Knights were called for their own infraction a minute later. Skating four-on-four, the Engineers seemingly put the game away near the midway point of the period. Lauri Sertti chipped a backhand pass up ice to Sutter Muzzatti from blue line to blue line, and Muzzatti took a few strides in before wristing a shot from the top of the left circle past Roden’s glove side at the 9:05 mark.
Clarkson cut into the deficit with just under seven minutes to go, getting an offensive zone faceoff after RPI was called for icing. Right off the draw, Tristan Sarsland took a shot from the blue line with the rebound bouncing out to Ellis Rickwood in the slot, where the sophomore would not miss, converting at 13:13 to put the score at 3-1.
The Knights pulled Roden with roughly 3:20 remaining in the game and immediately put pressure on the Engineers but Watson, who made 34 saves on the evening, continued to stand on his head in the RPI crease, forcing Clarkson to take its timeout with 2:37 to go. It appeared as if RPI would get a reset, but a scrum in the slot kept the puck in the offensive zone and Mathieu Gosselin’s one-timer ripped past Watson to make it 3-2.
With this triumph, RPI. 10-21-4, advances to the next round of the playoffs, where they will face the top-seeded Quinnipiac Bobcats in a best-of-three series in Hamden, Conn. next weekend.
Meanwhile in Schenectady, the No. 6 Union College Garnet Chargers blanked the No. 11 Brown Bears, 6-0.
Four different skaters found the back of the net with senior Ben Tupker and junior Caden Villegas netting two goals apiece. Senior Chaz Smedsrud extended his goal streak to five games, one of the longest active goal streaks in men’s Division I hockey. First-year DJ Hart scored his first collegiate goal in the victory with one of Union’s two short-handed goals.
Union opened the scoring in the first period and never looked back. Nixon won a battle in the corner and kicked the puck out to junior Cullen Ferguson in the high slot. The defender fired a wrister through traffic. Nixon added a shot off the rebound, but Lawton Zacher made a pad save. Villegas picked up the rebound and cashed in on the open net.
The Garnet Chargers added two in the middle frame starting with a short-handed goal from Hart. Senior Ville Immonen made a play behind the net and chipped the puck out to Hart in the slot, who fired the wrister past Zacher. Union pushed the lead to three goals after senior Liam Robertson forced a turnover in the defensive end of the ice and chipped it ahead to Smedsrud. The senior winger sent a one-timer from the top of the leftwing circle for his fourteenth goal of the year.
Union scored three goals in the final period to put the game out of reach. As a pair of matching penalties expired, senior Nathan Kelly made a pass from behind the net to Tupker in the slot and the captain sent it past Zacher for his first of the night. The Garnet Chargers registered their fifth goal with 8:27 remaining in the third period. Immonen won the faceoff directly to Zacher’s left and Villegas immediately took a shot for his second goal of the game. After drawing a penalty, Brown pulled Zacher for the extra attacker. Tupker forced a turnover high in the slot in the defensive zone and ripped a shot down the ice for the short-handed empty-netter.
Union outshot the Bears 40-22 and dominated in the faceoff circle with 41 wins to Brown’s 26.
Sophomore netminder Kyle Chauvette stopped all 22 shots he faced for his third shutout this season and fourth career clean sheet. Zacher made 34 saves, including 17 in the first period.
Union is on the road next weekend for the best-ofthree ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals.