RPI puts focus on Uconn, not Union
Engineers try to avenge earlier loss to Huskies before facing Dutchmen
The marquee game of the week in college hockey, at least locally, comes Saturday when Union and RPI head to downtown Albany to play the seventh edition of the Mayor’s Cup at Times Union Center.
Before that game can be played, RPI will play a rare midweek game when it faces Connecticut of Hockey East on Wednesday night in the XL Center, formerly Hartford Civic Center.
Tuesday, RPI went through an afternoon practice at Houston Field House before boarding a bus for the ride to Connecticut. Coach Dave Smith and his players say they aren’t thinking at all about Union. That will start sometime after the Engineers start their trip back to campus following the Wednesday night game.
“It’s nice that we have a game so we aren’t looking forward to (Mayor’s Cup),” RPI senior defenseman Tommy Grant said before practice. “It’s kind of nice to have a midweek game. This is the first one I have had in my four years.”
played at Robert Morris from 2006-09, is the current leader with 3,809 saves. Simple math tells you that Selander is 257 saves away from tying Mclaughlin. Selander is averaging 32 saves per game and has 12 games left in the regular season, including Saturday’s Mayor’s Cup game with Union at Times Union Center.
If she gets her average in those games, she would breeze into the top spot with 3,936 saves.
But that’s not what it’s all about for the personable Selander, who is also third among Division I goalies with a .942 save percentage. She doesn’t think about individual glory even thought she has stopped 617 of the 655 shots taken on her this season.
“Not really,” she said after RPI ended practice Tuesday evening at Houston Field House. “For me, getting the wins and the points are more important than stats.”
When prodded, she smiles and admits to checking the stats, but only “every once in a while.”
RPI is 8-10-4 overall and 5-5 in the ECAC, tied for sixth place. The Engineers will look to move up in the standings when they play Union twice this weekend. The schools will play at Houston Field House on Friday before moving to downtown Albany for Saturday afternoon’s game at 3 p.m. Unlike the men’s game, the women’s game is an ECAC league game.
Selander said she has been playing goal ever since she can remember. Back home in Sollentuna,
which is 20 miles north of Stockholm, she remembers getting her first goalie equipment when she was 8.
“I have two older brothers,” she said. “I was pretty much put in the net. We just always played a lot as kids in the backyard.”
One brother, Jacob, crossed the pond to play collegiate golf at Mt. Mercy University in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (2011-2015). The younger sister also had dreams of becoming a collegiate athlete in the states.
She studied colleges and fell in love with RPI not only because of hockey but because of the scholastic opportunity; Selander is a chemical engineering major.
Hockey will occupy most of her time once she leaves school. She dreams of representing her country in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and also could play in the National Women’s Hockey League with the Boston Pride.
Selander got a taste of her country’s national team in November when she played for Sweden in the Four Nations Cup Tournament in Canada. She stopped 46 of the 52 shots she faced in Sweden’s 6-1 loss to the powerful Canadians.
“It was so much fun to play Canada; Canada is at a different level,” she said. “It is also fun to be able to compare yourself to the rest of the world.”
Before that, she will concentrate on doing all she can do to help RPI win as many games as possible.
“She is always learning, that’s what the great players do,” said RPI coach Bryan Vines. “And it’s never about her. You can almost lose sight of her in practices or the weight room because she is such a great teammate and a great person.”