RPI looks to clinch ECAC tournament first round bye
The Engineers close out their regular season schedule this weekend, when they visit Harvard University and Dartmouth College on Friday (7pm) and Saturday (7pm), respectively.
BIG HOME SWEEP
RPI outscored the opposition 11-1 last week in winning its final two regular season home games over then-No. 16 Quinnipiac (40) and Princeton (7-1) on Senior Night. Senior Todd Burgess paced the Engineers offensive with five goals on the weekend, including four against the Tigers on Saturday. Owen Savory posted a 37save shutout – his fourth of the year – against the Bobcats, before stopped 21 of 22 shots in Saturday night.
RPI LEADERS
Rensselaer senior Chase Zieky (7 goals, 15 assists) has a teamhigh 22 points, while classmates Todd Burgess (13 goals, 6 assists), Will Reilly (8 goals, 11 assists) and Mike Gornall (5 goals, 14 assists) all have 19 apiece. Fellow seniors Patrick Polino (10 goals, 7 assists) and Jake Marrello (6 goals, 11 assists) are joined by Ture Linden (5 goals, 12 assists) with 17 points each.
GOALTENDING
Sophomore Owen Savory (119-2) has a 2.20 goals against average and a .926 save percentage in 22 starts, while junior Linden Marshall (3-3-0) has a 2.90 goals
against average and a .904 save percentage in eight games (6 starts). Classmate Alec Calvaruso (1-3-0) has a 3.91 goals against average and a .869 save percentage in five games (4 starts).
VS. HARVARD
Rensselaer trails the alltime series with Harvard 38-58-8. The Engineers won the inaugural meeting, 6-2, on December 27, 1951, in Troy.
Harvard has won four out of the last six matchups against RPI going 4-11. Rensselaer’s last win against Harvard came on January 13, 2017, with a score of 4-0. Freshman Casey Dornbach scored in overtime to lift Harvard to a 3-2 victory over RPI at Bright-Landry Hockey Center. The Crimson then answered a first period Engineers goal with two in the each of the final two periods for a 4-1 victory on March 1, 2019, at the Houston Field House.
Harvard won 12 of 13 games from 1986-1989. The Engineers best stretch was from 1997-2000 when they won nine out of 10 games.
Rensselaer has competed against Harvard in 11 overtime games leading those games with a record of 3-2-7.
VS. DARTMOUTH
RPI leads the all-time series with Dartmouth, 4742-6. The Engineers and Big Green tied the inaugural meeting, 4-4, on January 17, 1908, in Albany.
Dartmouth saw it’s ninegame unbeaten streak end earlier his season with the Engineers’ 7-1 victory at the Houston Field House. The Big Green had an 8-0-1 mark over the last nine heading into the season. Dartmouth’s longest winning streak over RPI is eight games from 20042007. Rensselaer won seven straight from 19961999.
The Engineers have competed against Dartmouth in 15 overtime times, leading those games with a record of 7-2-6. Rensselaer has shut out Dartmouth a total of three times, most recently on February 2, 2013 – 3-0 at the Houston Field House.
TWO GARNER LEAGUE HONORS
ECAC Hockey has announced its weekly award winners Todd Burgess was named Player of the Week, while Owen Savory earned MAC Goaltending Goalie of the Week honors on February 24. It was the third time this season Savory has earned the award. Burgess led all of Division I college hockey with five goals last week, notching an ECAC Hockey-best two power play tallies with a +5 rating. Savory stopped 58 of the 59 shots he faced last week, going 2-0 with a 0.50 goals against average and a .983 save percentage.
STANDING THE HALL OF FAME
The 2020 RPI Athletics Hall of Fame Class was announced and two men’s hockey alumni have been selected in Marc Cavosie ‘03 and Matt Murley ‘02. The duo will be joined by three others at this year’s induction ceremony in April.
CONFERENCE SUCCESS
Individually, all three RPI netminders have had solid seasons in ECAC Hockey play. Owen Savory is 9-6-1 with a 1.90 goals against average and a .934 save percentage, while Alec Calvaruso (1-10) has a 2.03 goals against average and a .921 save percentage. Not to be outdone, Linden Marshall (11-0) boasts a 1.83 goals against average and a .938 save percentage.
The Engineers have a 1.99 team goals against average in 20 ECAC Hockey contests this season, which ranks third in the league and sixth nationally.
LUCKY SEVENS
RPI netted seven goals in a game for the third time this season on Saturday and not surprisingly, they are 3-0 in those contests.