Another Weekend

So what has happened over the last few days of RPI hockey? Well RPI got blown the heck out by Colgate, 8-3 (during the Freakout nonetheless) but bounced back to tie Harvard and beat Dartmouth. RPI is definitely leveling out to a .500 team but the terrible start (and let's face it terrible middle) of the season still has them near the bottom of the ECAC with very little opportunity to get home ice for the upcoming ECAC playoffs.

This weekend includes a Senior Night on Saturday as well as RPI hosting 2 teams, the Q and Princeton. Princeton has the same anemic win percentage as RPI (.317) and is definitely within RPI's sights given their better play recently. The Q is a .500 team and has motivation to try and leapfrog Harvard and Clarkson for the coveted 4th slot in the ECAC. Based on record alone, I am predicting a split weekend for the Cherry and White with a loss to the Q but rallying for senior night to beat up on the Tigers.

This has been a tough season for this RPI watcher but I will always be cheering on the lads no matter what. Next week is the end of the regular season, we will see if the guys can end on a high note!

As always, here are USCHO's picks.

Quinnipiac at Rensselaer

Nate: The last match between these two team’s was decided by a last-second goal by Yuri Bouharevich, who was left wide open thanks to mental lapse by the Engineers. RPI has turned it around a bit since then, while Quinnipiac has split the last two weeks. This is a big one if the Bobcats have their sights on a bye, but I like RPI on their home ice. RPI 3-2

Brian: Do I pick the stingy, low-scoring home team or the brutally inconsistent grab bag of offensive flair that is visiting Quinnipiac? Goodman’s suspension doesn’t hurt QU much on the stats side of things, but he’s a big boy who’s not afraid to mix it up every now and again. I think that may become a factor against RPI’s big, banging defense, and for lack of a better reason to pick ‘em, I’ll throw in that hockey karma might be against the Bobcats for the time being. 2-1 Engineers.

Princeton at Rensselaer

Nate: It’s at home, it’s senior night, and RPI has been playing fairly well over the last month. RPI 4-3

Brian: Princeton has surrendered 16 goals in its last five games. So has RPI. The distribution of those goals, however, has been far more consistent by the Tigers. I’ll take the Engineers’ frequently stalwart defense and goaltending in a tight one, 3-2.

Read more: http://www.uscho.com/ecac-blog/2012/02/17/ecac-hockey-picks-feb-17-18/#ixzz1mer5aIOt