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Engineers Shut Down Big Red

RPI Hands Cornell First Home Shutout Since 1998

by Ken Schott/Special to USCHO
A Message

Mike Schafer rarely unloads on the officials, but he had a clear message to send after Saturday night's game against RPI.

Schafer was particularly upset on hit from behinds that went uncalled, or were called obstruction instead, which led to two injuries. Cornell also got away with a hit from behind late in the game. Meanwhile, Schafer said, referee Joel Dupree was making marginal obstruction calls away from the play, two of which led to the game's only two goals.

"We've got an official who calls 'obstruction interference' when one of our best players, our leading scorer [Matt Moulson], gets hit head first into the boards," said Schafer. "What the [bleep] is obstruction interference when a guy is hit head first into the boards? That's not obstruction interference, it's a damn hit from behind.

"Shane Hynes is standing behind the net and gets his shoulder separated from a hit from behind head first into the boards, there's no call. Yet he's gonna call Charlie Cook for holding the stick away from the play and give them a 5-on-3?"

Dupree also blew a number of early whistles around the net, three of which nullified possible Cornell scoring chances, and another that nullified an RPI chance.

"Don't discredit [them]. I thought RPI, Nathan Marsters, played a helluva game. They did a great job," said Schafer. "And part of it's on our guys — we competed very hard to get back in it, they did a great job killing penalties, they executed on their 4-on-3, they did things that we didn't do. But the biggest thing is, Joel Dupree can't have that kind of influence on a hockey game. He's gotta protect Shane Hynes. He's gotta call a 5-minute major and kick the kid out of the damn game. And if he's not doing that, he's not doing his job. And if he's not getting the direction from the league on that, then shame on us.

"You think Nathan Marsters intentionally blew a wheel and knocked the damn net off? He knows it, everybody knows it, but he won't call it. Great play by Nathan, smart play, helluva smart play. I don't blame him. I just don't understand what we're looking at when we watch a game."

ECAC Director of Officials Paul Duffy was in attendance.

Schafer was quick to point out that he was upset with Friday night's game as well, a 1-1 tie with Union, refereed by Peter Feola. Both teams, Schafer said, got away with blatant obstructions while more innocent plays were called penalties.

"That's two of the most horse[bleep] refereed games back to back since I've been associated as a head coach in this league, and it's damn embarassing," Schafer said. "You've got three players in the last three games [at Lynah], a slash to the jaw, a hit from behind, a slash to the hand, another hit from behind, are all [bleeping] hurt because these guys won't protect the student athlete. I'm not asking for judgment calls, I'm asking them to protect the damn players in the game.

"For both teams. We kneed a kid last night in the Union game, and there's no penalty. It's a damn knee, and he should be penalized for two minutes.

"They gotta make a damn decision around here, are they going to protect the damn students or are they just going to let people run roughshod in our league. To me, they're letting people run roughshod and do what the [heck] they want. It's clear in the rink — everyone in the rink — Shane Hynes got drilled head first into the boards. I don't think anybody ever argues that. Where's the call? That's what I want to know."

Schafer said he hopes the league will review the weekend.

"Don't take anything away from RPI. We have to look within to the stupid penalties we took tonight, and judge ourselves on that," Schafer said. "But Joel Dupree has to judge himself on what the [heck] he was doing out here tonight, why two kids are out with separated shoulders and there's no call on either one of them. He's got to have the same kind of reflection on his performance."

— Adam Wodon

ITHACA, N.Y. (Jan. 17, 2004) — Cornell has been a dominant defensive force the past couple of seasons. The Big Red play an aggressive defense, and are particularly adept at blocking shots and closing off the shooting and passing lanes.

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Rensselaer: Team Page | Schedule
Cornell: Team Page | Schedule

Saturday night at Lynah Rink, Rensselaer defeated 10th-ranked Cornell at its own game. The Engineers were the ones frustrating the Big Red offense. Goalie Nathan Marsters made 22 saves, and the defense blocked 16 shots in their 2-0 ECAC victory.

“RPI blocked a lot of shots,” Cornell coach Mike Schafer said. “Nathan was there when we did get them through. Going into the game, we knew we had to beat him upstairs, and we threw it downstairs on him. Give them a lot of credit, they played a hell of a hockey game, and I told our guys before the game, I thought they were one of the best teams in the ECAC.”

The win moved the Engineers (12-9-2, 7-4-1 ECAC) into second place in the league standings. They are four points behind first-place Brown.

There were two other significant milestones. The victory ended RPI’s seven-game losing streak against Cornell, which eliminated the Engineers in last year’s ECAC tournament quarterfinals. It’s also the first time the Big Red (5-2-3, 7-4-6) have been shut out at home since Feb. 28, 1998, when Union’s Trevor Koenig blanked them, 1-0.

“The ‘D’ played unbelievably tonight,” said Marsters, who earned his second shutout of the season. “They didn’t give them much five-on-five, blocking shots all over the ice. On the PKs [penalty kills] , those are big guys in front of me, and I can’t see much. They were blocking a lot, and clearing them away and tying them up. You’ve got to credit everything to those guys.”

Blake Pickett was one of defensemen sacrificing his body to block shots in front of Marsters, especially during seven Cornell power plays.

“If it keeps [the puck] out of the net and gets them into the corners, I’ll get hit as many times as it takes,” Pickett said. “It was a real good team effort out there. We played solid defense all night.”

It was the kind of effort RPI coach Dan Fridgen wanted to see after his team’s 3-1 loss Friday at Colgate.

“It’s a huge win,” Fridgen said. “I thought we did a great job of getting the puck low, keeping it simple and getting it out when we needed to get it out, because they can live off the pressure that they put on you on the forecheck. That’s how they survive.

“It just goes to show that you have to pay the price if you’re going to beat good, good teams. Cornell’s a good team, and we were willing to pay the price tonight. I said it [Friday] night that we had some wasted talented out on the ice. Tonight, we didn’t waste anything.”

Both of RPI’s goals came on the power play. Scott Basiuk scored on a four-on-three at 12:23 of the second period, blasting a slap shot from the right circle past goalie David McKee.

Oren Eizenman got the other one on a two-man advantage at 7:52 of the third period. He ripped a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle past McKee’s glove.

“We were just moving the puck,” Basiuk said. “Oren had a beautiful goal.”

Notebook: Brad Farynuk assisted on both goals. … RPI’s last win against Cornell was March 2, 2001, a 2-1 triumph at Lynah. … The last time RPI blanked Cornell was in Game 2 of the first round of the 1998 ECAC tournament. The Engineers won, 3-0, behind Joel Laing. … McKee made 26 saves.

Ken Schott covers college hockey for The Daily Gazette in Schenectady, N.Y.--