Dismantling a Scoring Machine

How impotent was the RPI offense last night! Let's put it this way--the Engineers the ECAC's top scorers, were held to only one goal for the first time all season. Not only that. RPI, which averaged six goals a game during the regular season, managed only 25 shots on net and few of those really tested Crimson netminder Grant Blair.

Why such little offense from a squad that racked up 10 goals against ECAC powerhouse UNH and eight redlighters against St. Lawrence earlier in the season?

Inexperience

RPI Coach Mike Addesa claimed it was his team's inexperience. The Engineer's leading scorer George Servinis, who led the ECAC with a total of 49 points (27 goals, 22 assists) is only a freshman, as are his linemates. Adam Oates, and Mark Jooris. Since this line accounted for almost half the squad's regular-season tallies, jitters on their part might be an adequate explanation.

But these aren't your typical college rookies playing in their first playoff game. All three have played in high-level Canadian junior leagues. Servinis and Oates are both 20 years old.

The Crimson defense never let the Engineers generate anything. The RPI attack was shut down before the puck crossed the blue line.

No Free Ice

"We just didn't give them any free ice on center ice" Harvard Coach Bill Cleary explained after the game.

Defenseman Ken Code attributed Harvard's success to the play of the forwards. "The forward's backchecking meant that we could meet [RPI] at the blue line standing up."

Senior forward Greg Britz who shared quite a bit of ice time with Servinis, was one of the key factors in dismantling the RPI scoring machine. He stuck with Servinis in front of the net and simply did not let him touch the puck too often.

Britz was less than awed by the league's top scorer. "He's a good stick handler and he plays well off the puck, but he's a little weak. He's not a tough kid."

In addition to the backchecking of the Crimson forwards, the Harvard defensemen pitched in keeping the slot in front of Blair Lairly free of Engineers. One play indicative of their overall effort came in the second period, with the score 3-1 in Harvard's favor.

RPI forwards John Carter and Mike Sadeghpour had the puck in front of the Crimson net and a goal seemed imminent Harvard defenseman. Mitch Olson had lost his stick, yet he closed up the shooting lane and managed to freeze the puck on the boards.

"We understand that they are good scorers," Olson said after the game. "You just play them tighter and don't take unreasonable chances. Mostly you just do what you do well."