Last weekend was a great rebound that saw the Saints go 1-0-1 against Colgate and Cornell, allowing a total of two goals. This was a big weekend for the Saints who had gone winless in their last 8 games, and managed just one tie in that span. Now, having improved mightily in the last three games, they face off against RPI, who is ranked T-8th in the ECAC with 13 points, just two behind SLU. This is a crucial win for SLU, who is ranked 5th in the ECAC, but 4 teams are within two points of SLU.
RPI wins games on defense, allowing just over 2 goals per game. They don't have a big point producer, their leading scorer is Jordan Smelker with 16 points, but instead play to win low scoring games. They have a +1 goal differential, so if SLU can score some goals, it will make their life a lot easier, especially with Carmen MacDonald on watch behind them, fresh of her ECAC Goalie of the Week award. It's likely to be Kelly O'Brien in net opposite MacDonald. O'Brien owns a 2.00 GAA and a .916 save percentage in 23 games.
For SLU, its important to continue to play they way they did last weekend. In both games, especially the Cornell game, the Saints came out playing really hard, and took a quick lead. They fell behind early against Colgate, but responded fast to tie it. Both starts were great, and if they continue that trend against RPI, and maybe get an early goal, and continually outwork RPI, they shouldn't struggle too much against the Engineers.
The intensity needs to be high for the Saints. They really brought it against Cornell, and against Colgate, when coach Chris Wells thought the intensity wasn't high enough, he took a timeout and brought his team into the hallway. I don't know what he said, but whatever it was it worked. The Saints took the lead shortly thereafter, and went on to win the game. It's things like that that will make the difference in the game against RPI.
The puck drops at 7:00.
Also, Rylee Smith's game winning goal on Saturday was her 49th career goal. This weekend could be the one, be sure to watch for that.
RPI wins games on defense, allowing just over 2 goals per game. They don't have a big point producer, their leading scorer is Jordan Smelker with 16 points, but instead play to win low scoring games. They have a +1 goal differential, so if SLU can score some goals, it will make their life a lot easier, especially with Carmen MacDonald on watch behind them, fresh of her ECAC Goalie of the Week award. It's likely to be Kelly O'Brien in net opposite MacDonald. O'Brien owns a 2.00 GAA and a .916 save percentage in 23 games.
For SLU, its important to continue to play they way they did last weekend. In both games, especially the Cornell game, the Saints came out playing really hard, and took a quick lead. They fell behind early against Colgate, but responded fast to tie it. Both starts were great, and if they continue that trend against RPI, and maybe get an early goal, and continually outwork RPI, they shouldn't struggle too much against the Engineers.
The intensity needs to be high for the Saints. They really brought it against Cornell, and against Colgate, when coach Chris Wells thought the intensity wasn't high enough, he took a timeout and brought his team into the hallway. I don't know what he said, but whatever it was it worked. The Saints took the lead shortly thereafter, and went on to win the game. It's things like that that will make the difference in the game against RPI.
The puck drops at 7:00.
Also, Rylee Smith's game winning goal on Saturday was her 49th career goal. This weekend could be the one, be sure to watch for that.
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