RPI Releases 2011-12 Schedule
TROY, N.Y. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women’s ice hockey schedule for the 2011-12 season has been finalized. The Engineers, who are coming off their third straight appearance in the ECAC Hockey Playoffs, will play 34 games, including 18 at the Houston Field House. Highlighting this year’s schedule are six games against 2011 NCAA Tournament teams, including a pair of home contests against last year’s National Champions, Wisconsin University.
RPI kicks off the season with an exhibition game at the Field House against the Toronto Aeros on September 23. The regular season schedule opens the following weekend with the first of six straight road contests, beginning with a two-game set at the University of Connecticut on September 30 and October 1. The Engineers travel to the University of Vermont on October 7 and 8 before wrapping up their road trip with a pair of games at Niagara University on October 14 and 15.
Rensselaer then opens its home schedule on October 21 and 22 against Robert Morris University. Those games, which also mark RPI’s Reunion & Homecoming Weekend, are the start of a six-game home stand as the Engineers open their 22-game ECAC Hockey schedule the following weekend, welcoming Quinnipiac (Oct. 28) and Princeton (Oct. 29).
League play continues over the next two weeks as RPI hosts St. Lawrence (Nov. 4) and Clarkson (Nov. 5), before traveling to Brown (Nov. 11) and Yale (Nov. 12). The Engineers return home for an exciting two-game, non-conference set against Wisconsin (Nov. 18-19), the defending National Champs, and wrap up the month with home games versus Syracuse (Nov. 25-26).
Rensselaer closes out the fall semester the following weekend, traveling to the North Country for conference games at Clarkson (Dec. 2) and St. Lawrence (Dec. 3).
Following a month-long layoff, RPI opens at home against Colgate (Jan. 6) and two-time NCAA Semifinalists, Cornell (Jan. 7). The Engineers are off to Dartmouth (Jan. 13) and Harvard (Jan. 14) the next weekend, but return to the Field House for games against Yale (Jan. 20) and Brown (Jan. 21).
Rensselaer closes out the month of January with a home-and-home series against area-rival Union. The Engineers travel to Schenectady on January 27 and host the Dutchwomen the following day.
The Engineers open the final stretch of the season on the road at Cornell (Feb. 3) and Colgate (Feb. 4), and is back the following weekend for the final home games of 2011-12 against Harvard (Feb. 10) and Dartmouth (Feb. 11). RPI closes out its regular season schedule on February 17 and 18 at Princeton and Quinnipiac, respectively.
Under the direction of head coach John Burke, Rensselaer posted a 10-18-7 overall record in 2010-11 with an 8-12-2 ECAC Hockey mark. RPI fell in a best-of-three quarterfinal series to eventual conference champion and NCAA Semifinalist, Cornell.
