RPI Eliminated @ Clarkson & Offseason Outlook

The Engineers lost a close battle to Clarkson last Friday

Photo: Maggie Kelley

Well, it has been a week since RPI’s season officially ended, and it’s given us some time to reflect on the season that was. The 2025-26 RPI Engineers were a team defined by progress and hard work. It was a team starved for goal-scoring talent back in October as 20 new faces came together for the first time. And while they failed to advance out of the first round, the growth that this team had was nothing short of remarkable. Engineer fans should leave this season feeling incredibly optimistic for what’s to come in this program.

Clarkson Game Breakdown

We highlighted in our previews how RPI was a bit fortunate in the season series to get timely scoring and some strong goaltending. The reason we like to use metrics in our work is because they should act as a regression to the mean. While RPI had won those two regular season games, Clarkson did possess the puck more and out chance them, which is why this game made me a bit nervous. It was no surprise that RPI’s tight defensive style showed through in this one, but Clarkson really cleaned it up in their own end and made it tough for the Engineers to generate anything.

The one lapse that the Knights made was a misplay in their own end leading right to an Ian Scherzer goal. Clarkson answered just a minute later on a goal from Tate Taylor to make it 1-1. This one had the makings of a playoff classic as it grinded deep into the 3rd, but Justin Cote’s shot from between the circles gave the Knights all they would need. Krawchuk probably wants that one back, but he had made 4-5 saves before that to keep RPI in this one. Clarkson was always going to be a tough draw for RPI given their heavy possession style, hunger to avoid a 3rd loss to RPI, and the challenge of Cheel Arena. RPI wasn’t bad on this night, they just didn’t quite generate enough to put Clarkson on their heels. It’s a disappointing finish for a team that was surging and had high hopes of playing another weekend.

Offseason Lookahead

We have a bunch of offseason content planned where we will go more in-depth on what needs to be upgraded, potential departures, arrivals, and the recruiting class. For now though, here is what we know:

Definitely Departing (4): Dovar Tinling (F), Luc Wilson (F), Lucas Matta (F/D), Trevor Russell (D)
Expected Arrivals (7): Jordan Gavin (F), Caleb Hadland (F), Josh Evaschesen (F), Harrison Lodewyk (F), James Guo (D), Grayson Burzynski (D), Ryan Michael (D)

In our opinion, the high priority keeps are: Rainers Rullers (F), Filip Sitar (F), Matthew Buckley (F), Ian Scherzer (F), Tyler Wallace (F), Thomas Klassek (D), Kaz Sobieski (D), Nate Krawchuk (G)

Well, 4 does not equal 7, and Lang said on his radio spot this week that they will look to upgrade anywhere they can, so I do think some departures will come. I don’t expect heavy usage of the transfer portal like last year, but that is another thing to monitor too.

To wrap the ‘25-’26 season, we want to thank all of you that support us here at The Field House and have been behind the program every step of the way. It has been a transformational year for RPI Hockey and we truly feel that this is just the tip of the iceberg for things to come. Stay tuned here as we take you through the Engineer offseason and look ahead to the ‘26-’27 season in a few short months. Let’s go red!