Preview: Miami at RPI

Miami lost a pair of poignant games to RPI in Oxford last December, but overall the RedHawks’ track record vs. the Engineers is excellent, especially in Troy.

MU rides a four-game winning streak at RPI, and the RedHawks’ lone road loss against the Engineers was in 1984.

VFG takes a look at the upcoming series:

WHO: Miami RedHawks (2-0) at RPI Engineers (0-0).

WHERE: Houston Field House (4,780), Troy, N.Y.

WHEN: Friday–7 p.m.; Saturday–6 p.m.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Miami leads, 8-4.

VIDEO STREAMING: ESPN+ ($).

MIAMI RADIO: Miamiredhawks.com, Greg Waddell (PxP).

NOTES: RPI has not played a regular season game this season, but it did fall, 3-0 to Boston University in an exhibition on Sunday.

American International coach Eric Lang took over behind the Engineers bench this off-season after leading that team to four consecutive NCAA Tournament berths in 2019-22 (RPI earned its way into the tournament in 2020 that didn’t happen due to COVID).

RPI hasn’t had a winning record in five years, and its last 20-win season was 2010-11 — which was also its last NCAA Tournament appearance.

Goalie Bruno Bruveris, who played 34 games and over 1,700 minutes for the RedHawks the past two seasons, was a key acquisition for RPI and may start at least one game this weekend.

Sudbury product Nate Krawchuk will also compete for playing time between the pipes, as he played in 47 games for the Wolves recorded a .901 save percentage.

Sophomore Carson Dorfman is the Engineers’ lone returning netminder. He logged just nine minutes in 2024-25 but stopped all six shots he faced.

RPI is carrying 10 defensemen on its 28-man roster, of which only three return from last season.

Junior Jimmy Goffredo dressed for all of the Engineers’ 35 games in 2024-25, scoring two goals and dishing for three assists. Sophomore Gustavs Ozolins went 1-2-3 in 31 games, and junior Lucas Matta did not record a point in 19 games.

One of RPI’s key transfers on defense is Gunnar VanDamme, who had five goals and 11 assists with Alaska-Anchorage the past two seasons.

Up front, only two of the Engineers’ six 20-point producers return (and both finished last season with exactly 20): Dovar Tinling and Jagger Tapper.

Tinling finished second on the team with 10 goals, and Tapper — as a freshman — led the team in plus-minus (9) and tied for the team lead in power play goals (3) and game winners (2).

Former Miami commit Ian Scherzer will likely make his collegiate debut for RPI this weekend.

The RedHawks swept Ferris State, 6-4 and 3-1.

Forward David Deputy appears week-to-week after suffering a hit along the boards last weekend, and it’s still unclear if goalie Shika Gadzhiev will be eligible to play in this series.

The RedHawks’ Michael Quinn scored against RPI last season, and Blake Mesenburg picked up an assist in that series.