Senior night is a funny thing. You play for four years, score one goal in your career — and then break out on the last game of the season at home.
Such was the case for Eric Cavosie and the Rensselaer Engineers.
Cavosie scored twice, including the game-winner, and added an assist as the Engineers defeated Vermont, 4-2 on Saturday night. Cavosie scored the second and third goals of his career, breaking a 97-game scoreless streak.
“Coach [Dan Fridgen] keeps telling me that I have a good shot and I’ve been trying to transfer it from practice to a game. It’s been tough, but tonight, something just clicked for me,” said Cavosie.
With the Engineers up 2-1 in the third period, the Engineers went on the power play. A quick pass from Kevin Croxton to Cavosie resulted in a one-time snapshot that found the space between Shawn Conschafter and the post. It was Cavosie’s second goal and second power-play goal of the game.
“You just go on hunches and that was what I threw together after a lot of thought this morning and they played well together and had intensity,” said Fridgen. “Eric does those things in practice, he puts them into a net and it just never carried into a game situation, and to score two goals and to win by two goals and this being Senior Night, I can’t see anything more fitting.”
After John Longo scored a shorthanded goal for Vermont, the Engineers responded as Conschafter misplayed a puck and Croxton had an easy empty-net goal to seal the 4-2 win for the Engineers.
The Engineers (10-23-3) will head to Union for the first round of the ECAC playoffs next weekend while Vermont (11-18-3) will go to Clarkson.
The Engineers opened up the scoring in the first on Cavosie’s first goal. He received a pass from Nolan Graham and, on the backhand, ripped one high over the shoulder of Conschafter.
That goal broke his scoreless streak and resulted in an incredible goal dance from Cavosie, during which he almost decapitated a few people by swinging his stick around like a lasso.
“It took me a second to figure out what to do because it’s been so long since I scored,” joked Cavosie. “It clicked right in, though; it was like riding a bike.”
The Cats tied it on the power play as Bryson Busniuk scored, but the Engineers answered when Graham scored on the power play to make it 2-1 through two periods of play before Cavosie’s game-winner in the third.
“I was proud of the fact that we had the lead and we kept it. We didn’t break down in situations where we would have in the past,” said Fridgen. “This is a whole new month and that’s the way we’re looking at it. To win your last home of the season is a big boost for the seniors and the team as we head to Schenectady.”
