After a tough showing at the Maverick Stampede, the Engineers came home still hungry for that first win; what they did at the Houston Field House is sure to fill their appetite—for now. In a scheduling quirk, the Engineers found themselves going toe-to-toe with the Huskies from the University of Connecticut, just one week after playing them in the consolation game of the Stampede. That game ended in a 3-3 tie and featured 26 penalties being called by officials looked to enforce the NCAA’s new rules.
This game featured slightly fewer whistles than that, due to a combination of the players being less obstructive and the officials letting more go. Despite this, RPI was still able to take advantage, notching a power play goal in the first period.
Throughout the first period, the ice seemed tilted toward the stage as the Engineers dominated, playing a strong puck possession game. Kirk MacDonald saw two early chances miss by the smallest of margins, including a shot that skittered across the goal line and went wide. He got redemption for the two near-misses, however, when he tipped a Matt McNeely shot home past goalie Brad Smith for the early lead.
Any momentum the Engineers may have gained was negated 2:10 later, when UConn knotted things up on a top-shelf goal from Mike Neilon. The puck went over goalie Jordan Alford’s right shoulder. Neilon also had a goal against Alford in the Stampede. Despite the 18-5 shot advantage the Engineers had in the first, the score was even.
After a back-and-forth second period, RPI took the lead for good late in the period. Neilon had just come out of the box after being called for hooking, RPI’s power play unit was still on the ice, and Brad Farynuk took a rebound off a Kevin Croxton shot and buried it with just 39.5 seconds left in the period.
MacDonald plotted another goal in the third, when his shot from the corner hit Smith’s glove and went in, with Croxton and Farynuk getting the assists. Chris Hussey stopped any attempt at a comeback, scoring on an empty net with 19 seconds left, sealing the game at 4-1. Alford, who was named ECAC Rookie of the Week, finished with 23 saves, and Smith had 31.
MacDonald added two more goals and classmate Kevin Croxton tallied one, plus three assists in the Engineers 7-4 against Northeastern in Boston late Tuesday night. Alford earned his second win in net. RPI also received goals from Nick Economakos, Andrew Lord, Jonathan Ornelas, and Mark Yurkewecz. Ornelas and Lord scored their first goals as Engineers.
The game was tied early in the thrid period, but Rensselaer ran off five unanswered goals to secure the victory.
The Engineers look to build on their momentum as they travel to West Point on Saturday to take on Army. The game is at 7 pm, and, in addition to being broadcast on WRPI, is being webcast on CSTV’s GameTracker Live.
