Goals were scored during Friday’s exhibition game early and often. The Engineers netted four goals in the first period, all on the power play. Among them were a goal by senior captain Kevin Croxton as a result of good puck movement, and a shot that freshman Andrei Uryadov deflected out of midair into the net. “It was bouncing around, I saw it right next to my stick, it took a bounce, and I hit it with the shaft of the stick. Not even the blade,” said Uryadov.

“You don’t really see that. I’ve never scored goals like that in my life. That’s my first one,” he added.

With a 4-1 lead entering the second, RPI put five more goals on the board in the second. Croxton and Uryadov each added another goal and an assist, and three other players joined in on the scoring. Croxton’s goal came on a breakaway and crossed the goal line just as the buzzer sounded to end the period. “I knew it was tight, but I didn’t know exactly how much time there was,” he said. “If I had known, I probably would have shot.”

The Engineers held the Gee-Gees scoreless in the third and added four more goals of their own, including three more on the power play. “We set the goal in the third period to have nothing against, and we accomplished that,” stated senior captain Brad Farynuk. “It was real big for us; it shows a lot of composure on the team.”

Head Coach Dan Fridgen was largely pleased with the team’s effort in the exhibition, but knew that results did not necessarily indicate future success for the team. “I think we have to take some of the concepts out that we want to have ingrained in us … that I saw lapses in. Once you get up against the Hockey East and the ECAC teams, you’re not going to be able to have those lapses,” he said.

The Engineers were essentially lapse-free during the first half of the game against UMass-Lowell, racing out to 2-0 and 3-1 leads. Just three minutes into the game, sophomore Jonathan Ornelas scored on a power play. Farynuk passed from the point to junior Oren Eizenman, who cycled down low with the puck. He sent a pass across the crease and Ornelas fired a high shot that beat goalie Peter Vetri.

Near the start of the second period, Croxton raced through the neutral zone, opposed by two defensemen. As he crossed the blue line, he slipped past them to the left and charged in on Vetri. His high shot to the glove side went in just under the crossbar. “We were flying out there at the start,” he said.

Lowell halved the lead on a deflection goal shortly after, but freshman Reed Kipp’s hard slap shot padded the Engineers’ lead.

The River Hawks began to step up their game during the second period. Andrew Martin slipped past Farynuk on the right-wing boards and ripped a backhand shot past freshman goaltender Mathias Lange. The game was then tied up when Lowell’s Danny O’Brien scored a power play goal on a centering pass from behind the net.

The River Hawks began to open their passing game up a little bit and added pressure on RPI’s defensemen. “They were looking for that long Hail Mary pass, and it really stretched out our defense and our backcheck. I guess it was effective because they really generated some offense out of it and really hemmed us in deep at times, too,” said Farynuk.

Lowell’s eventual game-winner came with some controversy. The River Hawks burst up the ice on a three-on-two. Farynuk drove Martin, the puck carrier, to the left corner of the offensive zone, but couldn’t stop his centering pass. Lange went down on the ice in an attempt to deflect the pass, but RPI defenseman Scott Romfo shoved Lowell forward Elias Godoy into the crease. Amid the confusion, River Hawk Mark Pandolfo put the puck in the net.

“I asked [the referee] about the guy who went into the net, impeding our goaltender, whether the whistle should have blown right away,” Fridgen said. “He said [Godoy] didn’t impede our goaltender.”

Lowell’s Jason Tejchma added an insurance goal less than two minutes later. Vetri made 24 saves in the win, and Lange made 37 in his official collegiate debut.