Friday’s contest was all BU in the early going. The Terriers’ speedy forwards kept RPI hemmed in the defensive zone and gave the Engineers difficulties bringing the puck out. “I thought, for the first ten minutes, they were taking it to us,” said Head Coach Dan Fridgen.

BU jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a one-timer from John Laliberte and a defensive zone turnover that led to goal from Brandon Yip. In the second period, though, RPI began to move to the puck better and create more opportunities. “We really started applying our forecheck the way it should be,” said senior captain Brad Farynuk.

Sophomore Oren Eizenman stripped the puck from Terrier forward Brian Ewing at the offensive blue line and moved quickly into the zone. He left a pass for senior Alexander Valentin, who flicked a wrist shot past goalie John Curry.

Junior Kevin Broad tied it up in the third on an odd-man rush. He carried the puck up the ice, with freshman Matt Angers-Goulet along the right wing. While the defensemen shaded toward Angers-Goulet, Broad charged in and fired a shot over Curry’s shoulder. “We kept our composure,” said Fridgen. “We came out hard in the third period and took the momentum away from them.”

Senior Kevin Croxton provided the game-winning heroics a few minutes later. Freshman Reed Kipp made an outlet pass to Sophomore Jonathan Ornelas. Ornelas hit Croxton with a pass in the neutral zone. With the defensemen crossed up, Croxton split between them and charged to the net. He leaned into a defender and lifted a backhand shot under the crossbar to take the lead. “I got in behind the D, and I knew I was in tight, so I just got it in under the bar,” said Croxton.

After the goal, as Croxton was heading back to the bench, he pointed in Lange’s direction; Lange gave him a nod in return. “That was the first time we had a lead all game, and he [Lange] knows what to do with the lead,” stated Croxton.

Lange withstood a number of quality shots late in the game and made the Engineers’ lead stand. Lange attributed most of his success against BU’s crash-the-net strategy to good positioning: “You’ve always got to be squared to the puck. You don’t want to cheat, because then you might get caught, which happened on the second goal a little bit.”

“Mathias was there to make the saves. That’s what goaltenders are supposed to do,” added Fridgen.

RPI’s Sunday win over Army marks the fourth win over the Black Knights in the past four years, and the seventh win in the past eight. The Engineers couldn’t convert on either of their first two power play opportunities, but managed to convert on Army’s first chance. With freshman Andrei Uryadov in the box for elbowing, Angers-Goulet gained the zone and held the puck. He came across the center, between the faceoff circles, and fired a sharp wrister past goalie Brad Roberts.

Angers-Goulet’s goal was the first of four special teams goals on the day for RPI. “It would have been nice to get a 5-on-5 goal, but we’ll take the three power play and the shorthanded,” said Fridgen.

Oren Eizenman doubled the lead early in the second period on the power play. He was left alone near the goal, and crept into the crease as Farynuk shot from the point. Eizenman wound up behind the goalie, and was in prime position to sweep the puck into the net when it snuck past Roberts. “It was pretty much the easiest goal I’ve ever scored,” said Eizenman. “When you consider the actual act of putting it in—a wide open net from about two feet away.”

Broad deflected a Keith MCWilliams shot up under the crossbar for the 3-0 lead. “We talked about it in the first intermission,” said Broad. “Army did a good job of plugging up the middle on shots from the point, so we decided to pull a guy off to the side of the net and have our defensemen shoot to the side. Keith made a great play … I got my stick on it, luckily, and it ended up in the back of the net.”

Freshman Seth Klerer scored his second goal of the season for some added insurance late in the second period. He took a pass from senior Mark Yurkewecz, who was behind the net, and one-timed the puck over the goalie’s shoulder. “I was right in tight. There wasn’t much room,” said Klerer.

“It’s been a great start for our class so far,” he added.

The win over Army was Fridgen’s 200th career victory. Fridgen’s entire head coaching career has been with the Engineers.

“I’ve had a lot of good players and teams, and some excellent assistant coaches. It’s not just one person—it’s a team victory,” he said about the milestone. “It’s just a testament to the guys who have gone through the program and the tradition of winning we have here at Rensselaer.”

Fridgen was encouraged by the weekend’s effort, and hopes to get some carryover into next weekend’s games against Northeastern and Merrimack. “I was happy with the way the guys played—real strong—and that’s the number one concern heading into next weekend against two quality Hockey East opponents,” he said.