The journey would not be easy, however, as the Engineers first would have to battle against ECAC rival St. Lawrence University before taking on arch-nemesis Clarkson University, the conference leader who boasted a 17-10-4 record entering the contest.

So, before a half-full Houston Field House of 2,733, the men hit the ice against the Saints in what promised to decide the ECAC’s bottom-dweller. Playing for pride, the Engineers grabbed the momentum early and found their rhythm. Freshman standout Tyler Helfrich took a sophomore Erik Burgdoerfer pass and fired a shot off the Saints’ graduate student John Hallas. Gathering the deflection himself, Helfrich reached back and fired again, this time burying the puck and giving the Engineers the 1-0 lead at 7:38.

Then, just 20 seconds later at 7:58, it was Burgdoerfer who found himself open in a lane and capitalized.

But the Saints were intent on making the next minute of play a competitive one, and at 8:46 freshman Bobby Torney pulled St. Lawrence back within one with his first goal of the season.

The Engineers out-shot the Saints in the first period 9-7, although that trend would not continue in the second and third. Neither team could score on a power play all night.

In the second stanza, the Saints and Engineers found themselves in a tough battle for control which persisted more than half the period. But then it was Helfrich again, netting his eighth goal of the season and putting RPI up for good.

The Saints would try to make it a game in the third period, scoring their second goal at 5:40 and pulling within one for the second time, but junior Matt Angers-Goulet ensured that it would not happen with an unassisted goal of his own at 18:54. It would prove to be the nail in the coffin, and RPI picked up its 10th win of the season.

Junior Mathias Lange made 26 saves in the winning effort, while his counterpart Hallas had 22.

Saturday night had an entirely different feel than Friday. With arch-rival Clarkson at the door, ECAC lead in hand, the hill to climb was certainly steeper for RPI. But with a jam-packed Field House—5,084 in attendance—and the celebration of Senior Night, the Engineers had some support and motivation.

And RPI played extremely well against the Golden Knights throughout the first period, trailing by just a goal entering the first intermission. The score came via freshman Scott Freeman, unassisted, at 8:08 and proved to be the only goal until the second period when things began to unravel for the Engineers.

Just over three minutes into the second period, with the puck in RPI ice, junior Andrei Uryadov delivered a huge hit on one of the Golden Knights, and received five minutes for hitting from behind. What followed was unclear, but Uryadov was removed from the game and assigned a penalty for game misconduct on top of the illegal hit. The penalty was served by freshman Scott Halpern.

Down a man for five minutes, the Engineers defense nearly prevailed. However, with under thirty seconds left, Clarkson senior captain Nick Dodge scored his ninth goal of the season. It came at 8:10, and stymied any momentum RPI seemed to be assembling.

In the third period, it was Dodge again, this time shorthanded rather than with the advantage of a power play, who scored for the Golden Knights. He beat senior Jordan Alford with just 44 seconds remaining in the period, but amazingly, the Engineers salvaged a goal before the buzzer. Andrew Lord scored from a mile and half out with one second remaining on the clock to ruin David Leggio’s shut-out of the Engineers, and cap the night’s tally at 3-1.

Jordan Alford was forced to make 28 saves in defeat while Leggio needed to only stop 16 shots.

With the loss, RPI falls to 10-20-4 while Clarkson holds onto their first place lead and an 18-10-4 record.