The ceremonial faceoff began the game with senior Matt Angers-Goulet, current RPI captain; Senior Dean Strong, University of Vermont captain; Joe Juneau ’91, honorary RPI captain; Jean-Francois Gosselin ’99, member of Parliament Jean-Lesage; the Mayor of Quebec, Regis Labeaume; and another gentleman representing UVM meeting at center ice.

Freshman Patrick Cullen scored the first goal of the game late in the first. When a shot from sophomore Scott Halpern was deflected off the pads of the Catamounts goaltender, Cullen pounced on the opportunity with 2:27 left in the period. “It was a great feeling to have scored my first goal and look forward to hopefully scoring more, but next time I hope we have a ‘W’ in the win column,” expressed Cullen, who racked up his first collegiate goal and gave RPI the upper hand at the end of the first.

The lead did not last long, as sophomore Justin Milo tied up the game at one for Vermont just 1:17 into the second. The game remained tied until early in the third, when Vermont took the lead and never gave it back. Vermont sophomore Chris Atkinson slid the puck into an opening on the left side to tally up the game-winning goal 3:45 into the third. He was followed three minutes later by junior teammate Brayden Irwin, who elevated the puck to the upper left corner.

The last goal of the game came at 11:36 into the third, as a shot from Milo barely crossed the line while senior netminder Mathias Lange and junior Seth Klerer attempted to keep it out. RPI lost the first NCAA game played in Quebec 4-1.

Junior Paul Kerins was named the Player of the Game for the Engineers: He played a strong and smart game, helped his teammates, and only received one penalty on the night.

RPI returned home Sunday to play its home opener against the USA Under-18 team. Halfway through the first, freshman goalie Allen York saved a shot and passed the puck to M. Angers-Goulet, who shuffled it off to his brother freshman Alex Angers-Goulet. A. Angers-Goulet sunk the puck on a breakaway to gain his first collegiate goal.

Just as on Saturday, the men entered the second with a 1-0 lead. USA answered back 6:23 into the period on a power play. They racked up three more goals in the second, including two on power plays, before sophomore Bryan Brutlag crammed the puck under Brandon Maxwell on a power play to bring the Engineers to a 4-2 deficit at the end of the period.

The momentum lasted early into the third, as freshman Josh Rabbani tallied his first collegiate goal at 2:56 to bring the Engineers within one. “There is no better feeling than that first goal of the season. It helps relax you and mentally gives you some confidence,” Rabbani commented.

USA came back just over two minutes later, as Jeremy Morin slid the puck past York to take a 5-3 lead. At 10:55 in the third, sophomore Chase Polacek brought the game back within one, but it wasn’t enough; the USA Under-18 team won 5-4.

On Friday, the men travel to New Hampshire to face the nationally sixth-ranked Wildcats in their season-opener. The two face each other for the first time since 2003, with RPI having a new team and coach and UNH having a new team and old coach since then. History has the Wildcats with a slight lead versus RPI with a record of 22-20-0.

The Bentley Falcons return to the Houston Field House this year on Saturday. In the last matchup, Jordan Alford ’08, currently playing for the Flint Generals, started the season with a shutout in the opener, making 16 saves over the night. Senior Andrei Uryadov had two goals on the night, while M. Angers-Goulet and Jonathan Ornelas ’08 each knocked one past for the 4-0 win. The men had 44 shots on the night to Bentley’s 16.