The last time the Holy Cross Crusaders came to town, they were given a thrashing at the hands of the Engineers. The year was 1999, and Rensselaer whipped the Crusaders 10-2 behind a hat trick from Brad Tapper and a multi-point game from five skaters, while Holy Cross only managed 21 shots on goal.
History repeated itself on Saturday night, as the Engineers stuck it to the Crusaders 8-4, behind a hat trick from Nick Economakos and a multi-point game from six skaters. The defense was solid, too, only allowing 20 shots on goalie Andrew Martin.
Economakos’ hat trick was the first by an RPI player since 2002, and enabled him to put some difficulties behind him in style; he, along with defensemen Blake Pickett and Matt McNeely, sat out practice two weeks ago and didn’t travel with the team to Vermont and Dartmouth, after the three of them were caught drinking on the bus during the return trip from North Country.
“I thought there were a lot of things made public that shed a little bad light on the team,” said Economakos, adding, “but it was great to have a nice win tonight, and get back in the winning column, especially at home, a place where we’ve struggled lately.”
Economakos didn’t get into the scoring until the second period; Kirk MacDonald got things started in the first on the power play. While in front of the net, he managed to tip a Brad Farynuk point shot home.
The goal was one of four on the power play for the Engineers. “I thought we got some timely scoring by doing the little things, and getting to the net,” said Head Coach Dan Fridgen. “There were some real nice plays, especially on the power play.”
Holy Cross took a 2-1 lead on a pair of plays set up by James Sixsmith. He fed Pierre Napert-Frenette for a quick wrister past Martin late in the second, and picked a high corner for the lead just one minute into the second.
The lead proved to be short-lived. Cody Wojdyla scored a shorthanded goal just four-and-one-half minutes later, set up on a coast-to-coast rush by Jonathan Ornelas. The goal clearly picked up the Engineers’ spirit, and they never looked back. “When they went up 2-1, that gave them life; they picked up a step. We were a little dumbfounded,” noted Fridgen. “That goal that Cody got on the PK really lifted our bench up and got our feet going. I thought we started making plays from that point on.”
Economakos and Oren Eizenman each connected in the second to put the Engineers up 4-2. Economakos then struck again, firing a shot that barely made it to the back of the net before the buzzer sounded to end the second. “I had a pretty good view,” said Economakos with a chuckle. “The puck was definitely in the net before the buzzer went off. It was a crazy angle; I just tried to flip it under his arm. I saw it in the back of the net; then the buzzer went off.”
Sixsmith struck again early in the third, but the attempt at a comeback was quickly ended when Economakos plotted his hat trick marker. He was crashing the net, a rebound from a MacDonald shot bounced to him, and he handily deposited it into the mesh.
Defensman Jake Luthi added a goal later in the third on the power play. He was down low, and tipped a MacDonald centering pass inside the far post. Luthi, who also had an assist, recorded his third multi-point game of the season, and saw even more playing time than usual when Alexander Valentin went down with an injury. When asked how many minutes Luthi played, Fridgen confidently remarked “a lot.”
The final goal of the game was a breakaway goal by Ornelas, who went high to the stick side.
RPI resumes league play this weekend at Houston Field House, taking on the Harvard Crimson on Friday, and the Brown Bears on Saturday. Saturday’s game is the annual Big Red Freakout! that is being telecast across the nation.
