Over Thanksgiving break, the Engineers played host to the 58th Annual Rensselaer Holiday Tournament. The Mercyhurst College Lakers took the title over the two-day event, led by sophomore netminder Ryan Zapolski, who faced 90 shots over the weekend.
The men’s hockey team has played more forcefully over the past few weekends, most evidently Friday night. While the Engineers lost the match against the Lakers, the game ended with a bang.
Mercyhurst opened the night by scoring its first goal just 55 seconds in; senior Ryan Toomey received credit for the goal after receiving a pass from junior Brett Robinson. The Lakers gained two more in the first: a tap-in by freshman Phil Ginand and a shot from sophomore Steve Cameron.
RPI entered and exited the second period down 3-0.
Sophomore Tyler Helfrich closed the gap for the Engineers, to bring the score to 3-1, 47 seconds into the third off a rebound from classmate Chase Polacek. The first quarrel occurred with 12:57 left on the clock, sending juniors Kirk Medernach of Mercyhurst and Peter Merth of RPI to the box on a roughing call. Merth was also awarded two minutes for charging. Six seconds later, Rensselaer sophomore Bryan Brutlag was called for checking from behind and received a game misconduct, causing his early exit from the game.
In an attempt to bring the game within one, the Engineers pulled senior goalie Mathias Lange with just over two minutes of play left. At the 18:27 mark, Robinson swooped in on the empty net and took the Lakers’ lead to 4-1, where it would remain.
With 1:21 left on the clock, the true action erupted as all players on the ice entered into a brawl. Mercyhurst’s freshmen Mike Gurtler, Kevin Noble, and Dan Bremner, as well as sophomores Neil Graham and Matt Fennell, all faced penalties; meanwhile, senior Kurt Colling, juniors Garett Vassel and Peter Merth, sophomore Jeff Foss, and freshman Justin Smith headed to the box for RPI. Each was charged with two minutes for hitting after the whistle and a 10 minute misconduct. Vassel had an additional two minute minor for hitting from behind.
On the night, Zapolski had 39 saves to Lange’s 15.
After falling to the Lakers Friday, the men took on fourth-ranked Northeastern University for the consolation game on Saturday evening.
The Huskies began their domination with 6:37 left in the first when senior Rob Rassey skated up the right side to score the first point. Rookie goaltender Allen York slid onto his side in an attempt to make the save; instead he left Rassey with an open net to place the puck. Just over three minutes later, Northeastern junior Chris Donovan found himself behind RPI’s net with the puck. Rather than skate it around, he arched it over the goal and down York’s back, making a crowd-puzzling goal.
With Northeastern leading 2-0, the Huskies extended their lead while a man down just 38 seconds into the second. Senior Ryan Ginand, whose brother tallied one against RPI the night before, approached on the left side and knocked it into the upper right. Sophomore Tyler McNeely extended the lead to four with seven minutes left on the clock.
Senior captain Matt Angers-Goulet found the only successful opportunity for RPI with 3:50 left in the second. Husky junior netminder Brad Thiessen advanced up the ice as the Engineers gained the puck, collecting a pass from Foss; Angers-Goulet found the open net and eased the puck in for the shorthanded goal. The Huskies brought the lead back to four with less than a second left on the clock. Sophomore Steve Silvia won a face-off in the right circle, passing the puck to freshman Steve Quailer, who launched it in.
The third had no change in score, yet there was some residual aggression from the night before. With 9:06 remaining in the game, sophomore Mark Zarbo took a shot from the point with classmate Joel Malchuk screening the Northeastern goaltender. Husky freshman Alex Tuckerman found sophomore Joel Malchuk and began punching his facemask. Tuckerman received two minutes for roughing and contact to the head. Twenty seconds later, Husky senior Louis Liotti assessed 15 minutes total and an early exit from the game­—five for checking from behind at the whistle and 10 for a game misconduct.
With the two-man advantage, RPI pulled York for a chance at closing the gap. York re-entered the game just seconds before Tuckerman’s time ended. He remained in the game for the 7:15 remaining. York blocked 30 saves during the game, while Thiessen kept away 25.
The Engineers head to Yale University and Brown University this weekend. They will return home for the first weekend of the spring semester to face Colgate University and Cornell University.
