Blood in the water: Engineers fillet Sharks

Coming off of a catastrophic 11‒3 loss to Cornell the week before, Rensselaer sought to get back on track against the Long Island University Sharks.

The first period started out sloppy for the Engineers. LIU had an opportunity five minutes into the game where they were three-on-one in the Engineer zone. A Shark ripped a shot as the defender tried to block off the passing lanes, but goaltender Linden Marshall (Gr) came up with the save. Minutes later, Justin Addamo (Gr) was sent to the penalty box for tripping, giving the Sharks the first power play of the game. However, the solid RPI penalty kill endured the short-handed two minutes.

Eleven minutes into the period, the Engineers took advantage of the Sharks’ overcommitment in the Engineers’ zone. Jake Johnson ’22 received the puck in the offensive zone and drew in the defender. Johnson then dropped a pass backwards to John Beaton ’24. Beaton rifled a shot into the bottom right corner of the net past goaltender Kris Carlson for his first career goal, putting the Engineers up 1‒0. Less than two minutes later, the Sharks held the puck behind their net to set up for their next attack. Addamo intercepted the breakout pass, skated into the slot, and went top-shelf to put the Engineers up 2‒0.

Three minutes after Addamo’s goal, a speedy Isaiah Fox skated around the outside of an Engineer. Fox cut towards center and managed to slip it under Marshall’s pads to bring the score to 2‒1. Less than two minutes before the end of the period, RPI went on the power play off of an interference call, but were not able to score while they had an extra skater. The period ended 2‒1.

The Engineers got another power play at the start of the second period but were again unsuccessful. Despite being unable to score on their first two power plays, RPI’s offensive presence was evident. Later in the period, the Sharks were short-handed again after Nolan Welsh was sent to the box for cross-checking. On the power play, the Engineers passed the puck around the zone, trying to open up a shot. The puck went to Kyle Hallbauer ’22, who patiently waited for an opening. He took a wrist shot that dipped through traffic, going five-hole to beat a screened Carlson for the Engineers’ third goal.

The Engineers got another advantage within a minute as Tyler Welsh was sent to the box for interference. The Engineers passed the puck around the zone, with Johnson dishing it to a wide open Lauri Sertti ’24 in the right faceoff circle. Sertti wound up and cannoned a one-time clapper top shelf before Carlson could even react. The Engineers were up 4‒1 a little over halfway into the second period.

Before the end of the period, the Engineers entered the Sharks’ zone with speed. TJ Walsh ’23 went tape-to-tape to Zach Dubinsky ’23, who easily ripped a shot past Carlson, extending RPI’s lead to four goals. Minutes later, the Engineers again had a man advantage when a Shark was sent to the penalty box for hooking. After spreading out the Sharks, Jakub Lacka ’22 sent a horizontal pass from one faceoff circle to the other. Beaton wound up for a one-timer and lit the lamp for the second time that night. The Engineers headed into the locker room with a 6‒1 lead.

Carlson was replaced by Vincent Purpura to start the final period. A silly giveaway from the Engineers in the defensive zone gave the Sharks their second goal. Tyler Welsh patiently drew in Engineers, opening up Spencer Cox behind him. Welsh passed it backwards and Cox took a one-timer from the high slot that beat Marshall. The Sharks were down but not out.

The Engineers did not seem as hot as they did in the previous period. However, their press in the offensive zone was enough to get them another goal. Anthony Baxter (Gr) prevented the Sharks from clearing it out of their zone, but his pass was deflected. Luckily, Ture Linden ’22 collected it and sent a pass to Ottoville Leppänen ’22 on the doorstep, who tapped it home to give the Engineers a 7‒2 lead with less than five minutes left.

That was all of the action in the game as the Engineers cruised to a 7‒2 win over LIU. The following night in East Meadow, NY, the two clubs tied 2‒2 after heading into overtime. The Engineers record following the tie is 6‒5‒2. The Engineers hope to take some wins as they will play the Northeastern Huskies at home on Friday and away on Sunday.

Click here for RPI TV’s broadcast of the game and here for the box score.

Editor's Note: The spelling of Lauri Sertti's name was corrected. The Polytechnic regrets the error.