Box Score

TROY, N.Y. -- Ryan Haggerty scored the first goal of the game just 45 seconds into the second period, and later added an assist, to lead Renssealer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) to a 4-2 win over Dartmouth in men's ECAC Hockey action on Friday evening at Houston Field House. With the win, the Engineers improve to 9-10-4 overall, with a 4-5-3 mark in ECAC play, while Dartmouth falls to 3-14-3 and 2-10-1 on the season.

After a scoreless first period, Haggerty (Stamford, CT / US National Dev. Team) got RPI on the board less than a minute into play in the second, taking a hard shot from directly in front of the goal. Brock Higgs (Kingston, ON / Kingston Voyageurs) and Curtis Leonard (Napanee, ON / Wellington Dukes) picked up the assist on the tally. 

The Engineers got their second goal of the game from Milos Bubela (Banska Bystrica, Slovakia / Dubuque Fighting Saints) at 14:07 of the second period. Haggerty tapped the puck to Jacob Laliberte (Rockland, ON / Cornwall Colts) who then tipped it off to Bubela, who found the back of the net fom the far post to put Rensselaer on top, 2-0. 

Dartmouth would capitalize before the end of the period, as Geoff Ferguson (Kanata, ON / Sioux City Musketeers) took a shot from just above the near circle that deflected through the defense and past Engineer goaltender Scott Diebold (Buffalo, NY / Tri-City Storm) at 17:13. Troy Crema (Toronto, ON / Hamilton Red Wings) recorded the assist. 

Rensselaer pushed its lead to 3-1 at 7:48 of the third period  as Bubela assisted on a goal by Matt Neal (Minesing, ON / Stoufville Spirit). Neal flipped the puck past Dartmouth netminder James Kruger (Minnetonka, MN / Langley Rivermen) from directly in front of the crease. 

With 11:39 gone in the final period, Dartmouth's Grant Opperman (Wayzata, MN / Tri-City Storm) finished serving a penalty and came flying from the box, picking up a pass from Connor Dempsey (Winthrop, MA / Westside Warriors), and dekeing Diebold to close the gap back to one goal. The Big Green pulled the goalkeeper for the final minute in an attempt to force overtime, but the Engineers were the ones to capitalize, as Mike Zalewski (New Hartford, NY / Vernon Vipers) scored on the empty net with just six seconds left to play. Higgs picked up his second assist on the night on the goal. 

Dartmouth outshot Rensselaer, 27-22, while the Engineers held a 37-26 advantage in faceoffs. Diebold played the full 60 minutes between the pipes, making 25 saves for RPI, while Kruger stopped 18 opposing shots for the Big Green. 

Rensselaer will return to action on Saturday, taking on Route 7 rival Union in the Mayor's Cup. Faceoff is at 7 p.m. at the Times Union Center in Albany.