Anchorage, Alaska – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) student-athlete Andrei Uryadov (St. Petersburg, Russia/South Kent) scored a third period power-play goal to break a 3-3 tie and the Engineers went on to defeat the Michigan Tech Huskies, 4-3, in a non-conference men’s hockey game.  With the victory, the Engineers (1-2-0) finished third in the Nye Frontier Classic, while the Huskies fell to 1-3-0 overall.

Michigan Tech jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as senior Chris Conner (Westland, MI) collected a pass from Mark Malekoff (Grand Prarie, AB), skated up the ice and put the puck past the left side of Rensselaer goalie Mathias Lange (Klagenfurt, Austria/New York Apple Core) at 7:19 of the first period.

Michigan Tech went up 2-0 at the 1:17 mark of the second period when Jimmy Kerr (Leduc, AB) found a hole to put the puck past the right side of Lange.  RPI needed just eleven seconds to answer as sophomore Jonathan Ornelas (Mississauga, ON/Milton IceHawks) scored his second goal of the season.  Ornelas received a pass from senior Kevin Croxton (Calgary, AB/Canmore Kodiaks) and slid the puck from inside the left circle past Huskies goalie Rob Nolan (Sherwood Park, AB) at 1:28.

The Huskies went up 3-1 at the 11:57 mark when Conner scored his second of the game, unassisted, after stealing the puck and surprising Lange.  The Engineers began their comeback just eight seconds later when Croxton collected a pass from Ornelas and roofed the puck over the shoulder of Nolan at 12:05.  Senior Keith MCWilliams (Valencia, CA/Omaha Lancers) tied the game at 3-3 after his shot from the top of the right circle defelcted off a mass of players in front at 12:27.  Croxton and junior Oren Eizenman (Toronto, ON/Wexford Raiders) were credited with the assists.

“We created some good opportunities for ourselves,” said Rensselaer head coach Dan Fridgen.  “Once we started to finish our checks, they started to play back on their heels a little bit.”

The Engineers game-winning goal came at the 14:25 mark of the third period on a 5-on-3 power-play.  Senior Alexander Valentin (Kosice, Slovakia/Cedar Rapids Rough Riders) sent a cross-ice pass to Uryadov, who one-timed the puck past Nolan.  MCWilliams was also credited with an assist.

Lange finished with 25 saves for his first collegiate win while Nolan recorded 23 saves in the Huskies’ goal. 

The Engineers return to action on Friday when they travel to Boston University for a 7pm matchup at Agganis Arena in Boston.