TROY, N.Y. – Kevin Croxton (Calgary, AB/Camrose Kodiaks) tallied a goal and four assists to lead Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) to a dramatic 7-5 come-from-behind win over the Northeastern Huskies at the Houston Field House.  With the victory the Engineers improve to 4-2-0 overall, while the Huskies fall to 0-3-1.

Croxton’s fourth assist on the night was on the game-winning tally by Jonathan Ornelas (Mississauga, ON/Milton IceHawks) at 15:38 of the final period.  Northeastern tied the game at 5-5 with a goal by Matti Uusivitra (Espoo, Finland/Espoo Blues) at 14:54, but the Engineers rallied back with a goal 44 seconds later to take the lead for good.  The play initiated when Croxton fed the puck to Scott Romfo (Blaine, MN/Tri-City Storm) at the far point, and the defenseman’s slapshot was deflected in front by Ornelas for his second goal of the night and fourth on the season.

Northeastern had jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first period, on a pair of goals by sophomore winger Jimmy Russo (South Weymouth, MA/Thayer Academy) and a goal and an assist by Uusivirta.  Russo put the Huskies up 1-0 off a rebound from a Denis Chisholm (Fox Valley, SK/Notre Dame) shot at 9:31 and then scored the final goal of the period off a shot from the point on the power play.

The Engineers cut the Northeastern lead to 4-2 with goals by Ornelas and Chris Hussey (Plymouth, MN/Avon Old Farms) before exploding for three goals in the final 5:38 of the period to take the 5-4 lead into the second intermission.  Jake Morrisette (Fruitvale, BC/Williams Lake Timberwolves) started the flurry, pulling RPI within one goal at 14:22.  Receiving the puck from Mark Yurkewecz (Troy, NY/Cushing Academy), Morrisette’s shot bounced off the left post, but Morrisette collected his own rebound and put it back past Northeastern goalie Adam Geragosian (North Andover, MA/Boston Harbor Wolves) for the goal.

Junior Oren Eizenman (Toronto, ON/Wexford Raiders) tied the game at 4-4 with a sensational goal at 17:58.  Eizenman had a breakaway attempt saved by the NU goalie but Croxton collected the rebound and fed it to Eizenman in the right circle.  The junior had a wide-open right side of the net to deposit his third goal of the year.  RPI pulled ahead 5-4 when Brad Farynuk (Enderby, BC/Vernon Vipers) batted the puck out of the air with one second remaining in the period to give the Engineers the go-ahead tally.  

Jordan Alford (Red Deer, AB/Canmore Eagles) made 19 saves in the final two periods of play, allowing one goal en route to his first win of the season.  Mathias Lange (Klagenfurt, Austria/New York Apple Core) made 10 saves in the first period before making way for Alford.  Geragosian made 27 stops for Northeastern.

Rensselaer is back in action tomorrow evening against Merrimack at 7pm at the Houston Field House.  Northeastern hosts the US National Team Development Program for an exhibition game on Sunday at Matthews Arena.