Box Score
TROY, N.Y. – Sophomore forward Andrew Lord (West Vancouver, BC/Vernon Vipers) tallied a goal and an assist to lead Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) to a 3-2 victory over the Friars of Providence College in the consolation game of the 55th Annual Rensselaer/Bank of America Holiday Tournament. With the victory, the Engineers improve to 7-5-3 overall and finish in third place in the tournament. The Friars finish in fourth place and are now 6-6-1 on the season.
After a scoreless first period, Rensselaer took the 1-0 lead in the second period when senior Chris Hussey (Plymouth, MN/Avon Old Farms) tallied his fourth goal of the season. From the left circle in the Friars’s zone, Lord sent a quick pass to a Hussey, who came streaking up the middle and scored past the right side of goalie Tyler Sims (Fort Worth, TX/Youngstown) at 12:31. Senior Scott Romfo (Blaine, MN/Tri-City Storm), who started the play from the neutral zone, was also awarded an assist on the goal.
Junior Oren Eizenman (Toronto, ON/Wexford Raiders) put the Engineers up 2-0 late in the period when he sent a quick wrist-shot from the slot past Sims at 18:23. Brad Farynuk (Enderby, BC/Vernon Vipers), who fed Eizenman from the left circle, was credited with the lone assist. With the goal, Eizenman extended his point-scoring streak to a career-high 13 games (8 goals, 10 assists).
In the third period, Providence’s leading scorer, Torry Gajda (Westfield, MA/New England) tallied his sixth goal of the season on a rebound to pull Providence within one goal. Junior Chase Watson (Media, PA/Cedar Rapids) took the initial shot at Rensselaer goalie Mathias Lange
(Klagenfurt, Austria/New York Apple Core), who was without a stick, and the rebound came out to Gadja, who put the puck between Lange and the post for the goal. James Pemberton (Cumberland, RI/New England) also earned an assist on the play.
Lord gave the Engineers a 3-1 lead less than two minutes later, tallying his first goal of the season, a power play marker at 4:45. The extra-man goal was RPI’s first in 19 tries over the span of four games. Jonathan Ornelas (Mississauga, ON/Milton IceHawks) passed the puck to Lord from the bottom of the left-circle for the primary assist while Kevin Croxton (Calgary, AB/Camrose Kodiaks) was credited with the secondary helper.
Providence pulled to within one goal after Nick Mazzolini (Anchorage, AK/Texas) scored on a scramble in front of the net with the Friars’s net empty. Jamie Carroll (Andover, CT/Cedar Rapids) and Gajda set up the goal.
Lange made 25 saves in goal for the Engineers, including 12 in the third period, to improve to 6-3-3 overall. Sims finished with 22 stops for the Friars.
Rensselaer returns to action on Friday when it hosts Sacred Heart in a non-conference game at 7pm at the Houston Field House. Providence also returns to the ice on Friday when it hosts Hockey East rival Maine in a 7pm matchup.
