Box Score
TROY, N.Y. – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) used a four-goal second period and then held off No. 14 Clarkson University, 4-3, in an ECACHL Division I men’s hockey game before 4,267 fans at the Houston Field House. The Engineers, who got a goal and an assist from freshman forward Kurt Colling (Ripley, ON/Vernon Vipers), improve to 10-10-3 overall and 4-3-3 in league play. The Golden Knights are now 12-8-2 overall with a 5-4-1 ECACHL record.
The Golden Knights jumped out to an early lead when sophomore Nick Dodge (Oakville, ON/Oakville Blades) tallied at 3:15 of the first period. Off a pass from behind the net by junior Mike Sullivan (Stouffville, ON/Stouffville), Dodge found the puck through traffic and scored past the left side of RPI freshman netminder Mathias Lange (Klagenfurt, Austria/New York Apple Core).
The Engineers broke out offensively in the second frame with four goals. Senior defenseman Keith MCWilliams (Valencia, CA/Omaha Lancers) started the flurry, wristing a shot from the blue line past screened Clarkson goalie Kyle McNulty (Wakefield, RI/Boston Junior Bruins) at the 5:10 mark. He was fed the puck by junior Ryan Swanson (Woodbury, MN/Soo Indians), who earned the primary assist while Seth Klerer (Thornhill, ON/North York Rangers) earned the secondary. Sophomore Dan Peace (Ann Arbor, MI/Toledo Ice Diggers) put the Engineers ahead 6:33 later when he took a pass from Colling and scored from the slot. Colling started the scoring play when he stripped the puck from a Clarkson player in neutral ice and then threaded the pass through two Clarkson defenders to Peace.
Two power-play goals put the Engineers up 4-1. Colling made it 3-1 at 14:09 when he scored from the right of the net after the shot rebounded to him. Freshman Reed Kipp (Victoria, BC/Vernon Vipers) got the eventual game-winner with just 43 seconds left in the period. His second of the season was scored after he took a pass from Andrew Lord (West Vancouver, BC/Vernon Vipers) at the blueline and scored through traffic for a 4-1 lead.
Clarkson stormed back with two goals on 16 shots in the third period. Sophomore David Cayer (Longueuil, PQ/Longueuil Col. Francais) pulled the Golden Knights to within two when his shot from the far boards bounced through traffic at the 12:24 mark. Less than two minutes later, Sullivan made it 4-3 score when he put the puck in off a scramble in front from the right side of the net. Dodge, who also assisted on Cayer’s goal, and Cayer, who helped set up the Knights’ first goal, earned the helpers.
Lange finished with 29 saves in the RPI net, including 14 in the third period, to improve his personal record to 9-8-3. McNulty recorded 30 saves in the loss for Clarkson, which was 0-for-5 on the power play. Rensselaer finished 2-for-11 with the man-advantage.
Rensselaer returns to action next weekend when it travels to ECACHL foes Brown (Friday) and Yale (Saturday). Clarkson is also in action next weekend when it travels to Colgate and Cornell. All four games begin at 7pm.
