Box Score

TROY, N.Y. – Freshman Mathias Lange (Klagenfurt, Austria/New York Apple Core) stopped all 34 shots he faced, including 15 in the third period, to lead the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men’s hockey team to a 2-0 victory over seventh-ranked Cornell University in ECACHL action this evening.

With the victory, the Engineers improve to 14-14-6 overall with an 8-7-6 league mark, including a six-game unbeaten streak (3-0-3). They move into sixth place in the ECACHL standings. The Big Red, who entered the game in first place, fall to 17-7-4 overall and are now 12-6-3 and in third place in the ECACHL.

Lange was outstanding throughout, making six saves in the first period and 13 in the second stanza, to lead the way. Among his 15 third period stops was a save on a shorthanded breakaway late in the third period to preserve his second shutout of the season, the first was against Army, 4-0, on October 23.

Junior Oren Eizenman (Toronto, ON/Wexford Raiders) opened the scoring for the Engineers with a goal on a fine individual effort at 16:41 of the first period. Eizenman scored his 14th goal of the season after he took control of the puck in the slot, drove around a defenseman and beat Cornell goaltender David McKee (Irving, TX/Texas Tornado) with a backhander along the ice.

Senior Kevin Croxton (Calgary, AB/Camrose Kodiaks) made it 2-0 less than two minutes later when he scored on a rebound of a Kurt Colling (Ripley, ON/Vernon Vipers) shot. Colling flipped a wrist shot from the left side of the net that was stopped but rebounded to the right and to Croxton, who scored over the shoulder of McKee at the 18:18 mark.

McKee finished with 15 saves in the game, including six in the first period, three in the second and six more in the third.

Both teams conclude the regular season on Saturday night. Rensselaer hosts first-place Colgate while the Big Red travel to sixth-place Union. Both games begin at 7pm.