Box Score

TROY, N.Y. –The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men’s hockey team skated to a 1-1 tie with league and crosstown-rival Union College at the Houston Field House. Mathias Lange (Klagenfurt, Austria/New York Apple Core) made 27 saves for the Engineers in a battle of the goaltenders. With the tie, the Engineers are now 11-14-4 overall with a 5-7-4 league mark. The Dutchmen are now 13-11-6 overall and 6-6-4 in the ECACHL.

Both teams had several scoring opportunities in the first two periods of play, but neither team could put one past Lange nor his counterpart Kris Mayotte (Pittsburgh, PA/Sioux City Musketeers).
The best opportunity for the Engineers came in the first period when Andrew Lord (W. Vancouver, BC/Vernon Vipers) sent a puck in on Mayotte, who was unable to handle the shot. Kurt Colling (Ripley, ON/Vernon Vipers) was on the doorstep but could not get it past the Union goaltender, who made 30 saves on the evening.

It took until 5:03 of the third period for someone to score with the Engineers breaking a scoreless tie on a goal by Lord. Lord intercepted the puck from a Union breakout pass in neutral ice. Skating in with Colling on a two-on-one, Lord snapped a hard wrist shot which beat Mayotte over his right shoulder for the 1-0 lead.

Union would tie the game less than three minutes later on a goal from freshman Lane Caffaro (Slave Lake, AB/Ft. McMurray Oil Barons). Jason Visser (Mississauga, ON/Brampton Capitals) broke up an Engineer shot in his own zone and sent it up ice quickly to Augie DiMarzo (West Haven, CT/Avon Old Farms). DiMarzo found a streaking Caffaro as he skated through into the right circle, who one-timed the puck before a sliding Lange could get to the post to tie the game at 1-1.

The Engineers went on the power play with less than 10 minutes left to play but could not capitalize. Rensselaer had the best chance to score in the third period when Oren Eizenman (Toronto, ON/Wexford Raiders) had a wide open net and his tip of a pass went underneath Mayotte. Mayotte got enough to stop the puck and keep the game tied. The Engineers were 0-for-5 on the power play while Union was 0-for-4.

In the overtime session Union had the chance to win it, when junior Olivier Bouchard’s (Quebec City, PQ/Upper Canada College) point-blank shot deflected off an Engineers’ defenseman. In the end neither team could put another puck into the net.

RPI continues ECACHL play next weekend as it hosts Yale and Brown at the Houston Fieldhouse on Friday and Saturday respectively. Both games begin at 7p.m.