Box Score Box Score

TROY, N.Y. - Cornell University scored twice in the final 1:35 to force a 3-3 tie with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in an ECAC Hockey contest at Houston Field House. The Big Red, the 15th-ranked team in the nation, is now 3-1-1 overall and 1-1-1 in the league, while the 10th-ranked Engineers are 5-2-2 and 1-1-2.

Trailing by two goals with regulation winding down, junior defenseman Joakim Ryan (Rumson, NJ / Dubuque Fighting Saints) scored through traffic to pull the visitors to within 3-2 while with the extra skater. The goal was his second goal of the game. An RPI penalty at the time of the goal gave Cornell a power play and the Big Red pulled its goalie for a 6-on-4 advantage. Senior Dustin Mowry (Burnaby, BC / Victoria Grizzlies) took advantage when he snapped a shot from the slot into the back of the net with 30 seconds remaining. 

RPI had taken a 3-1 lead at 7:59 of the third period when junior Matt Neal (Minesing, ON / Stoufville Spirit) knocked the puck out of the air before settling it and scoring. Sophomore Mike Zalewski (New Hartford, NY / Vernon Vipers) set up the goal when he stole a clearing attempt along the rightside boards. He centered the puck to Neal, who scored for the third time this season.

The Big Red held a 1-0 lead after the first period before the Engineers countered with two in the second. Ryan broke the ice with a wrist shot from the right point that found its way through traffic and just past the right post at 7:27 of the first frame. Jacob MacDonald (Brighton, MI / Waterloo Black Hawks) and Jeff Kubiak (Tinley Park, IL / Muskegon Lumberjacks) earned the assists on Ryan's tally, his second of the season.

RPI tied the game just 1:11 into the middle period when senior defenseman Guy Lebeouf (West Palm Beach, FL / Cornwall Colts) scored on a left point shot with the Engineers shorthanded. Mark McGowan (Toronto, ON / Oakville Blades) and Zalewski, who controlled the puck in the offensive zone despite being a man-down, had the helpers. Junior forward Ryan Haggerty (Stamford, CT / U.S. National Development Program), the leading goal scorer in the nation, put the home team ahead with a power play goal at the 15:30 mark. Haggerty's 11th goal of the campaign, which came from the top of left faceoff circle, was set up by defensemen Chris Bradley (Williamsville, NY / Youngstown Phantoms) and Bo Dolan (St. Paul, MN / Penticton Vees).

Junior Scott Diebold (Buffalo, NY / Tri-City Storm) finished with 20 saves for the Engineers, while senior Andy Iles (Ithaca, NY / U.S. National Development Program) stopped 21 shots on the other end.

Both teams return to action with league games on Saturday. RPI hosts Colgate University, while the Big Red play at Union College. Both games begin at 7pm.