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TROY, N.Y. - Senior defensman Nick Bailen had a goal and two assists to lead the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's hockey team to a 4-1 victory over St. Lawrence University (SLU) in an ECAC Hockey game at Houston Field House. The game was the regular season finale for both teams.

The Engineers close out the regular season with a 17-12-5 overall record and a 12-7-3 mark in the league. They finish second in the standings with 27 points. The Saints fall to 16-14-4 and 9-9-4 in ECAC Hockey. They will host a best-of-three first round series next weekend against Colgate University beginning on Friday.

RPI took a 1-0 lead at 2:04 of the first period when Bailen (Fredonia, NY / Indiana Ice) slipped down to the front of the net and finished a Mark McGowan (Toronto, ON / Oakville Blades) in traffic. For Bailen, the team's leading point producer, the goal was his 12th of the season. He now has 29 points. Curtis Leonard (Napanee, ON / Wellington Dukes), Bailen's defense partner, had the other assist. 

SLU tied the game at 13:46 when junior Greg Carey (Hamilton, ON), the nation's leading goal scorer, scored for the 26th time this season while the Saints were on a 4x3 power play. Carey tallied on a well-placed shot through a screen from between the circles. Defenseman George Hughes (Westwood, MA) and right wing Jeremy Wick (Grand Valley, ON) had the assists. For Hughes, the point was the 100th of his career (18 goals, 82 assists).

Rensselaer junior Brock Higgs broke the tie less than two minutes later when he scored shorthanded. Higgs earned his first of the year when he picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone, skated down the left side of the ice and past a defenseman, cut across the front of the goal crease, avoided a poke check by the Saints netminder Matt Weninger (Lethbridge, AB) and slid the puck through the goalie's legs. Bailen, who chipped the puck up the ice while battling Carey, had the lone assist on the goal, which came at the 15:01 mark.

Freshman Travis Fulton (Oakville, ON / Vaughan Vipers) increased RPI's lead to two goals at 10:48 of the third period when he scored on a backhander while cutting across the front of the net. Mark Miller (Massena, NY / Omaha Lancers) who backhanded a pass from behind the net to Fulton, and Chris Bradley (Williamsville, NY / Youngstown Phantoms) had the assists. Junior Johnny Rogic (North Vancouver, BC / Alberni Valley Bulldogs) made it 4-1 at 14:58 when he picked up the puck in the neutral zone, skated down the left side and wristed a shot under the crossbar for his third goal of the season. That tally, which was set up by Bailen, chased Weninger in favor of freshman Kyle MacDonald (Hanover, MA).

Freshman Jason Kasdorf (Winnipeg, MB / Des Moines Buccaneers) was outstanding throughout for the Engineers. He made 19 saves in the game, including several on high-end opportunities for the Saints. He is now 13-3-2 on the season. Weninger (16-14-4) finished with 29 saves in 54:54 for the Saints. MacDonald did not face any shots.

St. Lawrence was 1 for 8 on the power play, while the Engineers failed to score on their two chances.

Rensselaer is idle next week, having earned a bye through the first round of the ECAC Hockey Playoffs. The Engineers will host a best-of-three quarterfinal the weekend of March 15-17 at the Houston Field House.