TROY, N.Y. -- Riley Bourbonnais started the game with his first collegiate goal, and finished with a hat trick, leading Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) to a 6-1 win over #2 Union in ECAC Men's Hockey action on Friday evening at Houston Field House. The victory - the second straight for the Engineers over their arch-rivals - happened on Black Friday, RPI's annual celebration of the first league game of the season, and improved the Engineers record to 2-5-0, and 1-0-0 in league play, while the Dutchmen drop to 5-2-0 overall, and 0-1-0 in conference action.  

RPI put up two goals in the the first and second periods to take a 4-0 lead before Union got on the board. Bourbonnais (Rochester, NY / Lincoln Stars) got the Engineers on the board first at 7:43. Taking an assist from Chris Bradley (Williamsville, NY / Youngstown Phantoms), Bourbonnais flipped the puck into the net past Union starter Colin Stevens (Niskayuna, NY / Boston Junior Bruins). Later in the period, Jared Wilson (Calgary, Alberta / Vernon Vipers) scored his first collegiate goal, carrying the puck through the slot and shooting near side for the score at 15:58. Drew Melanson (Paramus, NJ / Waterloo Black Hawks) and Mark Miller (Massena, NY / Omaha Lancers) picked up assists on the tally.

Bourbonnais netted his second of the night at 5:10 of the second, picked the puck up in the right circle, carrying across the slot and shooting glove side past Stevens. He took assists from Travis Fulton (Oakville, Ontario / Vaughan Vipers) and Mike Prapavessis (Oakville, Ontario / Toronto Patriots). Freshman Viktor Liljegren (Stockholm, Sweden / Fairbanks Ice Dogs) scored his second of the season at 17:03 of the second on a power play, as classmate Lou Nanne (Edina, MN / Sioux Falls Stampede) passed the puck from behind the net to Liljegren, who was directly in front of the Union net. 

Bourbonnais competed the hat trick with an unassisted goal in the third. After Union got on the board at 4:24 with a score from Mike Vecchione (Saugus, MA / Tri-City Storm) on the power play, the Engineers won the ensuing faceoff and Bourbonnais immediately took the puck to the net for the goal. Nanne wrapped up the scoring for Rensselaer at 7:36 of the third. Drew Melanson (Paramus, NJ / Waterloo Black Hawks) passed the puck down the slot where Nanne was waiting to put it past back up Union netminder Alex Sakellaropoulos (Tinley Park, IL / Chicago Steel). Miller picked up the secondary assist on the score. 

Union, the defending national champions, just managed to outshoot the Engineers, 25-24, piling on 15 shots in the second after getting outshot, 11-2, in the first. The Dutchmen also held a 34-27 advantage in faceoff wins. Junior goaltender Jason Kasdorf (Winnipeg, Manitoba / Des Moines Bucs) was outstanding between the pipes for RPI, stopping 24 opposing shots. Stevens made 14 saves in the first two periods before being replaced by Sakellaropoulos, who finished with four saves in 22:57. 

With a win in the 90th game between the two programs, RPI improves to 47-33-10. 

The two teams will complete the home-and-home series on Saturday in Schenectady, with the puck dropping at 7 p.m.