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ITHACA, N.Y. - Scott Diebold stopped 31 of 32 shots, including 14 in the first period, and three different players scored as the Rensselaer men's hockey team defeated No. 11 Cornell, 3-1, in an ECAC Hockey contest before a sold out Lynah Rink. The Engineers got first period goals from Brock Higgs and Mark McGowan and a second period tally from Mark Tinordi on its way to building a 3-0 lead over the Big Red.

Higgs broke the ice when he deposited a rebound of a Ryan Haggerty shot at 6:52 of the first period. The goal was the 14th of the season for Higgs, while Haggerty extended his point streak to eight games with his assist. The Engineers doubled their lead when junior Mark McGowan scored when the puck hit is skate and crossed the goal line at 16:06 of the opening frame. McGowan's goal, his third of the year, came with an extra attacker on the ice as RPI had drawn a power play.

Rensselaer capitalized on a power play late in the second period when Matt Tinordi scored for the third time in as many games. The team's captain, he secured a pass from McGowan before beating Andy Iles, the Cornell goaltender. Senior defenseman Bo Dolan, who also had an assist on McGowan's goal, had the secondary helper.

Cornell needed just 3:32 of the third period to pull to within one goal, with John McCarron getting his fifth of the season, but Diebold made seven saves in the stanza for the win. 

RPI improves to 13-12-5 (7-7-4 ECAC Hockey), while Cornell is now 12-7-5 (8-6-4 ECAC Hockey). Iles finished with 22 saves in defeat.

The Engineers play their final regular season homestand next Friday and Saturday against St. Lawrence and nationally-ranked Clarkson, respectively.