ROUTE 7 RIVALRY RETURNS
Rensselaer is back in action this weekend when it opens ECAC Hockey play with a home-and-home series with Union College, beginning on Friday at the Houston Field House (7pm). The series concludes on Saturday in Schenectady (7pm).

RPI TOPPLES RIT
The Engineers got five points from sophomore Evan Tironese (1 goal, 4 assists) in beating RIT, 6-3, on Saturday night at the Houston Field House ... Senior captain Riley Bourbonnais added three points (2 goals, 1 assist) and sophomore goaltender Cam Hackett made 28 saves in his first start of the season.

ENGINEERS TIE NIAGARA
RPI erased a 2-1 third period deficit, before seeing a 3-2 lead slip away in a 3-3 draw with Niagara on Friday night at the Houston Field House ... Sophomore Evan Tironese had a goal and an assist, while junior Jared Wilson netted his second power play goal of the season ... Sophomore goaltender Chase Perry had 30 saves.

CAPTAINS ANNOUNCED
Eleventh-year head coach Seth Appert has announced that seniors Riley Bourbonnais and Jimmy DeVito will wear the 'C' for the 2016-17 season, while classmate Parker Reno will serve as the lone alternate.

MODEL OF CONSISTENCY
Dating back to last season, senior captain Riley Bourbonnais has at least one point in 19 out of 22 weekends, including all three this season ... Sophomore Evan Tironese picked up right where he left off after getting injured six games into the 2015-16, with 16 points (4 goals, 12 assists) in 11 career games.

SPECIAL TEAMS
The Engineers enter the weekend with the sixth-best penalty kill in the nation at 92.9% (26 for 28) ... Both power play goals that the team has allowed came in the same game (Oct. 21 vs. Niagara) ... On the man advantage, RPI is converting at a 12.5% rate (4 for 32), including 23.1% (3 for 13) over the weekend.

SHORTIES
RPI's three shorthanded goals are good for third in the nation, trailing Bentley and Boston University, which have four apiece ... Senior Riley Bourbonnais' two shorties are tied with Robbie Payne of Northern Michigan for the most in the country.

EARLY POINT LEADERS
Sophomore Evan Tironese has a team-high nine points on three goals and six assists ... Senior captain Riley Bourbonnais (3 goals, 3 assists) has six points, while four players have three, including junior blueliner Jared Wilson, who has three goals.

PERRY STARTS FOUR
Sophomore Chase Perry started the first four games for the Engineers, going 0-3-1 with a 3.95 goals against average and an .891 save percentage ... His 37 saves on October 8 were one shy of his career-high, which he set on November 7, 2014, as a member of the Colorado College Tigers, at Miami (OH) ... The Redhawks were 3-0 winners on that night.

LET 'EM FLY
Union is second in the country in shots per game at 37.8, while the Engineers rank 16th with 31.4 ... The Dutchmen score on 10.1% of their shots, while RPI's find the back of the net at an 8.9% clip.

PUCKS ON NET
Senior Riley Bourbonnais has a team-best 23 shots, while junior Drew Melanson has 16 ... Sophomore Evan Tironese is third with 14, while junior Jared Wilson has 13.

STREAKING
Senior Riley Bourbonnais has a four-game point streak in which he has three goals and three assists for six points ... Sophomore Evan Tironese (3 goals, 5 assists) and freshman Willy Reilly (3 assists) are riding three-game streaks.

IN THE CIRCLE
Freshman Jacob Hayhurst has won a team-high 53.4% of his face-offs, while junior Drew Melanson is second at 50.0% ... As a team, the Engineers have a 44.1% success rate on the draw.

HOT HOT HOT
Union senior Mike Vecchione (6 goals, 2 assists) and RPI sophomore Evan Tironese (2 goals, 5 assists) were first and second in the country in points over the weekend with eight and seven each.

OCTOBER SUCCESS
Sophomore Evan Tironese, who was the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Month for October 2015 has 16 points (4 goals, 12 assists) in 11 October games dating back to last season ... Only Union senior Mike Vecchione (9-8-17) has more points over the same span in the league.

ALL-TIME VS. THE DUTCHMEN
Rensselaer leads the all-time series 51-34-10 ... The Engineers won the inaugural meeting on February 26, 1904, 6-2 in Albany.

RECENTLY
After the Engineers ended a 10-game losing streak to Union on January 25, 2014, RPI has a 6-1 record, with the only loss coming at the 2015 Mayor's Cup game ... The Engineers' four-game conference winning streak is its longest in the series since 1992-95 ... RPI did have a four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1) which spanned the 2002-04 seasons.

2015-16 VS. UNION
RPI swept the season series last year winning both conference games (5-1 and 3-2), before taking the Mayor's Cup (5-2) ... The Engineers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first period in Schenectady, en route to a 5-1 win on October 30, 2015 ... Mark Miller's power play goal, midway through the third period stood as the game-winner the following night in Troy ... Lou Nanne then recorded three points (1 goal, 2 assists) in the Mayor's Cup win on January 23, 2016.

FOR THE DUTCHMEN
Union (4-1-1) is led offensively by senior Mike Vecchione, who leads the nation with 13 points on eight goals and five assists ... Sophomore Sebastian Vidmar (3 goals, 7 assists) has 10 points, while junior Spencer Foo (3 goals, 5 assists) has eight.

UNION GOALTENDING
Senior Alex Sakellaropoulos has started three games in goal, going 3-0 with a 3.00 goals against average and an .866 save percentage ... Sophomore Jake Kupsky has also started three games, with a 1-1-1 record ... He carries a 3.25 goals against average and an .884 save percentage into this weekend's action.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Senior captain Riley Bourbonnais recorded a hat trick in his first ever game against Union, back on October 31, 2014 ... The Dutchmen were the second-ranked team in the nation coming into that game. 

GIVING UP THE BODY
Sophomore Tommy Grant has a team-high 16 blocked shots, while senior Riley Bourbonnais has 10 ... Junior defenseman Parker Reno rounds out the top three with nine blocks.

POWER PLAY POINTS
Junior Jared Wilson (3 goals) and sophomore Evan Tironese (3 assists) are tied for the team lead with three power play points apiece ... Junior Drew Melanson (2 assists) has two points on the man advantage, while four players are tied with one.