DURHAM, N.H. – Senior Tyler Kelleher had a goal and an assist to lead the University of New Hampshire men's hockey team to a 5-0 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), on Tuesday night at Whittemore Center. With the win, the Wildcats improve to 6-5-2, while the Engineers drop to 2-11-1.
New Hampshire opened the scoring at 5:17 of the first period, when sophomore Chris Miller (Windham, NH/Junior Bruins) converted on a 2-on-1 break into the offensive zone. Miller faked a pass, before whistling a shot past RPI sophomore goaltender
Cam Hackett (Sault Ste. Marie, ON/Lincoln Stars), glove side. The tally, which drew assists from junior Shane Eiserman (Newburyport, MA/Dubuque) and sophomore Matt Dawson (Delta, BC/Green Bay), was Miller's first of the year.
Kelleher (Longmeadow, MA/US National Dev. Team) doubled the Wildcats' lead at 10:03 of the frame, claiming a loose puck between the circles and snapping a shot over Hackett's left shoulder.
The Engineers had strong second period, out-shooting New Hampshire, 11-9,. The Engineers turned in a number of scoring chances, but could not convert on a full two minutes of 5-on-3 power play time.
UNH freshman Liam Blackburn (Prince George, BC/West Kelowna) tapped his own rebound at 7:42 of the third to make it a 3-0 game. Kelleher and senior defenseman Dylan Maller (Parkland, FL/Tri-City) picked up the helpers on Blackburn's fourth of the season.
The Wildcats added two late goals to extend the lead to 5-0. Maller buried an empty-netter from inside of his own blue line at 17:00, before junior Jason Salvaggio (Hanson, MA/Indiana) found classmate Michael McNicholas (Manhattan Beach, CA/Vernon) wide open at the back door for an easy finish at 18:38.
Hackett finished with 32 saves, while New Hampshire junior netminder Danny Tirone (Trumbull, CT/Bruins) had 25 for his second shutout of the season.
New Hampshire was 0 for 6 on the power play, while the Engineers finished 0 for 3.
Rensselaer is back in action this weekend, when it travels to Tempe, Arizona to take on Arizona State University for a two-game series, starting on Friday at 7:05pm MT.
