TROY, N.Y. – Junior Landon Smith scored two goals, including the eventual game-winner to lead the Quinnipiac University men's hockey team to a 7-3 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), on Saturday night in the 40th Annual Big Red Freakout! With the win, the Bobcats improve to 17-13-2 (11-8-1 ECAC Hockey), while the Engineers drop to 7-25-1 (5-15-0 ECAC Hockey).

After RPI freshman defenseman Will Reilly (Toronto, ON/Nanaimo Clippers) opened the scoring 4:35 into the first period, the Bobcats ran off four straight goals in the frame for a 4-1 lead.

Rookie blueliner Karlis Cukste (Riga, Latvia/Chicago Steel) snuck a shot past Rensselaer sophomore netminder Chase Perry (Andover, MN/Wenatchee Wild) at 7:10, before Smith (Greenwood Village, CO/Salmon Arm Silverbacks) fired one home off the wall for a 2-1 advantage.

Quinnpiac then took a 3-1 lead at 15:50, when freshman Nick Jermain (Cos Cob, CT/Merritt Centennials) beat Perry with a shot from the right circle. Helpers on Jermain's third goal of the year went to junior Kevin Duane (New Canaan, CT/Boston University) and senior captain Derek Smith (Apple Valley, MN/Coulee Region Chill).

Landon Smith pushed the visitors' lead to 4-1 at 17:59, from junior Kevin McKernan (Millbury, MA/Boston Jr. Bruins) and senior Tommy Schutt (Chanhassan, MN/Lincoln Stars).

Rensselaer pulled a goal back midway through the second, as freshman Jacob Hayhurst (Missassauga, ON/Cedar Rapids RoughRiders) potted his seventh goal of the season from Reilly and junior Mike Prapavessis (Oakville, ON/Toronto Patriots). The power play tally came at 9:28.

Quinnipiac had the answer, however, as junior Bo Pieper (Roseville, MN/Coquitlam Express) pushed the lead back to three goals (5-2) at 16:28. He tipped home a point shot from senior captain Connor Clifton (Matawan, NJ/US National Dev. Team) for his 11th goal of the year.

Sophomore defenseman Chase Priskie (Pembroke Pines, FL/Salmon Arm Silverbacks) waited out the RPI defense before snapping home Quinnipiac's sixth goal 6:22 of the third period. Assists went to Schutt and McKernan.

RPI cut the deficit to 6-3 at 10:38 on sophomore Alex Rodriguez's (Miami, FL/Sioux City Musketeers) first goal of the season.

The Engineers then had three minutes of power play time after a Quinnipiac major penalty and pulled Perry for an extra attacker. The Bobcats capitalized on the empty net, as McKernan found it with a shot from 180 feet away.

Perry finished with 30 saves, while Bobcats freshman Andrew Shortridge (Anchorage, AK/Vernon Vipers) had 21 stops at the other end of the ice.

RPI went 1 for 5 on the power play, extending its streak of games with at least one man advantage tally to six games. Quinnipiac was 0 for 2 on the power play.

The Engineers conclude their regular season schedule next weekend, when they visit No. 12 Cornell and Colgate on Friday (7pm) and Saturday (7:05pm), respectively.