ITHACA, N.Y. – Senior goaltender Mitch Gillam made 31 saves to lead the ninth-ranked Cornell University men's hockey team to a 2-0 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), on Friday night at Lynah Rink. With the win, the Big Red improve to 18-6-4 (13-4-4 ECAC Hockey), while the Engineers drop to 7-26-1 (5-16-0 ECAC Hockey).

Gillam (Peterborough, ON/Chilliwack Chiefs) earned his third shutout of the season and 11th of his career, making 15 stops in the second period alone. He made seven saves during RPI's six power play chances, helping the Big Red go perfect on the kill, including 4 for 4 in the third.

After a scoreless first period, Cornell got on the board just 2:27 into the second. Senior defenseman Patrick McCarron (Toronto, ON/St. Michael's Buzzers) found the top left corner of the net on a shot from the blue line for a 1-0 lead. The power play goal, which was set up by sophomore Mitch Vanderlaan (Hanwick, NB/Fort McMurray Oil Barons) and senior Jeff Kubiak (Tinley Park, IL/Muskegon Lumberjacks) was his McCarron's fifth of the season.

The Big Red doubled its advantage at 10:10 of the second, when Vanderlaan snuck a shot from the high slot past RPI sophomore netminder Chase Perry (Andover, MN/Wenatchee Wild) for his team leading 13th goal of the year. Helpers went to seniors Eric Freschi (Bloomington, MN/Dubuque Fighting Saints) and Jake Weidner (Grand Valley, ON/Elmira Sugar Kings).

Rensselaer could not find a way past Gilliam, despite a number of chances in second and third periods. RPI finished with a 31-25 edge in shots and a 36-35 advantage on face-offs.

Perry had 23 saves, including all 10 shots he saw in the first period. Cornell wound up 1 for 4 on the power play, while RPI was 0 for 6.

The Engineers are back in action tomorrow night, when they visit Colgate in their regular season finale (7:05pm). Cornell hosts No. 7 Union tomorrow (7pm).