BACK AT IT 
Rensselaer gets the second half of its season underway this weekend, when it takes part in the 2018 Catamount Cup ... The Engineers take on No. 11 Northeastern on Friday (4pm) and the hosts from Vermont on Saturday (7:05pm) at Gutterson Fieldhouse.

ENGINEERS FALL AT BROWN
The Bears built a 2-0 lead though the first 25 minutes of the contest, before holding off a late push from RPI to win 2-1 ... Senior Brady Wiffen netted the lone Engineers tally on the day, while Owen Savory turned away 36 of 38 shots ... Rensselaer had a number of chances to pull even in the third period, outshooting the Bears, 11-8, in the frame.

YALE TOPS RENSSELAER
The Bulldogs got off to a fast start in defeating the Engineers, 4-2, on December 7 in New Haven, Conn. ... Two period first period goals were followed by a scoreless second, before Patrick Polino pulled the visitors to within 2-1 at 7:44 of the third ... Back-to-back tallies from Justin Pearson and Evan Smith pushed the Bulldogs advantage to 4-1, before Brady Ferner netted his first collegiate goal at 18:13 of the stanza ... Owen Savory registered 31 saves on the night.

RPI LEADERS
Junior Jacob Hayhurst (2 goal, 12 assists) has a team-best 14 points through 15 games this season ... Classmate Will Reilly (2 goals, 5 assists) is second with seven points while junior Patrick Polino (4 goals, 2 assists) and freshman Ottoville Leppanen (2 goals, 4 assists) have six points apiece. Junior Todd Burgess (2 goals, 3 assists) is one of three players with five points.

BETWEEN THE PIPES
Sophomore Linden Marshall (3-7-0) has a 3.97 goals against average and a .889 save percentage as the starter 10 games this season ... Freshman Owen Savory made his collegiate debut in the season opener at UMass, stopping 8 of 9 shots in the third period ... He then earned the win in his first collegiate start on Friday at UMass Lowell, saving 26 ... For the season, Savory is 1-4-0, with a 2.55 goals against average and a .926 save percentage in seven appearances (5 starts) ... Senior Chase Perry made his season debut against Notre Dame on December 1 and has a 1.58 goals against average and a .944 save percentage in 37:59 of ice time.

READY TO RUMBLE
RPI's three transfers, who have been practicing with the team all fall, are now eligible to play for the Engineers ... Junior Mike Gornall (North Dakota), Shane Bear (UMass) and Chase Zieky (Providence) could potentially see ice time this weekend.

ALL-TIME VS. NORTHEASTERN
The Engineers lead the all-time series with the Huskies, 25-16-2, including a victory in the inaugural meeting, 7-1, in Troy on January 9, 1954 ... RPI won the first five contests in the series, until Northeastern's first victory on January 26, 1959 – a 7-3 victory in Boston.

RECENTLY
The two teams have split the six most recent matchups in the series, 2-2-2 ... The most recent meeting came on October 15, 2010 – a 2-2 tie at Matthews Arena.

OCTOBER 15, 2010
Bryan Brutlag gave RPI an early lead, but the Huskies fought back with tallies from Rob Dongara and Jamie Oleksiak to take a 2-1 edge early in the second period ... Chase Polacek potted the tying goal for RPI with a little over two minutes to play in the second ... Allen York made 26 saves for Rensselaer, while Chris Rawlings had 29 stops for the Huskies.

SCOUTING NORTHEASTERN
The 11th-ranked Huskies are led offensively by junior Grant Jozefek, who has 10 goals and six assists for 16 points ... Freshman Tyler Madden (6 goals, 9 assists) and junior Jeremy Davies (4 goals, 11 assists) have 15 points apiece.

HUSKIES GOALTENDING
Northeastern sophomore Cayden Primeau has started 14 of the team's 15 games, posting a 10-3-1 record ... He carries a 2.40 goals against average and a .918 save percentage ... Senior Ryan Ruck, who will likely see action this weekend, has made three saves in one relief appearance this year ... Junior Curtis Frye and freshman Nick Scarpa have yet to see ice time this season.

REPRESENTING USA
Huskies associate head coach Jerry Keefe will be on the bench for the US World Junior team this weekend and not with the team in Vermont ... Freshman Tyler Madden and sophomore Cayden Primeau are also representing their country and not at the Catamount Cup.

ALL-TIME VS. VERMONT
Rensselaer owns a 32-31-7 edge in the all-time series, which dates back to November 25, 1972 – a 6-1 Vermont win in Canton, N.Y. ... After three wins to open the series, RPI got its first victory on November 23, 1973 – a 4-3 home win.

RECENTLY
The Catamounts have won the last four meetings between the two schools, including a neutral site victory in Montreal, Quebec on October 11, 2008 ... The Engineers did win five of the six previous contests, however.

SCOUTING UVM
Vermont is senior Liam Coughlin, who has two goals and six assists for eight points in 11 games ... Sophomores Alex Esposito (4 goals, 3 assists) and Max Kaufman (2 goals, 5 assists) have seven points apiece, while four others have six, including freshman Joey Cipollone (5 goals, 1 assist).

CATAMOUNT 'KEEPING
Junior Stefanos Lekkas has started all 14 games for Vermont this season, going 5-8-1 with a 2.27 goals against average and a .936 save percentage ... He ranks third nationally in save percentage and fourth in total saves (467).

FIRST GOALS
Freshman Jakub Lacka netted his first collegiate goal just 15 minutes into his first game, scoring on the power play in the first period at UMass on October 12 ... He added his second goal the following evening at the Houston Field House ... Freshman Ottoville Leppanen and Ture Linden each potted their first collegiate goals against No. 11 Union on October 26 – a 5-3 victory at the Houston Field House ... Rookie blueliner Kyle Hallbauer scored his first goal in the Cherry & White on November 30 at then-No. 8 Notre Dame ... Freshman defenseman Brady Ferner potted his first goal on December 7 at Yale.

FIRST POINTS
Rookie defenseman Kyle Hallbauer earned his first collegiate point – an assist – against the Minutemen on October 12 in Amherst ... Classmates Brady Ferner and Jake Johnson each picked up their first collegiate assists against Union on October 27.

PENALTY KILL IMPROVEMENT
After going 3 for 7 in the season-opener at UMass, the Engineers have killed off 43 of 49 chances shorthanded, including 13 of 14 against the Union Dutchmen on October 26 and 27 ... RPI's 87.5% on the kill over that stretch is second in ECAC Hockey and ninth nationally.

HELPING HAND
Junior Jacob Hayhurst's 12 assists rank 27th in the nation ... He is sixth among ECAC Hockey skaters, trailing Adam Fox (15 assists) ... Hayhurst's 14 points are good for 11th in the conference.

TOP FACE-OFF MEN
The Engineers have won 46.9% of their faceoffs this season, led by junior Jacob Hayhurst, who is at 49.5% ... Freshman Ture Linden is second at 49.1%, while senior Brady Wiffen wins them at a 48.2% rate.

MISCELLANEOUS LEADERS
Freshman Jakub Lacka leads the Engineers with three power play goals, while junior Patrick Polino has the club's lone shorthanded tally ... Lacka is scoring on 15.8% of his shots, which is tops on the team ... Junior Will Reilly and sophomore Mat Harris are tied for a club-best -2 for the season.

VS. RANKED TEAMS
The Engineers are 2-4-0 against teams ranked in the USCHO.com Top 20, sweeping then-No. 11 Union on October 26 and 27 ... RPI then dropped league games at then-No. 13 Quinnipiac and then-No. 18 Princeton on November 9 and 10 ... The Engineers were swept by then-No. 8 Notre Dame on November 30 and December 1.

CONFERENCE LEADERS
The Engineers are third in ECAC Hockey in blocked shots (215) and third in penalties (71) ... RPI is second in shorthanded goals (1) and fourth in penalty kill (82.5%).

INDIVIDUALLY
Junior Jacob Hayhurst is fourth among ECAC Hockey skaters with eight assists in conference play ... He is eighth in points (9) and sixth in faceoff wins (78) ... Sophomore Donovan Ott ranks 12th with 11 blocked shots.