PRINCETON, N.J. – Junior Ryan Kuffner recorded a hat trick to lead the Princeton University men's hockey team to a 7-2 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), on Friday night at Hobey Baker Rink. With the win, the Tigers improve to 12-11-3 (9-9-1 ECAC Hockey) while the Engineers drop to 5-22-4 (4-13-2 ECAC Hockey).
Kuffner (Ottawa, ON/Gloucester) got the scoring started just 27 seconds into the contest, when buried a feed from classmate Max Veronneau (Ottawa, ON/Goucester). Freshman defenseman Matthew Thom (Oakville, ON/Georgetown) picked up the secondary assist.
Sophomore Jackson Cressey (West Vancouver, BC/Coquitlam) doubled the lead 16 second later, scoring point-blank, with assists to sophomore Derek Topatigh (Mississauga, ON/Orangeville) and freshman Reid Yochim (Port Robinson, ON/Langley).
The Tigers then made it 3-0 at 5:42 of the first, as Kuffner netted his second of the night from senior David Hallisey (Wethersfield, CT/Islanders) and Veronneau. Sophomore Jeremy Germain (Hamden, CT/Chilliwack) scored his first collegiate goal at 14:51 of the first for a 4-0 lead.
RPI freshman
Linden Marshall (Victoria, BC/Trail) was superb in the second period, stopping all 19 shots he faced. The Engineers netted a late power play goal to get on the board. Freshman Emil Ohrvall (Halmstad, Sweden/Waterloo) stuck home a rebound after a point shot from senior
Mike Prapavessis (Oakville, ON/Toronto) was turned away by Princeton freshman goalie Ryan Ferland (Franklin, MA/Jersey).
Kuffner completed the hat trick at 3:25 of the third, firing past Marshall for his 22nd goal of the year. Helpers went to Veronneau and Cressey. Less than two minutes later, Cressey netted his first of two goals of the period from senior Eric Robinson (Bellmawr, NJ/Dubuque) and Hallisey.
Veronneau saw his breakaway attempt stopped by Marshall with 13 minutes left in the third period.
Freshman
Donovan Ott (Lebanon, PA/Johnstown) then netted his first collegiate goal from the bottom of the right circle, after corralling the rebound of a shot by classmate classmate
Owen Stout (West Vancouver, BC/Coquitlam). The tally, which came at 8:41 of the third, brought Rensselaer to within 6-2.
Hallisey capped the scoring at 16:06 of the frame, scoring first time on a pass from Robinson. Thom picked up his second assist of the net on the play.
Marshall (4-15-2) made a career-high 44 saves, while Ferland (11-9-3) had 31 stops at the other end of the ice. Princeton finished 1 for 3 on the power play, with RPI going 1 for 4.
The Engineers are back on the ice tomorrow night, when they visit Quinnipiac University (7pm), while the Tigers host Union College (7pm).
