TROY, N.Y. – Freshman Paul McAvoy scored a pair of goals and sophomore Colton Point made 34 saves to lead the Colgate University men's hockey team to a 5-2 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in the 41st Annual Big Red Freakout! on Saturday night at the Houston Field House. With the win, the Raiders improve to 14-14-6 overall (10-9-3 ECAC Hockey), while the Engineers drop to 5-25-4 (4-16-2 ECAC Hockey).

The win clinched the eighth seed in the ECAC Hockey Tournament for Colgate. The Raiders will host 11th seed RPI in a best-of-three series, beginning on Friday (7pm) at Class of 1965 Arena.

Sophomore Jacob Hayhurst (Mississauga, ON/Cedar Rapids RoughRiders) opened the scoring just 32 seconds into the contest, burying a centering feed from senior Viktor Liljegren (Stockholm, Sweden/Fairbanks Ice Dogs). Sophomore Todd Burgess (Phoenix, AZ/Fairbanks Ice Dogs) picked up the secondary assist on the play.

Colgate drew even at 17:50 of the opening frame, when junior Hunter Racine (Ottawa, ON/Hawkesbury Hawks) received a cross-ice feed from classmate Ken Citron (Cos Cob, CT/Vernon Vipers) and fired home his third goal of the season. Fellow junior Willie Brooks (Locust, NJ/Carleton Place Canadiens) also had a helper on the tying goal.

McAvoy (Richmond, KY/Surrey Eagles) gave the Raiders the lead for good at 2:00 of the second, snapping home a rebound from the bottom of the left circle. Classmate Tyler Jeanson (Carman, MB/Minot Minotauros) saw his initial shot turned away by RPI sophomore goaltender Linden Marshall (Victoria, BC/Trail Smoke Eaters), but McAvoy swooped in for his first of the night.

Freshman Henry Marshall (New Cannan, CT/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) made it 3-1 at 7:59 of the second, redirecting a shot from the point by classmate Nick Austin (St. Louis Park, MN/Madison Capitals) past the RPI netminder for his second goal of the season.

Hayhurst pulled the hosts to within 3-2 at 10:16 of the third, walking his way into the middle of the slot before rifling a shot that caromed off the crossbar and Point's back, before flopping across the goal line. The tally, which drew assists from seniors Mike Prapavessis (Oakville, ON/Toronto Patriots) and Jared Wilson (Calgary, AB/Vernon Vipers), was Hayhurst's team-leading 12th of the year.

Colgate doubled its advantage at 15:34 of the third on McAvoy's second of the contest and sixth of the season. He picked out the top left corner of the net from between the circles for a 4-2 lead. Sophomore Jared Cockrell (Readfield, ME/Brooks Bandits) added an empty-netter with 2:33 to play to seal the victory.

Point (13-9-5) recorded 21 of his 34 saves in the third period alone, while Marshall (4-18-2) stopped 11 of 14 on the night. Junior Chase Perry (Andover, MN/Wenatchee Wild) was forced into action late in the first period, when Marshall's skate blade broke and could not be immediately repaired.

Colgate finished 0 for 2 on the power play, while the Engineers wound up 0 for 1. Hayhurst's two tallies give him three in his two Freakout! appearances. RPI honored its three seniors – Viktor Liljegren, Mike Prapavessis Jared Wilson in a ceremony after the game.