ITHACA, N.Y. – Brenden Locke recorded a goal and two assists to lead the second-ranked Cornell University men's hockey team to a 4-2 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), on Saturday night at Lynah Rink. With the win, the Big Red improve to 19-2-4 overall (14-2-2 ECAC Hockey), while the Engineers drop to 13-15-2 (9-8-1 ECAC Hockey).

Noah Bauld opened the scoring for the hosts at 3:30 of the opening frame, collecting a rebound at the right side of the slot and firing a low shot inside the left post for his second goal of the season. Joe Leahy's initial shot from the left side was kicked out by RPI sophomore goaltender Owen Savory, but the puck found Bauld on the right for the tally.

Just 18 seconds later, Morgan Barron found Alex Green open at the bottom of the left circle for his seventh of the year. Green waited out Savory before lifting a shot into the top half of the net. A secondary assist went to Locke.

Defenseman Yanni Kaldis made it a 3-0 game at 17:03 of the first, when his shot from the high slot made its way through traffic and past Savory. Barron set up the goal by carrying the puck to the center of the zone before dropping it back to Kaldis for the finish.

Rensselaer started its comeback effort just 1:24 into the second period, when a shot from the blue line by senior Todd Burgess was tipped past Cornell netminder Matthew Galajda, cutting the deficit to 3-1. Sophomore Kyle Hallbauer picked up the secondary assist on Linden's fifth goal of the season.

Burgess then brought the visitors to within 3-2 at 1:40 of the third, weaving his way up the left wing boards before sliding across the to the right circle and rifling a shot into the top left corner of the net. His eighth tally of the year drew helpers from classmate Chase Zieky and freshman defenseman Mason Klee.

Locke then added an empty-netter with 26 seconds top play after an initial attempt by Tristan Mullin was blocked by RPI senior captain Will Reilly.

Galajda finished with 18 saves in the contests, while Savory had 28, including 12 in the first period alone. Cornell was 1 for 3 on the power play, with the Engineers going 0 for 1.

The Engineers are back in action next weekend, when they host Quinnipiac University and Princeton University on Friday (7pm) and Saturday (7pm). Cornell visits Yale University and Brown University.