Box Score BUFFALO, N.Y. - John Hawthorne made 30 saves and his teammates blocked 18 other shot attempts as the Canisius College men's hockey team handed Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) its first loss of the season, 3-2, in a non-league game. The Engineers fall to 4-1-0 and the Golden Griffins improve to 2-3-0.

Senior TJ Walsh scored for the fourth time in the last two games for RPI, who also got a goal from Jakob Lee. The senior continues to lead the team in scoring with nine points (3 goals, 6 assists) through the first five contests. Jack Watson stopped 23 shots for the Engineers.

Nick Bowman staked Canisius to a 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the contest, beating Watson with a shot from close range on a feed from junior Randy Hernandez for his fourth goal in as many contests.  
 
The teams traded goals during the final minute of first period. Daniel DiGrande doubled the Griffs advantage to 2-0 with 39 seconds to play in the frame when he backhanded a shot over the glove of Watson while on the rush for his team-leading fifth goal of the season. Lee answered for the Engineers with a power play tally just moments later, jamming home a loose puck to make it a one-goal game at the first intermission. Jack Agnew and Max Smolinski had the assists.
 
After a scoreless second, Jackson Decker restored the Griffs' two-goal cushion less than a minute into the third with a 4-on-4 goal as he put home a centering feed from senior Keaton Mastrodonato to make it a 3-1 contest.
 
Walsh pulled RPI within one near midway point of the third, beating Hawthorne with a wrist shot over the right shoulder from the middle of the slot to trim the Griffs lead to 3-2. Lauri Sertti, the reigning ECAC Hockey Defenseman of the Week, had the lone assist.
 
That would be as close as the Engineers would get, however, as Hawthorne turned aside the final nine shots he faced in the game to preserve the one-goal victory. 

RPI returns to the Houston Field House for its next game, an exhibition against the U.S. National Development Team on Friday at 7pm.