TROY, N.Y. – Seniors Ture Linden and Jakub Lacka each scored a pair of goals to lead the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's hockey team to a 6-2 victory over 16th-ranked Cornell University, on Friday night at the Houston Field House. With the win, the Engineers improve to 13-17-3 (8-9-0 ECAC Hockey), while the Big Red drop to 13-7-4 (8-5-4 ECAC Hockey).

RPI scored five unanswered goals to turn around a 2-1 deficit after one period of play. Graduate student Justin Addamo (Aurieres, France / Robert Morris University) knotted the score at 2-2 with a highlight reel goal at 10:24 of the second. Receiving a cross-ice pass on the right wing, he lifted a backhanded shot under the crossbar for his eighth tally of the season.

Just over six minutes later, Lacka (Bratislava, Slovakia / Central Illinois Flying Aces) gave the Engineers the lead (3-2) with a power play marker. Junior Simon Kjellberg (Nashville, TN / Dubuque Fighting Saints) sent the puck into the slot for Addamo, who wound up kicking it across the bottom of the left circle for Lacka, who one-hand poked a shot into an open net.

Linden (Great Falls, VA / Lone Star Brahmas) doubled the RPI advantage at 10:28 of the third, snapping home a shot on a partial breakway, after taking a feed from the left wall by Lacka. Linden got loose on the right side of the Cornell zone and ripped a shot into the top left corner of the net for his second goal of the game and team-leading 13th of the season.

With just over five minutes left in regulation, the Engineers were handed their second five-minute major of the game. Two minutes into the man advantage, the Big Red lifted freshman goaltender Joe Howe (Shanty Bay, ON / Grande Prairie Storm) for a 6-on-4 advantage.

RPI senior Jake Johnson (Bloomington, MN / Cedar Rapids RoughRiders) was able to pot the first of two empty-netters at 18:41, lifting a shot home from just inside his own blue line. Lacka then capped the scoring with an empty-net tally of his own, skating the puck in from the red line, before chipping it home from short range.

Linden scored the game's first goal at 8:16 of the opening frame. Helpers went to classmate Ottoville Leppanen (Espoo, Finland / Espoo Blues U20) and sophomore Lauri Sertti (Espoo, Finland / Amarillo Bulls).

Cornell fought back to take the lead, starting with a tying marker from senior Max Andreev (Moscow, Russia / Central Illinois Flying Aces), who drilled a shot into the top corner of the net for his ninth goal of the season.

A power play goal from junior Ben Berard (Duncan, BC / Powell River Kings) put the Big Red up 2-1 at 17:42 of the first. He tipped home a point shot from senior captain Brenden Locke (Iroquois Falls, ON / Cobourg Cougars) for his 10th of the year.

Engineers freshman goaltender Jack Watson (Toronto, ON / Coquitlam Express) made 39 saves to improve to 5-4-0 on the season, while Howe (4-3-0) turned away 13 at the other end of the ice.

RPI finished 1 for 3 on the power play, while Cornell was 1 for 5, while registering 15 shots on goal.

The Engineers four-goal margin of victory is its largest over the Big Red since beating them 9-1 on March 4, 1994.

Rensselaer is back in action tomorrow against Colgate for the 44th Annual Big Red Freakout! Puck drop is set for 7pm. Cornell travels to Schenectady to take on Union (7pm).