ORONO, ME – Despite grabbing an early 1-0 lead, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's hockey team opened their 2023 season on the road at Maine Thursday night, falling to the Black Bears by a final score of 4-1.
 
It took less than three minutes for RPI to hop onto the board, as newcomer CJ Regula collected the Engineers' first goal of the season while on the power play. The Ohio State graduate transfer found himself all alone walking into the zone after getting a pass from Sutter Muzzatti on the left side boards. He then wristed a shot from the slot into the upper right corner of the net past the glove of Victor Ostman for a 1-0 RPI lead.
 
From there, Maine rattled off four unanswered goals, with a pair from Bradly Nadeau in the second period to give the Black Bears a 2-1 lead. In the third, Maine scored their remaining two goals in the first 48 seconds of the period in the first 48 seconds of the frame. Lynden Breen scored the first one 17 seconds into the third on a feed from both Josh and Bradly Nadeau, while Nolan Renwick added his at the 48 second mark into the period from Ben Poisson and Brandon Chabrier.
 
RPI goaltender Jack Watson faced shots all night, making 53 saves on the night while Ostman made 12 saves in net for Maine. RPI went 1-for-3 on the power play, while Maine was 2-for-7 on the night on special teams.
 
RPI returns to action tomorrow night, Friday, October 13 at 7 p.m. when they play the second of two matchups against Maine in Orono.