HANOVER, N.H. – Junior Austin Heidemann scored a goal and dished out a pair of assists to lead the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's hockey team to three unanswered goals in the third period in a 3-1 victory over the Dartmouth Big Green. With the win, RPI moved to 13-17-1 overall and 8-11-0 in ECAC Hockey, while Dartmouth falls to 4-21-1 and 3-15-1 in ECAC Hockey play.
 
Also with the win, the Engineers clinched at least the 11 seed in the upcoming ECAC Hockey Championships. With three games left on the schedule, the Engineers maintain a path to host home games in the playoffs. RPI has won three of their last four games.
 
Dartmouth found the net first at the 6:42 mark of the first period, with Braiden Dorfman scoring off a feed from Cooper Flinton and Ian Pierce. While on the power play, Dorfman took a rip at a fluttering puck in the slot, beating RPI goaltender Jack Watson to make it 1-0 Big Green.
 
That was all Dartmouth would come out with on the night, as both teams played through a scoreless second period. Then just a few minutes into the third period, RPI also turned a power play opportunity into a goal with Ryan Mahshie scoring in similar fashion to Dartmouth's tally. With a puck partially blocked, it deflected toward the top of the left wing circle where Mahshie sent a shot into the net at the 16:53 mark. Heidemann and TJ Walsh were credited with the helpers.
 
As time ticked down, RPI found the go-ahead goal courtesy of Heidemann. With 6:54 remaining in the game, the Engineers moved the puck into their offensive zone. Jack Brackett found Sutter Muzzatti skating over the blue line. From the right wing boards, Muzzatti sent a puck toward the net in the direction of Heidemann, who redirected the puck past Dartmouth's Cooper Black to make it 2-1 RPI.
 
Junior Henri Schreifels added the extra cushion with under a minute to play, scoring his first collegiate goal on the empty netter to send the Engineers home with the 3-1 win. Heidemann and Jakob Lee earned assists on the goal.
 
Watson finished with 30 saves on the night for RPI, while Black made 12 saves for the Big Green.
 
The Engineers return to the ice tomorrow, Saturday, February 18 at 7 p.m. when they face off against No. 9 nationally-ranked Harvard in Cambridge.