ALBANY, N.Y. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's hockey team was defeated in the annual Mayor's Cup at MVP Arena on Saturday night by a final score of 5-3 against the Union Garnet Chargers.
 
Both sides traded goals in the first period, with Caden Villegas scoring the opening goal 2:17 into the opening period for Union. RPI freshman Tyler Hotson followed up that score with one of his own with an assist from Max Smolinski to tie the game at 1-1. Hotson got the puck in the slot, and took a low shot that snuck inside the left post.
 
The Engineers took a short lead in the second period, as Ryan Brushett scored 1:25 into the frame. Brushett was the recipient of a 3-on-1 rush by the Engineers, and got the puck from John Beaton, skated in, and scored with a wrist shot in close to give RPI a 2-1 lead.
 
However, Union scored four of the next five goals as Union scored at the 6:48 and 10:53 marks of the period to take a 3-2 lead. Dovar Tinling re-tied the score at 3-3 after a strong series of passes from Hotson and Jake Gagnon before Union broke the tie for good with a goal at the 17:54 mark courtesy of Carter Korpi. Cullen Ferguson and Nathan Kelly scored the two opening goals of the second period.
 
Ville Immonen scored the goal that gave Union some cushion in the third period, with the strike coming on the power play after a five-minute major and game misconduct penalty assessed to the Engineers. From there, the Garnet Chargers held off multiple attempts from the RPI offense down the stretch.
 
Union goaltender Kyle Chauvette made 22 saves on the night, while RPI goaltender Jack Watson made 26 saves.
 
 
RPI returns to action on Friday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. when they hit the road to take on Brown in ECAC Hockey action.