POTSDAM, N.Y. - A third period strike from sophomore Sutter Muzzatti gave the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's hockey team the lead they needed, as the No. 12 seeded Engineers took down the No. 5 seeded Clarkson Golden Knights on the road by a final score of 3-2 in the First Round of the ECAC Hockey Playoffs. The win is RPI's second victory in Potsdam this season.

The Engineers got things rolling just 40 seconds in, as Tyler Hotson tossed in a goal off a deflected pass from Ryan Brushett to make it an early 1-0 lead for RPI. Dovar Tinling earned the other assist. 

RPI made it 2-0 before the end of the first period, as they struck on the power play courtesy of John Beaton. Waiting on the back post, he knocked home a tape-to-tape pass from Austin Heidemann at the 11:39 mark for the two-goal lead, with Jack Agnew earning the other assist.

After a scoreless second period, Muzzatti connected with the twine on a wrist shot at the 9:05 mark of the third. Flying up the left wing, Muzzatti took a shot that found the back of the net, with Lauri Sertti and Heidemann earning the assists. That score gave the Engineers a 3-0 lead.

Clarkson scored twice down the stretch to make things 3-2 late, but goaltender Jack Watson held things down in the back to help the Engineers secure the win. Watson made 34 saves in the game, while Clarkson's Austin Roden made 14 saves.

RPI moves onto the next round of the playoffs, squaring off next weekend in a best-of-three series with the top-seeded Quinnipiac Bobcats in Hamden.