TROY, NY – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's hockey team found the back of the net late in the third period but fell 5–1 to #14 Providence College today at Houston Field House.
Thomas Klassek scored his first goal of the season for the Engineers, who outshot the Friars 15–11 in the final frame.
Providence opened the scoring midway through the first period and added two more in the second to take control. The Engineers had multiple quality looks on their first-period power plays, including a post from
Filip Sitar and rebound attempts by
Jagger Tapper and
Tyler Wallace, but Providence goaltender Philip Svedebäck kept the home side off the board.
In the second period, RPI continued to pressure on the man advantage, highlighted by attempts from
Matthew Buckley and
Alfred Lindberg and a near redirection from
Dovar Tinling. The Friars would capitalize on their own special teams chances, striking once at even strength and again on the power play to make it 3–0 through forty minutes.
The Engineers generated their best stretch of play in the third period, sustaining offensive zone time behind aggressive puck pursuit from Lindberg, Tapper, and Klassek. After Providence extended its lead to 5–0, RPI broke through at 13:17 when Klassek knocked home a feed from Tapper, with Lindberg earning the secondary assist.
Defensively,
Gustavs Ozolins and
Ethan Bono led the way with four blocked shots apiece, while
Gunnar VanDamme added three.
Carson Dorfman made 33 saves in his first full 60-minute outing of the season, including 16 in a busy second period.
RPI continues its early-season non-conference slate with a weekend trip to Minnesota State-Mankato next Friday and Saturday.