TROY, N.Y. – The RPI men's hockey team erased most of a three-goal first-period deficit behind goals from
Rainers Rullers and
Alfred Lindberg before a late
Jordan Gavin tally brought the Engineers back within one, but Union held on for a 4-3 victory tonight.
Union opened the scoring on the power play midway through the first period when Nathan Free found the back of the net. Tyler Dunbar doubled the advantage less than three minutes later before Riley Brueck scored in the closing minute of the frame to send RPI into the first intermission trailing 3-0.
The Engineers began their comeback midway through the second period after earning a power-play opportunity. Rullers finished a setup from Benjamin Yurchuk and Gavin for his seventh goal of the season, cutting the deficit to 3-1. RPI continued to press and pulled within one later in the frame when Lindberg scored off a feed from
Matthew Buckley for his second goal of the season.
RPI nearly completed the comeback before the second intermission, with
Brendan Ross ringing a shot off the pipe late in the period.
Nate Krawchuk and the Engineers then kept Union off the board for much of the third, including a successful penalty kill midway through the frame, to maintain the one-goal margin.
The Engineers pulled Krawchuk for an extra attacker with under three minutes remaining, but Free scored into the empty net to extend Union's advantage to 4-2. RPI continued to battle and Gavin finished a setup from
Thomas Klassek and Yurchuk with eight seconds remaining to bring the Engineers back within one. RPI generated one final opportunity after the ensuing faceoff, but Union held on for the 4-3 decision.
Krawchuk finished with 27 saves for RPI, including 10 in the second period and nine in the third. Yurchuk recorded two assists, while Gavin finished with a goal and an assist.
Filip Sitar won a game-high 14 faceoffs as the Engineers held a 29-25 advantage at the dot, while RPI also blocked 14 Union shots.
