PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Brown men’s hockey team raced out to a three-goal lead midway through the second period, but No. 16 Rensselaer rallied back with four unanswered goals to edge the Bears, 4-3, in Friday night’s ECAC matchup at Meehan Auditorium.
Rensselaer improved to 14-7-6 overall and 6-1-6 in the ECAC. Brown moves to 4-13-3, 2-10-2 in the conference.
Josh McArdle (Roscoe, Ill.) had one goal and one assist, while rookies Tommy Marchin (Algonac, Mich.) and Alex Brink (Hamilton, N.Y.) also scored for the Bears. Tim Ernst (Pickering, Ontario) made 23 saves in the loss. Jason Kasdorf had 29 saves on the other end for the Engineers.
Brown came out strong to open the game as McArdle scored just 2:39 into the contest. Zack Pryzbek (Niagara on the Lake, Ontario) sent a pass to the high slot, where McArdle blasted a shot over the shoulder of Kasdorf for his second goal of the season. Sam Lafferty (Hollidaysburg, Pa.) also picked up an assist on the play.
The Bears held a 10-4 shot advantage in the first period and kept the Engineers to without a quality shot until the final few minutes, when Mike Prapavessis hit the post with 1:30 remaining.
Brown added two more goals in the second period, starting at 5:45 when Marchin tipped in a shot on the power play for his 11th tally of the season. McArdle picked up the primary assist and Nick Lappin (Geneva, Ill.) earned the secondary helper.
Brink gave the Bears a three-goal lead at 12:00 with his second career goal. Kasdorf initially turned away a shot by sophomore Max Willman (Barnstable, Mass.), but the two Brown forwards followed the rebound and Brink was able to push it past the goal line.
Rensselaer ended the period with a pair of power-play goals during the final six minutes. Viktor Liljegren scored at 14:21 and Jared Wilson added another at 18:26 to trim the deficit to 3-2 at the second intermission.
The Engineers continued their strong offensive play in the third period, and appeared to even the game on a goal by Mark Miller, but the play was reversed after video review confirmed that the puck never crossed the goal line.
Nevertheless, Liljegren tied the game at 7:59 with his second of the night and Lou Nanne notched the go-ahead goal less than one minute later at 8:50 for the 4-3 lead.
Brown made a late push in the final minutes after Ernst was pulled for the extra skater. After Brown won a faceoff in the offensive zone, Marchin blasted a shot from the right circle and Kasdorf gave up a rebound in front, but the goalie was able to cover the puck in time to secure the win.
Brown outshot the Engineers, 32-27.
