TROY, N.Y. – Senior Milos Bubela scored twice to lead the 17th-ranked Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men’s hockey hockey to a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Princeton University on Senior Night at the Houston Field House. With the win, the Engineers improve to 16-12-6 overall (8-6-6 ECAC Hockey), while the Tigers drop to 5-20-2 (3-15-2 ECAC Hockey).
After a scoreless first period, junior Ben Foster (Darien, CT/Tri-City) got the visitors on the board, just 1:40 into the second. He snapped a shot from the right circle over the shoulder of RPI senior netminder Jason Kasdorf (Winnipeg, MB/Des Moines Buccaneers), off the post and in for his fifth goal of the season. Assists went to sophomores Matt Nelson (Edina, MN/Omaha) and Eric Robinson (Bellmawr, NJ/Dubuque).
Bubela (Banska Bystrica, Slovakia/Dubuque Fighting Saints) got the Engineers on the board at 15:40 of the stanza, rifling home a feed from junior Jimmy DeVito (Bloomingdale, IL/Lincoln Stars) for the first of his two goals on the evening. Sophomore Viktor Liljegren (Stockholm, Sweden/Fairbanks Ice Dogs) was also credited with an assist.
The Engineers went on to out-shoot Princeton 12-6 in the period, but the game remained tied, 1-1, after two.
RPI seized the lead for the first time at 1:54 of the third, as DeVito found Bubela for the second time in the contest. The tally, which was Bubela’s ninth of the season, stood as the game-winner. Sophomore blueliner Jared Wilson (Calgary, AB/Vernon Vipers) had the second helper.
Princeton junior goaltender Colton Phinney (Chatham, NJ/Islanders) finished with 39 saves, including 17 in the third period alone, while Kasdorf stopped 19 of 20.
STREAKING:
Senior Milos Bubela has three points (2 goals, 1 assist) in his last two games, while junior Jimmy DeVito has four points (1 goal, 3 assists) in the last two contests.
KASDORF CLIMBING:
With the win over the Tigers, senior goalie Jason Kasdorf now has 36 in his career, passing Bill Sack ’65 for ninth in school history.
NATIONALLY RANKED:
Senior goaltender Jason Kasdorf now ranks fifth in the country in save percentage (.935) and 20th in goals against average (2.16).
UP NEXT:
The Engineers are back on the ice next weekend, when they close out the regular season at Colgate and No. 16 Cornell on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Princeton hosts No. 8 Yale and Brown next weekend.
