TROY, N.Y. – Seniors Jared Wilson and Viktor Liljegren each scored in the third period to lift the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men’s hockey team to a 2-1 victory over Yale University, on Friday night at the Houston Field House. With the win, the Engineers improve to 3-9-3 overall (2-4-1 ECAC Hockey), while the Bulldogs drop to 3-7-0 (3-6-0 ECAC Hockey).
After a scoreless opening 40 minutes in which Yale held a narrow 23-20 margin in shots, the Bulldogs finally broke onto the scoreboard, just 53 seconds into the third.
Working the puck to the right point, sophomore Matt Foley (Longmeadow, MA/Bloomington) took a shot that was redirected home by junior Ted Hart (Cumberland, ME/Philips Exeter Academy) from just outside the crease. Classmate Joe Snively (Herndon, VA/Sioux City) picked up the secondary assist on Hart’s first goal of the season – a power play tally.
The Engineers pulled even at 12:31, when senior captain Jared Wilson (Calgary, AB/Vernon Vipers) cranked home his third goal of the season, off a feed from sophomore Todd Burgess (Phoenix, AZ/Fairbanks Ice Dogs). Junior Tommy Grant (Sparta, NJ/Bay State) also earned an assist on RPI’s first man advantage tally of the night.
Senior Viktor Liljegren (Stockholm, Sweden/Fairbanks Ice Dogs) then put the Engineers on top for good at 17:04, one-timing a centering pass from freshman Emil Ohrvall (Halmstad, Sweden/Waterloo Black Hawks) for his team-leading sixth goal of the year. Classmate Mike Prapavessis (Oakville, ON/Toronto) picked up the secondary helper.
Despite getting out-shot 10-9 in the first, RPI turned in a number of scoring chances, including a shorthanded breakaway by sophomore Patrick Polino (Buffalo, NY/Lincoln) that was stopped by Yale sophomore netminder Corbin Kaczperski (China Township, MI/Lone Star).
RPI freshman goaltender Linden Marshall (Victoria, BC/Trail) turned away all 13 shots he faced in the second, which included two Bulldogs power plays. He finished with 32 stops on the night, while Kaczperski, who was making his collegiate debut, had 34.
Liljegren’s game-winning tally was his second of the year and second of his career against Yale. His overtime-winner in 2015 was RPI’s most recent win the series. Rensselaer went 2 for 4 on the power play, while the Bulldogs were 1 for 4.
The Engineers are back in action tomorrow night, when they host Brown University (7pm). Yale visits No. 19 Union College tomorrow (7pm).
