COLUMBUS, Ohio – Junior Evan Tironese scored for the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men’s hockey team in a 1-1 tie at Ohio State University, on Saturday afternoon at Schottenstein Center. With the draw, the Engineers are now 0-0-2 to start the season, while the Buckeyes move to 1-1-2.
Tironese (Qualicum Beach, BC/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) picked up his second point in as many nights, when he took advantage of an Ohio State miscue to score early in the first period. Freshman Troy York (Plano, TX/Lone Star Brahmas) earned the lone helper on RPI’s opening tally, which came just 56 seconds in.
The Buckeyes pulled even at 2:16 of the second period, when Christian Lampasso (Amherst, NY/Lincoln Stars) tallied with assists going to Luke Stork (Pittsburgh, PA/Youngstown Phantoms) and John Wiitala (Lakeville, MN/Waterloo Black Hawks).
Rensselaer held a 14-12 edge in shots through two periods, before Ohio State put together a 15-shot third. Junior netminder Chase Perry stood tall for the second straight game, keeping out all 15 to send the game to overtime.
The Engineers had the better of play in the extra session, but could not find a way past Buckeyes goaltender Sean Romeo (Cary, NC/Youngstown Phantoms), who finished with 22 saves. Perry had 27 stops at the other end of the ice.
RPI is back in action next weekend, when it travels to Niagara and RIT on Friday (7:05pm) and Saturday (7:05pm), respectively. Ohio State visits Massachusetts for two next weekend.