MURLEY LEADS ENGINEERS OVER DARTMOUTH, 4-2
  Troy native notches hat trick as RPI avenges loss

The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men’s hockey team got a hat trick from junior Matt Murley as they defeated Dartmouth, 4-2, in an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) game before 3,104 fans at the Houston Field House in Troy, NY, this evening.  Murley, a native of Troy, scored twice in the first period and added an empty net goal to help the Engineers improve to 13-9-1 overall and 7-5-1 in the league.

The Big Green fall to 9-9-2 overall and 6-5-2.

With the victory, RPI, which went 3 for 6 on the power play, is now in fifth place in the ECAC with 15 points.  Dartmouth has 14 points and is in sixth place.  Harvard currently leads the league with 19 points.

It didn’t take long for the visitors to begin the game’s scoring as they struck twice early in the first period.  Just 2:36 into the game, junior Gary Hunter gave the his team a 1-0 lead when he beat RPI’s Kevin Kurk from the left half-boards.  For Hunter, a native of Castlegar, BC, the goal was his second of the season.  Ryan Sinclair and Jamie Herrington earned the assists.  The Big Green needed just over two minutes to double their lead as senior Michael Byrne scored from the left face-off circle at the 4:53 mark.  Byrne’s goal, his second of the year, chased
Kurk, who finished with two saves.  Chris Baldwin and Peter Mahler assisted.

The Engineers fought back midway through the first period when Murley blasted a slapshot past Nick Boucher with the Engineers enjoying the man-advantage.  Murley, RPI’s leading scorer, would strike again at 11:32 when he put the puck past Boucher from the bottom of the left faceoff circle.  Freshman Conrad Barnes, who stole the puck in the corner, fed Murley to earn the lone assist.  Rensselaer took their first lead of the game at 13:19 when Nolan Graham deflected the puck past Boucher.  Graham, who missed the last five games with an injury, earned his eleventh with the power play marker.  Scott Basiuk and Jim Vickers,
who assisted on RPI’s first goal, had the assists.

The score remained 3-2 until Murley netted an empty net, power play goal – his team-leading 20th of the season and his team-high 35th point – with just 32 seconds remaining in the third period.  Cohoes native Marc Cavosie and Andrew McPherson assisted on Murley’s final goal.

Boucher finished with 29 saves in the loss while Nathan Marsters stopped all 25 shots he faced in the relief.

Rensselaer returns to action on Saturday night when they’ll host Vermont in the 24th Annual Big Red Freakout! at Houston Field House.  Saturday’s game, an ECAC contest, begins at 7pm.  Dartmouth will travel to Union to play the Dutchmen in an ECAC game at 7pm at Achilles Rink.

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  Kevin Beattie
  Sports Information Director
  Rensselaer