MIGLIORE?S GOAL IN DOUBLE OT LEADS RPI
Men?s hockey team advances to finals of 51 st Annual HSBC Tournament


Chris Migliore?s goal with 9:10 remaining in the second overtime gave the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men?s hockey team a 5-4 victory over Quinnipiac University in the opening round of the 51 st Annual Rensselaer/HSBC Holiday Tournament at the Houston Field House in Troy, NY.  The Engineers advance to face the University of Massachusetts (UMass) in the championship game on Saturday night at 7:30pm.  QU will play Niagara, which lost to UMass, 4-0, in the first round, in the consolation game of the oldest collegiate holiday hocke tournament in the United States.

Migliore, a senior who had hit the post earlier in the second overtime, took a one-touch pass from Ryan Shields, skated up the left side of the ice and snapped off a shot.  He beat Quinnipiac?s Justin Eddy, who was without a stick, into the right side of the net to end the longest game in the tournament?s storied history.

The Engineers began the game?s scoring early in the first period when freshman C.J. Hanafin scored from close range at the 2:40 mark.  Hanafin tallied the first goal of his collegiate career after sophomore Ben Barr took control of the puck behind the net, skated to the bottom of the right face-off circle and put the puck on Hanafin?s stick.  RPI extended its lead to two goals just under three minutes later on a deflection by Andrew McPherson with the Engineers on a power play.  Scott Basiuk, who took a slap shot from the right point, earned the primary assist while Jim Henkel was awarded the secondary assist.  Quinnipiac fought back to within one goal with a power play marker of its own when senior Ryan Olson scored on a deflection at 12:28 of the first period.  Dan Ennis and Craig Falite were credited with the assists.

The furious pace continued in the second period as Quinnipiac tallied three times to tie the score, 4-4, after two.  QU?s Ryan Morton made it 2-2 with an unassisted shorthanded goal at the 2:44 mark.  RPI re-gained the lead when Jim Vickers scored a power play goal at 9:42.  Olson scored his second of the game to tie the score at three before Morton notched his second of the contest, and fifth of the season, just over a minute later.  Morton?s goal chased Rensselaer?s netminder, Nathan Marsters, who was replaced by Kevin Kurk.  The Engineers came back to tie the game at 17:41 with their third power play goal of the game.  Junior Carson Butterwick deflected a Danny Eberly shot for his fourth of the season.

Eddy finished with 49 saves, including 15 in the third period for Quinnipiac, which fell to 7-7-1.  Kurk made 22 saves for the win in relief while Marsters stopped 15 shots for the Engineers, who improved to 6-5-1.