Official release from RPI's SID:

MERRIMACK DOWNS MEN'S HOCKEY, 2-1
Warriors advance to championship game of Rensselaer tournament

Merrimack College scored single goals in the first and third periods and held Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) to just one goal for a 2-1 win in the second game of the 52nd Annual Rensselaer/HSBC Holiday Tournament at the Houston Field House in Troy, N.Y.  The Warriors (6-6-3) advance to play Wayne State, which defeated Princeton, 7-0 in the first game, in the
championship game on Sunday night at 7pm.  The Engineers (7-10-1) will play the Tigers in the consolation game at 4pm on Sunday.

Tim Reidy put the visitors on the board with an early power play goal.  A junior forward, Reidy notched his sixth goal of the season when he scored on a wrap-around to the stick side of junior netminder Kevin Kurk.  Marco Rosa, a junior, tallied the lone assist on the marker.

The Engineers tied the score at 3:58 of the third period when junior defenseman Scott Basiuk blasted a slapshot through Merrimack netminder Joe Exter.  Basiuk gained control of the puck on a faceoff win by senior Nolan Graham, skated to the center of the blueline and slapped a shot that Exter got a piece of but could not control.  For Basiuk, the goal was his second of the season while Graham, picked up the lone assist, his eighth of the season.

The Warriors regained the lead at 12:24 of the third period when sophomore Brendon Clark scored on his own rebound from the bottom of the right faceoff circle.  Clark, a native of Reading, Mass., was originally stopped by Kurk but he picked up the rebound and tallied his four of the year.  Freshman Rob LaLonde and senior Lucas Smith picked up the assists on the goal.

Exter, the reigning U.S. College Hockey Online Goaltender of the Week, finished with 22 saves for the victory.  Kurk, who was named the Most Valuable Player of last year's tournament after leading Rensselaer to the title, finished with 20 saves in the loss.

In the first game, Wayne State got 36 saves from freshman goaltender Matt Kelly and the Warriors killed off ten power play chances in a 7-0 defeat of Princeton University.  Wayne State, which got two goals and two assists from Maxim Starchenko and Nathan Rosychuk, and Merrimack will now have a
chance to win their first-ever title in the Rensselaer/HSBC Holiday Tournament  the oldest college hockey holiday tournament in the nation.