press release from RPI's SID


MEN'S HOCKEY UPENDS 5th-RANKED HUSKIES
Engineers score late in third period to down St. Cloud State, 3-2

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) got a goal with just 3:28 left in
the third period to defeat St. Cloud State University, the fifth-ranked
team in the nation, 3-2, in a Division I non-league men's hockey game
before 2,591 fans at the Houston Field House in Troy, N.Y. With the win,
the Engineers are now 5-3-2, including a 5-1-2 record in their last
eight
games. The Huskies are now 8-2-1 on the season.

RPI took its first lead of the game with its third goal when junior Vic
Pereira's shot slipped under the goaltender and trickled into the back
of
the net. Mikael Hammarstrom, a senior, tallied the lone assist on the
play
and netminder Nathan Marsters held off the Huskies the rest of the way.

St. Cloud State jumped out to a 1-0 lead at 16:35 of the first period
when
senior forward Matt Hendricks picked up the puck near the goal line,
walked
out in front of the net and scored between the legs of
Marsters. Defensemen Matt Gens and Ryan LaMere assisted on the goal,
which
was the fourth of the year for Hendricks.

Rensselaer captain Ben Barr tied the game when he scored from close
range
off a cross-ice feed from Mark Yurkewecz on a two-on-one. Kevin Broad
also
earned an assist on the goal, which came at 5:44 of the second period.
The
Huskies re-gained the lead just under four minutes later when Gens
scored
on a slapshot from the center of the blueline with his team enjoying a
power play. LaMere and Hendricks were credited with the assists. The
Engineers knotted the game for a second time in the period when
sophomore
Kirk MacDonald scored his fourth of the season on a rebound of an
Alexander
Valentin shot with the home team on the power play. Scott Basiuk, who
passed to Valentin, also assisted the goal, which was scored at 14:49 of
the stanza. The power play goal snapped a streak of 30 consecutive
penalty
kills for St. Cloud State.

Marsters, a senior, finished with 29 saves, including 13 in the third
period, while sophomore Jason Montgomery stopped 17 shots for the
Huskies.

These same two teams will faceoff again on Saturday night at 7pm at the
Houston Field House.



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