Official release from RPI's SID



MEN'S HOCKEY FALLS TO YALE, 5-4
Hat trick by defenseman Joe Callahan leads Bulldogs

Yale University got a hat trick from junior defenseman Joe Callahan and
the
Bulldogs defeated Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), 5-4, in an
Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division I men's hockey game
at
the Houston Field House in Troy, N.Y. With the win, Yale is now 4-8-0
overall and 4-5-0 in the ECAC. Rensselaer falls to 7-5-2 overall and
2-2-1
in the league.

The Bulldogs took the lead just 47 seconds into the game when junior
defenseman Joe Callahan, a native of Abington, Mass., scored on a wrist
shot to the stick side of Rensselaer goaltender Kevin Kurk on the Eli's
first shot. RPI tied the game when sophomore defenseman Brad Farynuk
beat
a fallen Josh Gartner for a power play goal two minutes later. Senior
Ben
Barr had the lone assist on the goal. A second extra-man goal by the
Engineers put the home team ahead, 2-1, after the first. Senior
defenseman
Scott Basiuk scored on a slapshot from the right point at 15:29 with
Nick
Economakos and Kevin Croxton earning the assists.

Yale tied the score at two at 5:24 of the second period when senior
forward
Mike Klema scored from the right faceoff circle. Sophomore Mike Grobe,
who
fed the puck across the crease to Klema, earned the only assist on the
goal. The Engineers took a 3-2 lead late in the second period when
Croxton, a sophomore, scored his team-leading sixth of the season from
the
bottom of the left faceoff circle with RPI on the power play. Farynuk,
who
passed the puck across to Croxton, and Alexander Valentin assisted on
the goal.

Callahan tied the game just 1:32 into the third period when he sent a
wrist
shot from the right point over Kurk. Jeff Hrivtovski earned the only
assist. RPI again came back to take the lead, this time with its first
even-strength goal of the night. Freshman Tommy Green swept a rebound
past
Gartner for his fourth goal of the season. Basiuk and Valentin both
picked
up their second points of the game on the goal. Callahan pulled the
Bulldogs even again when he completed the hat trick with another goal
from
the right point. Freshman Brad Mills set up Callahan, who scored his
fourth of the season at 5:07 past a screened Kurk. Yale then took a 5-4
lead 2:03 later when sophomore Joe Zappala chipped a loose puck past
Kurk
for his team-leading eighth goal of the season. Ryan Steeves, who's
cross-crease pass was deflected by Kurk, earned the assist on the play.

Gartner, who has played in seven games for the Elis, stopped 29 shots
for
the win. Kurk, who was making his first appearance since October 17 and
just his second of the season finished with 23 saves.

The Engineers return to action on Saturday night when they will host
Princeton in another ECAC contest at the Houston Field House. The
Bulldogs
will play at league foe Union on Saturday night. Both games begin at
7pm.




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