Official Release from RPI's SID


MEN'S HOCKEY LOSES TO MINNESOTA-DULUTH

Bulldogs score twice in the second and once in the third for the win The University of Minnesota-Duluth scored two power play goals in the second period and an even-strength goal in the third to defeat the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's hockey team, 3-2, in a non-league Division I men's hockey game at the Houston Field House in Troy, N.Y.  With the victory, the Bulldogs improve to 9-7-4 while the Engineers
fall to 8-12-1.

RPI freshman forward Kirk MacDonald tallied the first goal of the game when he slammed the puck into a vacated net from just outside the crease at the 7:45 mark of the first period.  The scoring play, which came on the power play, began when Rensselaer junior Mikael Hammarstrom beat UMD's goaltender, Isaac Reichmuth, to the puck behind the Bulldogs' goal.  Hammarstrom sent the puck along the boards to Ben Barr, who found MacDonald in front of the net.  For MacDonald, who missed the first 12 games due to an illness, the goal was his first as a collegian.

Minnesota-Duluth took a 2-1 lead after two periods with a pair of power play goals.  Junior Lessard, a junior forward, tied the game at one with his team-leading 14th goal of the season at the 2:14 mark and Jon Francisco gave the Bulldogs the lead with an extra-man goal 8:04 later.  Both goals came on one-touches from the slot area.  Francisco, UMD's leading point
producer, and Tim Stapleton earned the assists on the first goal while Lessard and Stapleton were credited with the helpers on the second.

The Engineers tied the game early in the third period when junior Ben Barr sent a slapshot into the top of the net.  Barr, who was set up above the left circle, took a pass from Keith MCWilliams and scored for the sixth time this season.  Hammarstrom also assisted on the goal, which came at the
1:48 mark.  The Bulldogs wasted little time in regaining the lead as sophomore T.J. Caig scored on a breakaway at 3:33 of the third period.  Caig, playing just his second game with UMD, was sent in alone on a pass by Justin Williams and tallied the eventual game-winner.

Reichmuth finished with 26 saves, including ten in the third period, for the victory while RPI junior Nathan Marsters made 24 saves in the loss.

Rensselaer is back in action on Friday night when they play at Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) foe Union at 7pm.  The Bulldogs also return to league play next weekend as they will travel to the University of Wisconsin for a pair Western College Hockey Association (WCHA) contests on Friday and Saturday nights.