Box Score
DENVER, Colo. – Freshman forward
Josh Rabbani (Woodland Hills, CA/St. Louis Bandits) redirected a shot from the point to bring the Rensselaer men’s hockey team to within a goal with 47 seconds remaining in the game, but Holy Cross University held on for the 4-3 victory in the consolation game of the Denver Cup, at Magness Arena. With the win, the Crusaders improve to 6-11-2 overall, while the Engineers move to 3-15-1.
Rabbani’s tip came on a shot from the right point by sophomore
Jeff Foss (Moorhead, MN/Moorhead High School). The puck was redirected at waist height into the top right corner of the net. Rabbani’s marker came 19 seconds after Holy Cross sophomore Jordan Cyr (Winnipeg, MB/Brockville Braves) had put the Crusaders up 4-2 on an unassisted empty net goal.
Rob Forshner (Sundre, AB/Victoria Salsa) gave Holy Cross its first lead (3-2) of the game at 13:57 of the third period, breaking a 2-2 tie. Junior captain Ryan Driscoll (Dorchester, MA/Thayer Academy) found Forshner all alone in the slot and he beat RPI freshman goaltender
Allen York (Wetaskiwin, AB/Camrose Kodiaks) stick side.
RPI scored the first two goals of the game, before Holy Cross came back to score the next four, including Cyr’s eventual game-winner with 1:06 to go.
Senior Kurt Colling (Riple got the scoring started for the Engineers at 3:34 of the opening frame, burying a rebound from the low slot for his first goal of the season. Alex Angers-Goulet (St. Augustin, PQ/Langley Chiefs) took the initial shot that dropped to Colling, who ripped one over Holy Cross netminder Ian Dams’ (Manotick, ON/Nepean Raiders) right shoulder. Junior defenseman
Peter Merth (New Westminster, BC/Burnaby Express) earned the second assist.
Merth gave the Engineers a 2-0 lead with his first of year at 10:52 of the first. A cross-ice pass from right circle by Colling found Merth at the left point for a one-timer that beat Dams to the near post. A second helper was credited to Alex Angers-Goulet.
RPI took a 13-4 edge in shots into the first intermission, while both teams were 0 for 2 on the power play.
A mix-up at the Engineers offensive blue line sent Holy Cross freshman Luke Miller (Andover, MA/Phillip Exeter Academy) on a breakaway at the 6:30 mark of the second. York was equal to the task, however, sticking out his right pad to make the save.
Moments later, on delayed Engineers’ penalty, Crusaders sophomore J.P. Martignetti (Winchester, MA/Boston Junior Bruins) picked up the puck to the left of the RPI cage and beat a sprawling York to bring Holy Cross to within a goal at 2-1. Classmate Matt Celin (Gibsonia, PA/Bay State Breakers) and freshman Jay Silvia (Bulington, MA/Belmont High School) recorded the assists on Martignetti’s third of the season.
The Engineers were able to kill off a five-minute major for hitting from behind assessed to freshman Justin Smith (Hammonds Plains, NS/Langley Chiefs) who was also given a game misconduct at 10:52 of the second frame.
Holy Cross sophomore Everett Sheen (Lethbridge, AB/Okotoks Oilers) poked a rolling puck off an RPI defenseman’s stick and finished a breakaway shot just under the crossbar to knot the game at two apiece with four seconds remaining in the second. Sheen’s tally, which was seventh of the year, was unassisted.
The Crusaders flipped the shots on goal totals in the second stanza, out-shooting the Engineers 13-5. RPI still held a slight 18-17 advantage through periods.
A tightly checked third period saw RPI out-shoot Holy Cross 10-6, bringing its three period edge to 28-23. Neither team converted on the man-advantage in the game with the Engineers going 0 for 3 and the Crusaders finishing 0-5.
Alex Angers-Goulet had a hand in four of RPI’s five goals on the weekend, compiling two goals and two assists. Colling and Merth each had a goal and an assist against the Crusaders.
Dams (2-1-0) earned the victory making 25 saves, while York (1-5-0) had 19 stops.
The Engineers return to ECAC Hockey action next weekend when they travel to Quinnipiac and eighth-ranked Princeton on Friday and Saturday, respectively.