Complete List / RPI at Notre Dame Game Info

TROY, N.Y. – Inside College Hockey.com has announced its annual rankings of the Division I men's hockey recruiting classes for this season and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's (RPI) Class of 2015 is listed 11th in the nation.  The Engineers have eight freshmen, including two among the best at their positions.

Rensselaer's freshman class is made up of five forwards, two defensemen and a goaltender.  Jacob Laliberte, a forward, is ranked eighth among front liners, while Scott Diebold, a goaltender, is third in that group.

Laliberte, a native of Rockland, Ont., came to Rensselaer from the Central Canada Junior 'A' Hockey League (CJHL), where he had 63 goals and 70 assists for 133 points in 62 games for the Cornwall Colts last year.  He followed that by tallying 10 goals and 18 assists in 16 playoff games.  A two-time team captain, he was the leading scorer and Most Valuable Player in the CJHL a season ago.

Diebold spent last season with the Tri-City Storm in the United States Hockey League (USHL), where he was 10-16-3 with a 2.75 goals against average and a .913 save percentage in 35 games.  He had four shutouts.  A native of Cheektowaga, N.Y., he previously attended Saint Francis High School, where he played three years of hockey.

Rensselaer's other freshmen are forwards Ryan Haggerty (Stamford, CT/U.S. National Development Team), Mark McGowan (Etobicoke, ON/Oakville Blades), Matt Neal (Minesing, ON/Stouffville Spirit) and Zach Schroeder (Prior Lake, MN/St. Thomas Academy) as well as defensemen Luke Curadi (Cheshire, CT/Dubuque Fighting Saints) and Curtis Leonard (Napanee, ON/Wellington Dukes).

“We are excited about the recruiting class we have joining the RPI Hockey Family,” head coach Seth Appert said when announcing the group.  “A common trait among them is they are all good young men from outstanding families who were winners and leaders for their junior programs.  They have the ability to push us forward on the ice while continuing the strong tradition of academic and personal excellence our players have established for our program.”

Rensselaer had the 13th-rated class in 2007-08, the 14th in 2008-09 and ninth in 2009-10. 

The Engineers, who are 1-3-0, return to the ice on Friday night when they play #6 Notre Dame at 7:35pm.  That game, and all men's hockey games, can be heard live on WRPI, 91.5 FM, and wrpi.org.