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TROY, N.Y. – Sophomore Matthew Peca scored a five-on-three short-handed goal at 11:31 of the third period to propel the 16th-ranked Quinnipiac University men's hockey team to a 3-1 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), this evening ECAC Hockey action, from the Houston Field House. With the win, the Bobcats improve to 10-3-2 (6-0-0 ECACH), while the Engineers drop to 3-6-3 (0-5-1 ECACH).

With the game tied, 1-1, Peca (Petawawa, ON/Pembroke Lumber Kings) corralled a blocked RPI shot in the neutral zone and skated in on Engineers' freshman netminder Jason Kasdorf (Winnipeg, MB/Des Moines Buccaneers). Forced to his backhand by the back-check of RPI sophomore Jacob Laliberte (Rockland, ON/Cornwall Colts), Peca flipped the puck past Kasdorf for the eventual game-winning goal. Quinnipiac senior defenseman Zach Davies (Smithers, BC/Prince George Spruce Kings), who blocked the shot, picked up the lone assist.

Quinnipiac senior Clay Harvey (Gull Lake, SK/Powell River Kings) added an empty-netter from his own blue line to seal the victory, with 1:10 remaining in the third. The goal, which was unassisted, was his first of the season.

The visitors struck first on the power-play, when sophomore Bryce Van Brabant (Morinville, AB/Spruce Grove Saints) found junior Kellen Jones (Montrose, BC/Vernon Vipers) between the face-off dots for his second of the season. Connor Jones (Montrose, BC/Vernon Vipers) picked up the second helper on the goal, which came at 16:59 of the first period.

Rensselaer pulled even at 18:34 of the second stanza, as freshman Mike Zalewski (New Hartford, NY/Vernon Vipers) walked in untouched from the right circle and snapped a shot under the right arm of Quinnipiac senior goaltender Eric Hartzell (White Bear Lake, MN/Sioux Falls Stampede) for his first collegiate tally. Classmate Milos Bubela (Banska Bystrica, Slovakia/Dubuque Fighting Saints) and sophomore Zach Schroeder (Prior Lake, MN/Saint Thomas Academy) earned the assists.

Hartzell (10-2-2) made 21 saves, including 11 in the second period. Kasdorf (1-1-1), who falls for the first time in his RPI career, also had 21 stops, including 11 in the first.

The Engineers return to action next weekend, when they visit Yale and Brown, on Friday (7pm) and Saturday (4pm), respectively. Quinnipiac plays a home-and-home series with Princeton next weekend.