RPI FALLS AT NO. 1 NORTH DAKOTA
Rensselaer dropped its only game last weekend, 5-2, at first-ranked North Dakota on Saturday ... Sophomore Evan Tironese opened the scoring at 3:56 of the first period, before the Fighting Hawks tied it at 1-1 late in the frame ... Two quickly second period tallies gave UND a 3-1 lead, before senior Jake Wood netted his first of the year at 12:31 ... The Fighting Hawks tacked on two in the third, including Joel Janatuinen's third of the game ... Chase Perry had 33 saves for the Engineers.

CAPTAINS ANNOUNCED
Eleventh-year head coach Seth Appert has announced that seniors Riley Bourbonnais and Jimmy DeVito will wear the 'C' for the 2016-17 season, while classmate Parker Reno will serve as the lone alternate.

TO BE THE BEST
Engineers visit the defending national champions and first-ranked North Dakota for a single game on Saturday, October 15 ... The game will mark RPI's first match-up with a defending national champ since the 2014-15 season, when the Engineers took 2 of 3 from Union College.

PERFECT PK
The Engineers are 17 for 17 on the penalty kill so far this season, including a 7 for 7 opening night at Maine ... RPI is one three teams that has not allowed a power play goal this season, joining Bemidji State (22 for 22) and Penn State (15 for 15).

SHORTIES
RPI's two shorthanded goals are good for second in the nation, trailing only Bentley, which has three ... Senior Riley Bourbonnais and Drew Melanson are two of 27 players with a shorty this season ... Northern Michigan's Robbie Payne is the only DI skater with two.

EARLY POINT LEADERS
Senior Riley Bourbonnais (goal, assist) and sophomore Evan Tironese (goal, assist) are tied for the team lead with two points each ... Seven others have a single point, including freshmen Jacob Hayhurst and Will Reilly, who have each notched their first collegiate points.

PERRY STARTS THREE
Sophomore Chase Perry started all three games for the Engineers so far this season, going 0-3-0 with a 4.38 goals against average and an .886 save percentage ... His 37 saves on October 8 were one shy of his career-high, which he set on November 7, 2014, as a member of the Colorado College Tigers, at Miami (OH) ... The Redhawks were 3-0 winners on that night.

PUCKS ON NET
Senior Riley Bourbonnais has a team-best 14 shots, while junior Drew Melanson has 10 ... Junior Viktor Liljegren and freshman blueliner Will Reilly have eight apiece.

IN THE CIRCLE
Freshman Jacob Hayhurst has won a team-high 64.6% of his face-offs (31 of 48), while junior Drew Melanson is second at 52.4% (11 of 21) ... As a team, the Engineers have a 44.5% success rate on the draw, which is good for 47th in the country.

ALL-TIME VS. NIAGARA
Rensselaer is 2-4 against the Purple Eagles, including a 4-3 overtime win in their most recent meeting on October 23, 2010 ... RPI won the inaugural game between the two schools on November 15, 1997, 4-2 at the Houston Field House.

LAST MEETING
Alex Angers-Goulet and Josh Rabbani gave the Engineers a 2-0 lead after one period ... The two teams then traded early third period goals, before the Purple Eagles netted two power play tallies to send the game to overtime, tied 3-3 ... Brock Higgs scored the OT-winner 2:10 in, with assists to Marty O'Grady and John Kennedy ... Allen York made 34 saves for the win.

FOR THE PURPLE EAGLES
Niagara is led offensively by freshmen Kris Spriggs (1 goal, 2 assists) and Noah Delmas (3 assists), who have three points apiece ... Four players have two points, including senior Stephen Pietrobon, who has a goal and an assist.

NIAGARA GOALTENDING
The Purple Eagles have used three goaltenders in their first three games, including senior Jacob Teichroeb, who has two starts ... He is 0-1-0 with a 8.06 goals against average and a .724 save percentage ... Sophomore Joe O'Brien (0-1-1) has a 2.92 goals against average and a .917 save percentage, while Guillaume Therien (0-0-0) has an 9.00 GAA and an .833 SV%.

ALL-TIME VS RIT
RPI is 6-1 against RIT all-time, dating back to their first ever meeting on November 29, 1985 – a 4-2 Engineers victory in Troy ... The Tigers got their revenge - and their only win the series - the following year, edging RPI, 7-6 on November 1, 1986.

LAST MEETING
Rensselaer earned a 2-0 shutout at RIT on November 25, 2011, with Scott Diebold stopping all 25 shots he faced ... Nick Bailen and Ryan Haggerty netted second period goals for the only scoring in the game.

TIGERS LEADERS
Four players have four points for RIT (1-1-1), including junior Chase Norrish (2 goals, 2 assists) and sophomore Liam Kerins (2 goals, 2 assists) ... Freshman Adam Brubacher is tied for the team lead with two goals.

BETWEEN THE STICKS
Senior Mike Rotolo (1-1-1) has played every minute for RIT this season, posting a 3.26 goals against average and a .865 save percentage.


GIVING UP THE BODY
Sophomore Tommy Grant has a team-high 10 blocked shots, while senior Riley Bourbonnais has seven.

BACK FOR MORE
The Engineers welcome back their top two scorers from 2015-16 in senior Riley Bourbonnais (15 goal, 11 assists) and junior Lou Nanne (6 goals, 17 assists), who had 26 and 23 points, respectively. Also returning is the team's top scoring defenseman, Mike Prapavessis (4 goals, 15 assists), who had 19 points.

ALL-TIME AGAINST NORTH DAKOTA
Rensselaer's .100 winning percentage (1-9) against North Dakota is its second worst against any opponent with at least 10 games played ... The Engineers are 1-14-1 (.094) all-time against Denver ... RPI's lone victory in the series came on November 24, 1984, in Grand Forks ... The 8-2 win was the first of a school-record 30-game winning streak and 38-game unbeaten streak (36-0-2), which included RPI's second National Championship.

2015-16 VS. NUMBER ONE
The Engineers posted a 1-1-1 record against the No. 1 team in the USCHO.com poll last season, including a 2-1 victory over Boston College in their home opener on October 11, 2015 ... RPI tied Quinnipiac, 2-2, after the Bobcats scored with nine seconds left in regulation on January 21, 2016 ... Rensselaer then fell to QU, 5-4, in overtime at the Houston Field House on February 19, 2016. 

MARCH 26, 2011
North Dakota won the most recent meeting between the two schools, 6-0, on March 26, 2011, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, in Green Bay, Wisc. ... Brad Malone (2 goals), Matt Frattin (goal, assist) and Danny Kristo (goal, assist) paced the Fighting Hawks, while Allen York made 34 saves for the Engineers.

ENGINEERS WIN EXHIBITION
Rensselaer scored a goal in each period en route to a 3-0 victory over McGill University, in its exhibition opener on Sunday at the Houston Field House ... Senior Riley Bourbonnais opened the scoring at 6:43 of the first period with a rebound put-back at the left side of the cage ... Freshman Jacob Hayhurst made it 2-0 with a 5-on-3 power play tally at 18:43 of the second, before sophomore Evan Tironese capped the scoring with a two-man advantage marker of his own at 0:40 of the third.

SHOT BLOCKING LEADERS
The Engineers blocked 617 shots last season, which was third most in the nation ... Individually, Chris Bradley has a team-high 98, which is good for fourth in the country ... Mike Prapavessis was 13th nationally with 79.

FORWARDS BLOCKING SHOTS
Rensselaer forwards blocked an NCAA-best 294 shots in 2015-16, thanks to a team-best 43 from Jake Wood ... Mark Miller and Zach Schroeder had 39 blocks each, while Riley Bourbonnais had 36.

IN SEASON OPENERS
Rensselaer is now gone 4-6-1 in its last 11 season openers, dating back to the 2006-07 season ... The Engineers lost four straight from 2008-12, before winning three in a row ... Last year's 3-0 defeat at UMass-Lowell ended the winning streak.

IN THE PENALTY BOX
The Engineers took the 31st most penalties (129) in the country last year, for the 24th most minutes (415) ... RPI did improve in this as the season went along, taking the eighth fewest pens after January 1 (71).

DRAFTED
Rensselaer has four student-athletes on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft ... Junior defenseman Mike Prapavessis was selected by the Dallas Stars in the fourth round, 105th overall, of the 2014 draft ... Classmate and forward Lou Nanne was taken in the seventh round (188th overall) in the 2012 draft by the Minnesota Wild ... Sophomore goaltender Chase Perry was chosen in the fifth round (136th overall) of the 2014 draft by the Detroit Red Wings ... Freshman Todd Burgess was selected in this year's draft in the fourth round (103rd overall).

FAMILY TIES
RPI freshman TJ Samec is the cousin of goaltender Robb Stauber, who the Hobey Baker at the University of Minnesota, before playing for the Los Angeles Kings ... Samec's uncle is Frank Serratore, the head men's hockey coach at the Air Force Academy.

IN THE NHL
The Engineers lone NHL representative to start the season is seventh-year pro Brandon Pirri, who is a current member of the New York Rangers ... He has 49 career goals and 31 assists for 80 points in 166 games.