Engineers Complete Successful Weekend
TROY, N.Y. - Junior Chase Polacek (Edina, MN/Academy of Holy
Angels) picked up a goal and two assists to lead the Rensselaer
men's hockey team to a 3-1 victory over Brown University in ECAC
Hockey action, at the Houston Field House. With the win, the
Engineers improve to 6-3-1 (2-0-0 ECACH), while the Bears fall to
0-2-1 (0-1-1 ECACH).
Former Engineer great Bob Brinkworth '64 was inducted in the RPI
Ring on Honor during the second intermission and his #8 was
unveiled at the west end of the arena. Brinkworth played in 71
games for the Engineers, recording 110 goals and 106 assists for
216 career points.
RPI took a 1-0 lead on a 5-on-3 power play tally by freshman
Brandon Pirri (Toronto, ON/Georgetown Raiders) at 17:44 of the
first period. After working the puck from behind the net, Polacek
found Pirri all alone in the low slot, where he wristed a shot
inside the left post for his sixth goal of the season.
A slew of early Brown penalties gave the Engineers a number of
extended power-play opportunities, for which they went 1 for 6.
Brown was unsuccessful on its lone first period man-advantage.
Senior Paul Kerins (Weston, ON/North York Rangers) gave the
Engineers a 2-0 lead on the team's second power-play goal of the
night at 3:39 of the second period. After his initial shot was
blocked a second effort by Kerins netted the forward his second of
the year. Assists went to Pirri and fellow freshman Jerry D'Amigo
(Binghamton, NY/U.S. National U-18 Team).
The Bears pulled to within 2-1 with a 5-on-3 power-play of their
own at 5:59 of the second. Senior co-captain Devin Timberlake (Port
Alberta, BC/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) picked up rebound at the edge
of the crease and lifted a shot over the shoulder of RPI sophomore
netminder Allen York (Wetaskiwin, AB/Camrose Kodiaks) for the
goal.
Polacek finished a 2-on-1 break with sophomore Patrick Cullen to
give Rensselaer an insurance goal and a 3-1 lead at 18:06 of the
third period. Junior Scott Halpern (Boca Raton, FL/Bay State
Breakers) earned the second helper on Polacek's team-leading
seventh of the season and sixth point of the weekend.
York (5-2-1), who made a sprawling left pad save with less than
three minutes to go to maintain a 2-1 lead, finished with 18 saves,
while Bears goaltender Mike Clemente (Great Falls, VA/U.S. NTDP)
made 25 stops. RPI went 2 for 7 on the power-play, while Brown went
1 for 5.
The Engineers hit the road next weekend, when they visit North
Country rivals Clarkson and St. Lawrence on Friday and Saturday,
respectively. The Bears hosts Colgate and Cornell next weekend. All
games are scheduled for 7pm starts.












