Troy, NY - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) scored two goals from Kirk MacDonald and 23 saves from Nathan Marsters and the Engineers defeated Union College, 5-1, in an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) contest in front of a crowd of 3,506 at the Houston Field House in Troy, N.Y. With the win, the Engineers improve to 10-8-2 overall and 5-3-1 in the ECAC. They are now 5-0-1 in their last six games against Union. The Dutchmen, meanwhile, fall to 7-10-3 overall and 2-6-1 in the league. They have now lost eight straight games and are winless in their last nine (0-8-1).

Rensselaer took advantage of an early power play to jump ahead, 1-0. MacDonald, a sophomore who was standing just outside the crease, took a pass from classmate Kevin Croxton and notched his team-leading ninth goal of the season. Junior Nick Economakos was also credited with an assist on the goal, which came at 1:26 of the first period. MacDonald doubled the lead with a breakaway goal with just 23 seconds remaining in the period. Ben Barr, who made the head-man pass, earned the primary assist while Matt McNeely had the secondary helper.

It didn't take long for the Dutchmen to slice the deficit in half as sophomore Jason Visser slammed home a Joel Beal pass just 25 seconds into the second period. For Visser, the goal was his sixth of the season. McNeely put the Engineers back in front by two goals when he scored a power play goal off the post from the blueline at 11:01 of the second period. Oren Eizenman was credited with the only assist on McNeely's goal, his fourth of the season. Freshman Kevin Broad made the score 4-1 in favor of the home team when he squeezed a shot under Union netminder Kris Mayotte at the 16:43 mark. Scott Romfo, who sprung Broad, and Blake Pickett were credited with the assists.

Croxton snuck a shot between Mayotte and the left post at 6:23 of the third period to make the score 5-1. Barr and Brad Farynuk set up Croxton's marker, his eighth of the season. Marsters improved to 9-6-1 while Mayotte, who had 21 stops, is now 5-9-3.

The Engineers and Dutchmen will face one another on Saturday night in the second game of a home-and-home series. Saturday night's game will be on Union's campus in Schenectady, N.Y., beginning at 7pm.