ALBANY, NY – A second-period offensive blitz carried the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute men's hockey team to a 3-2 win over Union College in the first round of the Citizens Bank Governor's Cup Friday evening at the Times Union Center.

 

Union (2-1-0) struck early as Luke Cain (Thunder Bay, ON) netted his first collegiate goal just 1:39 into the first frame, sliding in a pass from behind the net from Justin Pallos (Glastonbury, CT) after a lengthy cycle. Lane Caffaro (Slave Lake, AB) picked up his second point of the season after feeding Pallos from up high. The tally marked the first five-on-five goal given up the Engineers this season.

 

The Dutchmen controlled the pace of the first stanza and held on to the lead until the seventh minute of the second period when the scoring frenzy began. Four goals in under a two-minute span left the Dutchmen behind.

 

Union pressed into RPI's zone for the first five minutes of the second period, but the Engineers rattled of several shots once crossing the blue line. Jonathan Ornelas rattled off his second goal of the season at 7:02 before Union rallied back, just 36 seconds later.

 

Senior assistant captain Sam Bowles (Davidsonville, MD) evened the score at 7:38 with his first score of the season. Bowles won the draw back to Chris Potts (Phillipsburg, NJ), who found Brendan Milnamow (Wilton, CT) just behind him. Milnamow's shot was saved by RPI netminder Mathias Lange, but Bowles was there to slip in the rebound.

 

The Engineers (4-2) followed with a pair of goals exactly a minute apart, first from Tyler Helfrich at 7:51, with assists from Jake Morissette and Andrei Uryadov. Andrew Lord followed with his second goal of the season at 8:51, for two points on the night after assisting on Ornelas' tally that sparked the rally.

 

The Dutchmen killed off a five-minute major midway through the third period, and the momentum shifted Union's way. The Dutchmen allowed only two RPI shots during the lengthy kill, while putting two on Lange with the man down.

 

Union goaltender Justin Mrazek (Regina, SK) made 21 saves on the night, including stuffing a breakaway by Lord late in the game. Lange finished with 28 saves.

 

The Dutchmen are back in action tomorrow, October 27, when they take on St. Lawrence in the consolation game at 4 p.m. Colgate will face RPI in the 7 p.m. championship tilt.