TROY, N.Y. – In front of a sold-out crowd, the Union College men's hockey team fell to rival Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2-1, Friday night at Houston Field House.

Junior Ben Tupker scored his second goal of the season while classmate Mason Snell earned his first point as a Dutchman. Fellow junior Liam Robertson also registered an assist.

Tonight's game marked the 100^th career game for senior transfer Chris Theodore.

Union (2-6-1, 0-1-0 ECACH) was a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill tonight while Rensselaer (5-1-0, 1-0-0 ECACH) was 0-for-1.

In a low-shooting first period, it was the Engineers that found the back of the net first. Kyle Hallbauer capitalized on a miscue by Union and sent a wrister past senior Connor Murphy to take a 1-0 lead. Union generated plenty of scoring opportunities in the first period including chances by Theodore and sophomore Josh Nixon.

The Engineers extended their lead in the second period with a goal by John Evans at 4:23.

The Dutchmen broke through at 11:28 of the third period. Snell sent a short pass from the end boards to Tupker who was in front of the net. The junior fired a short pass that went bar down to beat Jack Watson.  

Murphy stopped 30 shots in the loss  while Watson made 23 saves in the win.

Union is back home tomorrow against RPI for the second part of this weekend's series. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Messa Rink.