RPI rallies past No. 16 Quinnipiac

Senior Viktor Liljegren registered his first collegiate hat trick to lead the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men’s hockey rallied to a 5-3 victory over No. 16 Quinnipiac University, Friday night at Houston Field House. It was the first league win of the season for the Engineers (2-4-3 overall, 1-3-1 ECAC Hockey) and snapped a 14-game winless streak against the Bobcats (3-4-1, 0-3-0 ECAC Hockey).

RPI hosted Princeton University at Houston Field House Saturday night in a game that was not complete by press time.

The hat trick for Liljegren was RPI’s first since Riley Bourbonnais ‘17 had three on October 31, 2014 in a 6-1 win over Union College at the Houston Field House and the program’s first against Quinnipiac.

Trailing 3-1 after the first period Friday, the Engineers scored twice in the second to tie it, before netting a pair of late third period goals.

Sophomore Jacob Hayhurst brought RPI to within 3-2 at 7:24 of the second period, jamming home his fourth goal of the year from close range. Classmate Patrick Polino found him at the edge of the crease, where he was able to win a puck battle for the puck, sticking it past Bobcats freshman netminder Keith Petruzzelli.

Liljegren tied the game at 3-3 exactly two minutes later, when his shot from the right circle deflected off the skate of a Quinnipiac defender and inside the right post for the first of his three on the night. Freshman Troy York earned the assist on the equalizing goal.

A tightly checked third period began to open up as it went along and the Engineers finally took advantage with 1:32 to play in regulation. Senior defenseman Jared Wilson sparked a 2-on-1 break for Liljegren and junior Brady Wiffen up the right wing boards. Liljegren drove to the right side of the net, before firing just inside the left post to give RPI a 4-3 lead.

Quinnipiac lifted sophomore goalie Andrew Shortridge with 1:18 to play, but a break the other way saw Liljegren finish off the hat trick, taking a cross-ice feed from Polino in the neutral zone and burying RPI’s fifth goal from close range.

Senior Landon Smith and junior captain Chase Priskie gave the visitors a 2-0 lead, 3:23 into the first period. Smith deked past RPI junior goaltender Chase Perry for his second goal of the season, while Priskie’s third of the campaign came on the power play.

RPI sophomore Will Reilly pulled one back (2-1) at 12:34 of the first, ripping a shot past Petruzzelli from the bottom of the left circle, after Polino found him alone.

Bobcats junior Craig Martin answered at 18:38 of the frame, however, making it a two goal game once again (3-1).

Perry (1-4-2) finished with 36 saves, including all 13 shots he faced on the third period. Shortridge (2-3-1) took the loss in a relief effort that spanned the final 29:04. He made six saves, while Petruzzelli made eight over the opening 29:06. The Bobcats finished 2 for 5 on the power play, while Rensselaer was 0 for 6.

Polino finished with three assists, while Hayhurst had a goal and an assist. York chipped in with a pair of helpers. Quinnipiac was paced by a goal and an assist each from Priskie and Martin, while freshman Odeen Tufto had two assists. ALBANY, N.Y. » David Nichols scored 18 points and Greig Stire added 15 points and 12 rebounds— seven on the offensive end — and Albany held off Iona 69-67 on Friday night in the season opener for both teams.

Nichols made all four of his free throws in the final 11 seconds and the Great Danes were 7-for-8 shooting from the free-throw line in the last 28 seconds. Albany shot 17 for 19 from the line and Iona was 11 for 14 at the free-throw line.

Albany led 34-23 at halftime before the Gaels started a 15-4 and tied it at 38 with Zach Lewis’ layup with 14:48 left to play. Neither team led by more than five points the rest of the way, and Nichols put the Great Danes ahead for good with a 3 that made it 57-55 with 4:08 remaining.

TK Edogi led Iona with 17 points on 8-for-10 shooting and had nine rebounds and Deyshonee Much added 15 points.

Albany got its first-ever win against Iona, which

Grant Riller scored seven of his game-high 21 points in overtime and the College of Charleston beat Siena 68-60 in Friday night’s season opener for both teams.

Joe Chealey scored 17 points for the Cougars, who, after trailing by as many as seven, led 28-25 at halftime behind Riller’s eight points. Nick Harris finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.

Riller’s two free throws put the Cougars up 61-56 in overtime, his 3-pointer with 1:02 left gave them a six-point lead and he capped the game with a layup off a steal.

His free throw with seven seconds left in regulation put Charleston up 53-51, but Jordan Horn’s layup at the buzzer tied it.

Prince Oduro scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in his college debut for Siena, which graduated five seniors and lost 72 percent of its scoring and 68 percent of its rebounding from last year’s team. Nico Clareth scored

Tyus Battle scored 18 points, Syracuse’s hounding defense held Cornell to 25 percent from the field, and the Orange defeated the Big Red 77-45 Friday in the season opener for both teams.

Geno Thorpe had 12 points, Oshae Brissett had 11 points and 10 rebounds, Matthew Moyer grabbed 10 rebounds and Bourama Sidibe chipped in with seven points and six rebounds for Syracuse.

Matt Morgan led Cornell with 14 points while Jimmy Boeheim, son of Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, had 11. It was the 38th straight win for Syracuse in the series between the Upstate New York schools.

Syracuse had a 33-22 halftime and, led by Battle’s 10 points, went on a 19-4 run after the break to take control. The Orange outscored Cornell 4423 in the second half. Cornell shot 4-of-27 from beyond the arc.

Jimmy Boeheim hit Cornell’s first two shots of the game — a 3-pointer and driving layup — to give the Big Red a 5-2 lead, but

Cornell: It’s hard to tell much from a game against a superior opponent. Coach Brian Earl should get a better idea Monday against Binghamton.

Syracuse: Syracuse might have something in freshman center Bourama Sidibe. He has presence defensively, as expected, and displayed some unexpected good moves on offense. He could supplant starter Paschal Chukwu before long.

UP NEXT

Cornell needs to regroup before its home opener Monday against Binghamton.

Syracuse has an earlyseason home test Tuesday night against the Iona Gaels. The game could be an indicator of things to come for the young Orange. A quality non-conference win would help if Syracuse is an NCAA Tournament bubble team as many predict.