TROY — It was one body check of many in the game but Jakob Lee’s big hit on Connor Sullivan behind the Yale net nine seconds into the game’s opening shift echoed throughout Houston Field House and set the tone for the RPI hockey team.
Lee was just getting started in a big first period as he scored the game’s first two goals while defenseman Lauri Sertti chipped in with a power-play goal and three assists for the Engineers as RPI knocked off Yale 4-2 in front of a crowd of 4,117 at the 45th Annual Big Red Freakout on Saturday night.
A night after losing 3-2 to Brown, RPI had an extra jump in its step from the outset and seemed buoyed by the enthusiastic crowd.
“The crowd was one of the ingredients but I think the guys were a little hurt last night with how the game ended up,” RPI coach Dave Smith said. “Tonight, especially in the first half of the game, I thought you saw some good hockey.”
Lee won the opening faceoff and set the tone with the big hit and while Smith missed the check, he heard the reverberation of the boards following impact.
“I recall the noise. I didn’t see it and I felt the energy on the bench,” Smith said. “Jake Lee is really important to our team and you can see the games he is in, we are different than the games he is not and he set the tone early.”
The Engineers picked up an early opportunity on the power play and made it count as good passing at the point set up Lee’s first goal of the night as Mason Klee fed the puck to Sertti, who fired it cross-ice to a wide-open Lee on the right wing for RPI (12-17-1, 7-11-0 ECAC).
“Sertti had a great game. He’s been working real hard for the last few games, shut down top lines, score big goals, big moments,” Lee said. “I’d love to score a goal on the first shift but a hit is good too. It was all of us, first period we came out…
Read the full article here