Rensselaer scored two goals in each of the three periods and got 12 saves from Nathan Marsters to defeat Army, 6-0, in a nonleague game before a crowd of 4,117 at the Houston Field House.
The Engineers opened the scoring when freshman Tommy Green tallied his first career goal on a two-on-one with sophomore Chris Hussey at 13:40 of the first period. Green started the play at center ice when he chipped it to Hussey, who carried the puck down the right side before sending a cross-ice pass to Green.
Sophomore Kirk MacDonald doubled Rensselaer’s lead at 17:12 when he tallied on a rebound with the Engineers enjoying a power play.
RPI junior Cody Wojdyla made it 3-0 when he slipped a shot under Army netminder Brad Roberts with the Engineers shorthanded. Wojdyla’s goal, assisted by Conrad Barnes, came at 9:21 of the second.
Another Rensselaer shorthander, this time by defenseman Brad Farynuk, made the score 4-0 in favor of the home team with just over four minutes to play. Farynuk collected a rebound of a Kevin Croxton shot and beat Roberts for his first of the season. Matt McNeely also assisted.
Rensselaer added two more goals in the third period for the 6-0 final. Green notched his second of the game on assists by Hussey and Wojdyla at 9:17 and defenseman Blake Pickett scored his first of the season just 47 seconds later. Pickett, who tallied from the bottom of the left faceoff circle, was assisted by C.J. Hanafin and freshman defenseman Ryan Swanson.
“We started out and played okay in the first, got stronger in the second and played real well in the third period. We got stronger as the game went along,” said Engineer head coach Dan Fridgen. “Our forwards did a good job of creating offense and creating some space and our defense did a good job of moving the puck and making smart plays, and Nate was strong in the net tonight.
“We just kept rolling four lines and everyone was going and that’s a great situation to be in. I was happy because everybody was getting time.”
Marsters, a senior, stopped six shots in the first period, four in the second and two in the third for the shutout, his second over Army. Roberts had 18 saves in two periods before being replaced by Treye Kettwick, who made 14 stops.
RPI, which shut out the Black Knights for the third time in a row, improves to 1-2-1. Army falls to 2-1-0.
The Engineers will be on the road next Saturday night when they play at Merrimack in a nonleague game in North Andover, Mass., beginning at 7 p.m. Army will travel to Bentley for an Atlantic Hockey game next Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
