On the strength of four power-play goals, including two by senior Oren Eizenman, Rensselaer defeated Merrimack, 4-1, in front of a crowd of 2,757 at the Houston Field House.
The homestanding Engineers, the 18th-ranked team in the nation, broke out in front with a pair of power-play goals within 36 seconds early in the first period. Eizenman scored from the right post with RPI enjoying a 5-on-3 advantage at 2:16 and junior Jake Morissette capitalized on a 5-on-4 at 2:52. Eizenman’s goal was set up by Paul Kerins and Jake Luthi.
Luthi took a shot from the point which got on net, but the rebound bounced to Kerins, who moved it to Eizenman for the goal.
Morissette’s marker, which came from the center of the blueline, was assisted by Matt Angers-Goulet and Jonathan Ornelas. Morissette was playing the point and his shot from the blue line evaded Warrior goaltender Patrick Watson over his left shoulder.
The Engineers went up 3-1 with another power-play goal in the second period. Eizenman fed Angers-Goulet with a pass across the crease which Angers-Goulet put right into the net. This was followed by Merrimack’s lone goal as Matt Byrnes won a face-off to Jordan Hart, who took a point shot that skipped past Engineers goaltender Jordan Alford.
The Engineers made the score 4-1 with their fourth power-play goal of the game in the third period. Eizenman scored his second of the game with a point shot that was set up by Luthi and Seth Klerer.
The Engineers finished the game 4-for-9 on the power play while the Warriors were 0-for-8. Alford (3-0-1) made 24 saves in the win while Watson (0-2-0) made 21 saves in the loss.
Eizenman finished with two goals and an assist, Morissette had a goal and an assist, and Luthi had two assists.
The Warriors (1-8-1) travel to Vermont next Saturday in a Hockey East contest while the Engineers (4-1-3) host Sacred Heart in a non-conference game on Friday evening at 7pm.
