Cornell scored three goals in the first period on its way to a 6-1 win over Rensselaer in an ECAC Hockey League match up at the Houston Field House. The Big Red were led by Colin Greening, who had two goals and an assist, and Blake Gallagher, who had three assists.
Cornell jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first period on goals by Tony Romano, Greening and Mark McCutcheon. Romano’s goal, which came at 5:08, was a power play marker from the left of the crease. Greening’s goal, which was scored just 1:09 after Romano’s, came from the right of the goal, while McCutcheon’s was a shorthanded goal with just 1:01 left in the frame.
The Engineers pulled to within 3-1 on a shorthanded goal by freshman Paul Kerins, who slipped a backhanded shot into the back of the net at 5:26 of the second period. Cornell came back to make it 4-1 with 13:48 left in the second period when Byron Bitz tipped a Doug Krantz shot past Rensselaer netminder Mathias Lange.
The Big Red added two more goals in the third period as Greening scored on the power play 33 seconds into the period and Justin Milo scored with 4:39 remaining.
Lange was saddled with the loss in goal for RPI. He stopped 17 shots. Sophomore Troy Davenport made 28 saves for the win, including 16 in the third period.
Rensselaer, which is now 9-14-7 overall and 5-9-4 in the league, returns to the ice next weekend with a pair of games on the road against St. Lawrence University and Clarkson University. Cornell (12-9-4, 8-6-4 ECACHL) will host Quinnipiac University and Princeton University next weekend.
