TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Senior defender Lauri Sertti scored a goal and dished out three assists as the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men’s hockey team took home a 4-2 victory over the Yale Bulldogs in the 45th annual Big Red Freakout game at the Houston Field House Saturday night. With the win, RPI moved to 12-17-1 overall and 7-11-0 in ECAC Hockey, while Yale falls to 5-16-4 and 4-12-2 in ECAC Hockey play.
 
RPI opened the scoring with a pair of Jakob Lee goals in the first period. The first tally came at the 4:13 mark on the power play, as Sertti found Lee on a trailing cut on the back post. Lee then had an open net, scoring to make it 1-0 Engineers as Mason Klee also earned an assist on the play.
 
The second came at the 8:42 mark, as Lee tipped home a shot from the blue line from TJ Walsh, with Sertti also earning an assist on that play as well.
 
Then it was Sertti that made it 3-0 Engineers just before the end of the first period, scoring with seven seconds remaining in the period. The senior ripped a shot from the left side boards just inside the blue line that found it’s way through traffic. Klee and Jake Gagnon earned assists on the tally.
 
RPI extended the lead in the second period, as freshman Danny Ciccarello scored shorthanded for the Engineers on a feed from Sertti that found his stick inside the left post. The goal was Ciccarello’s first of his career, giving RPI the 4-0 lead.
 
Yale scored a pair of goals in the third period, getting them to a 4-2 score. The first came off a wrist shot from the blue line. RPI goaltender Jack Watson made the save, but left a puck fluttering around the crease. The Bulldogs pounced, and with a scrum filling the crease the puck found it’s way in off the stick of Ryan Carmichael.
 
The Bulldogs followed that up just over tow minutes later as Quinton Ong scored in a 5-on-3 opportunity. Ong wristed a shot from the left wing circle that beat Watson to cut the lead to two goals. However, the Engineers hung on through the final whistle to send home the crowd of 4,117 fans in Troy happy.
 
Watson finished with 26 saves on the night for RPI, while Yale goaltender Luke Pearson made 25 saves for the Bulldogs.
 
The Engineers return to the ice next week on Friday, February 17 at 7 p.m. when they face off against Dartmouth in Hanover.