ERIE, PA – The RIT men’s hockey team (7-9-2, 7-4-1 Atlantic Hockey) completed the weekend sweep and earned its third straight win, scoring four second period goals en route to a 7-3 win over host Mercyhurst University (8-10-0, 6-6-0 Atlantic Hockey) at the Mercyhurst Ice Center on Sunday evening.
The seven goals are a season-high. RIT’s penalty-killing unit was the story in the third period, killing off nine minutes of Mercyhurst power-play time while holding a 5-3 lead, including a five-minute major. Overall, the Tigers blocked 22 shots in the contest.
Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) moved closer to the 100-point milestone in his career, tying a career-high with two goals, while adding an assist. He now has 97 career points. Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) capped off a tremendous weekend with a career-high three points on a goal and two assists after recording two helpers yesterday. Gabe Valenzuela (Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers) dished out a season-best three assists.
Liam Kerins (Caledon, Ontario/North York Rangers) and Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals) added a goal and an assist, while Greg Amlong (O’Fallon, MO/UMass Lowell) had two helpers. Michael Holland (Cambridge, MA/Chicago Steel) scored his first collegiate goal, a shorthanded empty-netter in the third period, while Andrew Miller (Chicago, IL/Chicago Steel) scored the game-winning power-play goal.
In goal, Mike Rotolo (Rochester, NY/Cedar Rapids Roughriders) started and stopped seven of nine shots before exiting due to an injury with 12:55 left in the second period. Christian Short (Vaughan, Ontario/Surrey Eagles) replaced Rotolo and played very well to earn the win, making 20 saves on 21 shots, stopping all 17 shots he faced in the third period.
Kyle Dutra had a goal and an assist to lead the Lakers, while Tyler Enns and Josh Lammon also scored. In goal, Brandon Wildung took the loss, stopping 28 shots.
RIT out-shot Mercyhurst, 35-30. The Tigers were 2-for-6 with the man-advantage, while Mercyhurst was 1-for-7.
With the win, RIT moves into sole possession of third place in the Atlantic Hockey standings with 15 points.
“I thought we played with a lot of emotion tonight as a group, stuck it out in the third period and did a great job penalty killing,” said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. “We did a great job blocking shots, got our sticks in lanes and really battled. It was a great team win, as we were able to get a lot of guys going.”
Despite holding a 17-4 edge in shots after one period of play, RIT and Mercyhurst were knotted at 1-1.
Just 28 seconds in, Erik Brown (Keene, Ontario/Kemptville 73’s) was robbed by Wildung on a 2-on-1 break, as Valenzuela was hauled down going to the net, causing a penalty.
The Lakers would get on the board at the 7:22 mark, as Enns wristed a shot through traffic from the left point that eluded everyone, including Rotolo for his first goal of the season.
RIT thought they had a goal on a power-play midway through the first period, as a blast by Amlong was blocked by a Mercyhurst player, with the puck jumping into the air into the slot, where Powell batted the puck out of midair and past Wildung, but it was disallowed due to being hit with a high-stick. The play went to review, but the call was confirmed.
The Tigers would finally get on the board with 4:44 left in the period, as Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) took a feed from Alexander Kuqali (Pittsburgh, PA/Sioux City Musketeers) after sustained pressure in the Mercyhurst zone and from the left side, rocketed a shot past Wildung for his second goal of the season.
RIT would score four times in a wild second period that featured six total tallies and 40 penalty minutes, taking a 5-3 lead into the locker room after 40 minutes of play.
The two teams would combine for three goals in a span of 1:06 to get the second period started. Mitchell would get his third goal of the season just 2:24 into the frame, taking a long stretch pass from Powell while the teams were playing 4-on-4, coming in on a breakaway going to the backhand on a deke and sliding a shot through the legs of Wildung.
At the 3:16 mark, Lammon would complete a nice passing play from Jack Riley on a 3-on-2 rush, beating Rotolo under the crossbar from the slot on the power-play for his seventh goal of the year to tie the game at 2-2.
Just 14 seconds later, Powell and Mitchell would combine again to give the Tigers the lead, as Powell would jam home a rebound after Greg Amlong (O’Fallon, MO/UMass Lowell) was stopped by Wildung and Mitchell swatted at the carom in front. Powell would be in the right place in front for his seventh tally of the season to make it 3-2.
With 12:25 left in the period, Rotolo was forced to leave the game after getting slammed into by Lester Lancaster as he cut to the net on a rush. Lancaster was given a minor for goaltender interference, as Short came into replace Rotolo.
Mercyhurst would tie the game at 3-3 right as that ensuing penalty ended, as Dutra came down the right wing and ripped a shot over the shoulder of Short.
Miller would put RIT back on top with 7:31 left in the period, getting his first goal of the season on the power-play, taking a feed from Valenzuela that Kerins tipped and beating Wildung from the slot to make it 4-3.
Short would make his first big save moments later, robbing Lancaster on a breakaway.
Kerins tallied his second goal of the weekend and fourth of the year with 4:38 left in the period, corralling a feed from Valenzuela in front and beating Wildung with a backhand to make it 5-3 Tigers. Brown would also assist on the goal.
RIT’s penalty killing was incredible in the third period, killing off a five-minute major and two minors. Short stopped all 17 shots in the period. Todd Skirving (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Sioux Falls Stampede) won 5-of-6 defensive zone face-offs in the period and 13 in the game. Holland, Abbott Girduckis (Belleville, Ontario/Wellington Dukes), Amlong, and Matt Abt (Leduc, Alberta/Whitecourt Wolverines ) were among several key contributors during that stretch.
With 10:31 left, Short made one of the finest saves in all of college hockey this season, robbing Dutra with a diving glove save, while RIT was killing off the major penalty. Dutra was all alone in front and looked to have the open net, but somehow, Short came across to make the amazing save.
Holland put the game away with his first collegiate tally with Wildung out for the extra attacker with 2:36 left, picking up a loose puck after a block by Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers), firing it 150 feet down the ice into the open cage to make it 6-3.
Mitchell would get his second goal of the game and fourth of the season on the power-play in the final minute, batting in a rebound off a shot from Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) to make it 7-3.
Today’s contest was the second of four meetings between the two schools this season. Last night, the Tigers defeated the Lakers by a score of 4-2, as four different players scored and Rotolo made 27 saves. The two teams close out the regular season with a home-and-home series on Feb. 26-27.
RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 35-18-6, including a 19-9-3 mark in the Division I era. RIT has won the last five meetings by a combined score of 26-7.
RIT is right back in action next weekend, as Atlantic Hockey foe Canisius comes to the Gene Polisseni Center for a pair of games. Both Friday and Saturday’s contests get underway at 7:05 p.m.
