ROCHESTER, NY – Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals) scored into the empty net with 39 seconds remaining in overtime, lifting the RIT men’s hockey team (15-14-5, 14-9-5 AHC) to a 2-1 win over Mercyhurst (16-14-4, 14-11-3 AHC) in front of 3,019 fans in the regular season finale at the Gene Polisseni Center on Saturday. With the win, RIT will be the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Atlantic Hockey Tournament.
With just under a minute left in overtime, Mercyhurst was able to maintain possession in the RIT zone. Knowing that a tie would give RIT the No. 4 seed and home ice for the quarterfinals and keep Mercyhurst as the the No. 5 seed and on the road for that series, the Lakers decided to pull Brandon Wildung for the extra attacker and take a chance at winning the game to leapfrog the Tigers. A shot went wide around the boards to Tyler Shiplo at the right point. His shot was stopped by RIT goaltender Mike Rotolo (Rochester, NY/Cedar Rapids Roughriders) and caromed off Mark Golberg (Ottawa, Ontario/Cumberland Grads) in front, right to Powell in the slot. Powell turned around and cleared the puck down the ice and fortunately for the Tigers, and from 175 feet out, hit the open Mercyhurst net for the win.
The win moved RIT over .500 for the first time since winning the season-opener over St. Lawrence on Oct. 10. RIT finished the regular season tied for third in the league standings with Bentley, both going 14-9-5 in conference play with 33 points. RIT won the tiebreaker over the Falcons, giving them the third seed. RIT will play the highest remaining seed from the first round matchups, pitting No.6 Holy Cross vs. No. 11 Niagara, No. 7 Holy Cross vs. No. 10 American International, and No. 8 Sacred Heart vs. No. 9 Army.
RIT finished the month of February 5-2-1 and went 10-4-2 over its last 16 games, all in league play to climb into the No. 3 seed. It was RIT’s first overtime win of the season and first at the Gene Polisseni Center.
Todd Skirving (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Sioux Falls Stampede) scored RIT’s other goal, midway through the first period. RIT had a goal called back later in the period and had numerous other chances throughout the contest, out-shooting Mercyhurst, 42-23. RIT goaltender Mike Rotolo (Rochester, NY/Cedar Rapids Roughriders) made 22 saves and earned his first collegiate assist on the game-winner. The sophomore goaltender improved to 9-6-1 on the season and is 8-1-1 in his last 10 contests.
Jonathan Charbonneau scored Mercyhurst’s lone goal early in the second period. In net, Brandon Wildung, who was pulled after allowing five goals in just over 26 minutes last night, was sensational tonight, stopping 40-of-41 shots.
RIT was 0-for-4 with the man-advantage, while Mercyhurst was 0-for-3. RIT did an excellent job killing off a five-minute major to start the third period, keeping everything to the outside. The Tigers entered the evening with the fourth best penalty-killing unit in the league at 88.7 percent and showed why with that crucial kill in the third period.
“The penalty-kill has been a staple of our game, and that was no different tonight,” said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. “We will take the win and are happy to get (the bye) into the quarterfinals. It comes at a good time for us, as we are healthy and ready to go.”
RIT dominated the first period, carrying play for virtually the entire 20 minutes, while out-shooting Mercyhurst 19-5, but only had one goal to show for it.
Wildung came up with several big saves, including one on Brady Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) just before the midway point of the period, who looked to have an open net on a power-play after a perfect cross ice feed from Matt Garbowsky (St. George, Ontario/Powell River Kings). Moments later, Wildung robbed Brandon Thompson (Vancouver, British Columbia/Handsworth) from the slot on an odd-man rush.
The Tigers got on the board at the 12:36 mark of the period, as Brady Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) was able to keep in a Mercyhurst clearing attempt at the right point. His shot towards the net was tipped on goal by Skirving, with Wildung making the save, but the Mercyhurst goaltender could not corral the rebound and Skriving was able to knock the loose puck in from the side of the net for his fourth goal of the year.
Moments later, Rotolo made his best save early on, as Kane Elliot came in with a full head of steam down the left wing and fired a backhand from in close that was gobbled up.
RIT had a goal waved off in the final minute of the period on the power-play, as a blast from the left point from Kuqali eluded Wildung, but was ruled that Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs), who was going to the net, was in the crease. The play went to video review and despite a view that showed Mitchell was not in the crease, the call was confirmed.
Despite once again carrying play for a good chunk of the second period and holding a 28-10 edge in shots after 40 minutes, the Tigers found themselves knotted at 1-1 after two periods.
Just 1:57 into the period, Mercyhurst would tie the game, as Charbonneau took a feed from Chris Bodo in the neutral zone, came in over the Tigers line and ripped a wrist shot from the face-off circle past Rotolo to the far side for his seventh goal of the season, tying the game at 1-1.
The Tigers would pressure often in the period, but just could not get the go ahead goal. Wildung made his best save of the period on a 2-on-1, robbing Powell with a sharp glove stop from the slot. RIT had several other great looks, but could not get one past the freshman goaltender.
Mercyhurst fired the first seven shots of the third period due to the five-minute power-play given to them, as RIT’s Danny Smith (Edmonton, Alberta/Sherwood Park Crusaders) was given a major for contact to the head and a game misconduct right at the end of the second period.
RIT had several prolonged stretches with the puck in Mercyhurst’s end over the final seven minutes, but just could not get the puck past Wildung.
Mercyhurst’s defense blocked 31 shots, as the Tigers attempted a whopping 101 shots in the contest.
Before tonight’s game, RIT honored seniors Garbowsky, Brad McGowan (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles), Brad Reid (Delta, British Columbia/Coquitlam Express). Jordan Ruby (Tavistock, Ontario/Wellington Dukes), Thompson, and student manager Joe Vicario.
Tonight was the second of two regular season meetings between these two long-time rivals this season. RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 32-18-6, including a 16-9-3 mark since moving to Division I in 2005. Both teams were also part of the ECAC West Conference in Division III from 1988-99.
Last night, Garbowsky picked up his second hat-trick of the season and added an assist, while McGowan reached 100 points for his career, Mitchell dished out a career-high four assists, and Rotolo stopped all 25 shots he faced in a dominant 8-0 win.
Tonight marked the first time in RIT’s Division I era in which they scored the game-winning goal with the opponent’s goaltender pulled.
RIT has advanced to the AHC Quarterfinals six times, last in 2013. The Tigers are 10-4 all-time in the quarterfinal round, winning five of the six series. The first five quarterfinals series RIT played in were at Ritter Arena.
“We will be excited and ready for our next opponent in the quarterfinals,” said Wilson. “We are really happy to be playing in front of our home crowd for that series.”
