ROCHESTER, NY – The line of Danny Smith (Edmonton, Alberta/Sherwood Park Crusaders), Ryan Kruper (Sherwood Park, Alberta/Sherwood Park Crusaders), and Shawn Cameron (Sherbrooke, Quebec/Cumberland Grads) combined for 11 points, as the men’s hockey team (4-7-1, 4-5-0 Atlantic Hockey) erupted for five third period goals to defeat Atlantic Hockey leader Army West Point (6-4-1, 6-3-0 Atlantic Hockey), 6-2 in front of 2,761 fans at the Gene Polisseni Center on Friday evening.
Smith tallied the eventual game-winning goal with 18:11 left in regulation and assisted on three others for a career-high four-point night. Kruper dished out a career-high four assists, while Cameron scored his first two collegiate goals and added an assist, all in the third period. All three forwards were plus-4 on the evening.
Darren Brady (Lake Orion, MI/New Jersey Titans) scored his first collegiate goal in the second period, while Caleb Cameron (Sundridge, Ontario/Listowel Cyclones) added a goal and an assist. In goal, senior Mike Rotolo (Rochester, NY/Cedar Rapids Roughriders) was brilliant, stopping 32 of 34 shots for his fourth win of the season and 30th of his career. Rotolo was especially strong in the second period, stopping 17 of 18 Army West Point shots.
Down 2-1 heading into the third period, the Tigers scored twice in the first 1:49 of the period and never looked back, adding three more goals for the resounding win.
Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals) took a perfect backhand feed from Caleb Cameron (Sundridge, Ontario/Listowel Cyclones) in front and beat Army West Point goaltender Parker Gahagen just 40 seconds into the third period to tie the game at 2-2. Just 1:09 later, Smith jammed home a pass from Kruper on the doorstep to give RIT its first lead of the game. That line struck again at the 5:46 mark, as Shawn Cameron (Sherbrooke, Quebec/Cumberland Grads) buried a rebound off a shot from Kruper to make it a 4-2 game.
Caleb Cameron (Sundridge, Ontario/Listowel Cyclones) would make it a 5-2 lead for the Tigers on the power-play with 7:32 left in regulation, as he put home a loose puck after a shot from Adam Brubacher (Elmira, Ontario/Powell River Kings) went off Gahagen and popped up behind the goaltender. Shawn Cameron (Sherbrooke, Quebec/Cumberland Grads) would tally his second goal of the night with 3:40 left to complete the scoring.
Trevor Fidler and Dominic Franco scored a goal and added an assist for the Black Knights, while Alex Wilkinson dished out a pair of assists.
Army West Point held a slight 34-33 edge in shots. The Black Knights scored both of their goals on the power-play, going 2-for-7. The Tigers went 1-for-3.
“I thought we did a really good job in the first period in general but didn’t have anything to show for it, and we took some bad penalties and Mike (Rotolo) kept us in the game with some big saves in the second, which allowed us to come back in the third,” said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. “It was nice to get some scoring outside of our top two lines, which we will need as the season moves on.”
The Black Knights would get the only goal of the opening period, on the power-play at the 11:54 mark, as Franco tapped in a pass at the side of the net from Trevor Fidler.
It was the first of three straight Army West Point power-plays in the period. Liam Kerins (Caledon, Ontario/North York Rangers) had a tremendous chance for the Tigers later in the period, side stepping around a Black Knights defender, before getting denied by Gahagen on the short side.
Both teams would score once in an action packed second period in which Army out-shot the Tigers 18-8. The 18 shots allowed in the period were a season high for RIT.
Brady would tie the game at 1-1 just 2:22 into the second, finishing a nice passing play by the Tigers. Danny Smith (Edmonton, Alberta/Sherwood Park Crusaders) dug the puck out of the corner to Ryan Kruper (Sherwood Park, Alberta/Sherwood Park Crusaders), who faked a shot from the left side and fired a perfect pass to Brady, who was open in the slot. Brady fired a perfect wrist shot past Gahagen just inside the right post for his first collegiate goal.
Rotolo would come up with a series of big saves to keep the game tied, first robbing Conor Andrle on a tip attempt and then on the rebound, diving across to rob Zach Evancho.
RIT would run into penalty problems for the second consecutive period and Army West Point would regain the lead at the 11:34 mark, as Fidler redirected a point shot by Wilkinson past Rotolo for his second goal of the year. The goal came with six seconds left on the power-play, as Army kept the Tigers hemmed in their own zone for the entire power-play.
The Black Knights had a few other great chances to extend their lead, but Rotolo was tremendous in keeping it a 2-1 lead. The senior goaltender stonewalled Clint Carlisle on a shorthanded breakaway and then right after the Army West Point penalty ended, made another big save on a point-blank chance by Brendan Soucie.
Army came into tonight allowing just 1.50 goals per game, second fewest in all of Division I. Gahagen was also among the national leaders in goals against average and save percentage before tonight’s game. RIT tied a season-high with six goals this evening. The five third period goals were the most in a period for the Tigers since Feb. 20, 2016 vs. Niagara.
RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 16-3-6 and is 8-2-3 against Army West Point on home ice.
The Tigers and Black Knights complete their weekend series on Saturday night from the Gene Polisseni Center at 7:05 p.m.
“We need to be even hungrier tomorrow night,” said Wilson. “Army will come at us even harder, so we need to be ready and try to start a winning streak.”
