ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men’s hockey team opened its 2016-17 season with a 3-0 victory over Brock University in an exhibition contest in front of 2,758 fans at the Gene Polisseni Center on Saturday evening.
Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals) had a goal and an assist, while Abbott Girduckis (Belleville, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) added a pair of assists. Matt Abt (Leduc, Alberta/Whitecourt Wolverines ) and Michael Holland (Rye, NH/Chicago Steel) also scored for the Tigers. In net, the duo of Mike Rotolo (Rochester, NY/Cedar Rapids Roughriders) and Christian Short (Vaughan, Ontario/Surrey Eagles) combined to make 19 saves for the shutout.
RIT out-shot Brock, 31-19. RIT was 0-for-6 with the man-advantage, while holding Brock scoreless in nine power-play chances.
Brock goaltenders Clint Windsor, Alex Brooks-Potts, and Adam Beukeboom combined to make 28 saves.
“I thought that our effort was good tonight, but the execution was lacking,” said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. “We need to work on the power-play, but our penalty-killing was good. We are excited to jump right into league play next weekend.”
The Tigers assumed control of the play after the opening minutes and got on the board with 4:52 left in the period, as Powell slammed home a rebound of his own shot from in tight after good work from his linemates Girduckis and Caleb Cameron (Sundridge, Ontario/Listowel Cyclones) to setup the goal.
Moments later, Rotolo made his best save of the period, a nifty glove save on Brock’s Adam Lloyd who came in all alone on a breakaway.
The Tigers added to their lead 7:52 into the second period, as Abt took a feed from Powell in the high slot after good work by Girduckis in the corner and ripped a hard shot past Brooks-Potts to make it a 2-0 game.
Powell just missed giving RIT a 3-0 lead a few minutes later, as his shot from behind the right face-off circle cleanly beat Brooks-Potts but clanged off the left post and out.
Rotolo and the RIT penalty-killing unit had to come up big in the period, killing off four Brock power-plays, while allowing just two shots. His best save of the period came on a nifty stick off a shot from Braden Pears from the slot. Rotlo made 13 saves in two periods of work.
Holland made it 3-0 early in the third period with a tremendous individual effort. Liam Kerins (Caledon, Ontario/North York Rangers) made a pass to Gabe Valenzuela (Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers), who found Holland streaking through the slot. Holland had a backhander stopped by Beukeboom and had his second shot blocked. With the goaltender out of position, Holland’s third effort was successful, as he made a nifty move and slid the puck into the open net.
Short came up big for the Tigers as RIT killed off 1:10 of a 5-on-3 midway through the period. He made two nice saves on one-timers from the slot to preserve the shutout. Overall, he stopped six shots in his one period of work.
RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 7-4-1. RIT and Brock last met two seasons ago, in the first RIT men’s hockey competition played in the Gene Polisseni Center, a 5-2 exhibition victory for the Tigers.
RIT opens the regular season next Friday and Saturday, Oct. 7-8 against Atlantic Hockey rival Robert Morris. Both games from the Gene Polisseni Center begin at 7:05 p.m. It is a rematch of the 2016 Atlantic Hockey Championship, won by RIT.
