ROCHESTER, NY – Junior forward Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) scored the game winner 4:57 into the third period, and Jordan Ruby (Tavistock, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) made 25 stops in net, as the third-seeded RIT men’s hockey team (16-14-5) took game one of the Atlantic Hockey Conference Quarterfinal series, 2-1 over No. 7 seed Air Force Academy (16-20-4) in front of 3,341 fans at the Gene Polisseni Center on Friday evening.
“It was tough, tight game,” said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. “I thought we were very sound defensively and got some timely goals.”
Air Force out-shot RIT, 26-24. RIT was 2-for-5 with the man-advantage, while Air Force was 1-for-3. RIT scored a pair of power-play goals for just the fourth time this season.
Senior captain Matt Garbowsky (St. George, Ontario/Powell River Kings) and Mitchell each finished with a goal, while Alexander Kuqali (Pittsburgh, PA/Sioux City Musketeers), Brad McGowan (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles), Matt Abt (Leduc, Alberta/Whitecourt Wolverines ) and Brady Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) added an assist apiece. Jordan Ruby (Tavistock, Ontario/Wellington Dukes), making his first start since Feb. 20 vs. Robert Morris, got the in net for the Tigers, making 25 saves.
Chad Demers scored Air Force’s lone goal, while Scott Holm and Tyler Rostenkowski each had assists. Chris Truehl took the loss in net for the Falcons, making 22 saves.
RIT has now won four straight games and improve to 11-4 all-time in AHC Quarterfinal games.
Neither team scored in a hotly contested first period of play that featured several good chances by each side, with shots finishing 5-5.
McGowan had two really good chances for RIT late in the period when he found himself in front of the Air Force net. He fired two shots that Truehl was able to save.
Ruby was excellent in the period, stopping all five shots he faced, including a couple from point-blank range.
McGowan looked to have opened the scoring with a great shorthanded chance off a perfect feed from Mitchell with just over seven minutes to play in the second period, but somehow Truehl got his glove on a shot with what looked like a wide open net from the side of the cage, keeping it a scoreless game.
The Falcons would come right back down the ice and tally first, on Demers’ power play goal at 14:14 of the second period. He took a pass from Rostenkowski in close and beat Ruby with a shot for his 16th goal of the season.
A few minutes later, Garbowsky tallied his 25th goal of the season, tying the game at 1-1 on his power play tally at 15:19. Brady Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) started the play when he fired a shot from the point that came to Garbowsky in the slot, and he waited out Truehl and fired a shot into the open net. McGowan had the second assist on the play.
Early in the third period, McGowan looked to give RIT a 2-1 lead on the power-play, but his goal was waived off when the referees ruled a hand pass on Mitchell.
On the same power-play, Mitchell answered with thw winning tally at 4:57 of the third period, giving the Tigers their first lead of the game. Mitchell scored from a tight angle that deflected off a defender in front of the Air Force net and between the legs of Truehl. It was his 13th goal of the season off of feeds from Abt and Kuqali.
“I thought Mitchell and Garbowsky came up big for us tonight,” said Wilson. “Our power play was getting decent looks, and they lifted us up.”
Air Force had a pair of solid chances late in the game with the extra skater. AJ Reid had two point-blank shots from close range on Ruby, but the senior netminder came up with the clutch saves to preserve the win.
RIT is now 2-1 against Air Force this season. The Tigers defeated the the Falcons, 5-1 in Colorado Springs on Oct. 24, while the Air Force exacted revenge with a 4-3 overtime win the next night.
Air Force leads the all-time series between the two schools, 22-18-3. The teams met in the 2011 and 2012 AHA Championship games and combined to win six of the last eight league titles. Since the start of the 2005-06 season, RIT is 15-20-3 against Air Force.
Tonight’s win was the first for RIT over Air Force in four playoff meetings between the two schools. The winner of the quarterfinal series advances to semifinals next Friday at the Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester.
“Tonight means nothing,” said Wilson. “We start from scratch tomorrow. We are only halfway through the weekend.”
These two teams will meet Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. in game two of the best-of-three series at the Gene Polisseni Center.
