Men's hockey picks up first win of the 2015-16 season, opening league play … – RIT Athletics
SPRINGFIELD, MA – The defending Atlantic Hockey Champion RIT men’s hockey team (1-4-1, 1-0-0 AHC) picked up its first win of the 2015-16 season, defeating American International (0-7-0, 0-2-0 AHC) on the road in its conference opener on Friday evening from the Olympia Ice Center.
Matt Abt (Leduc, Alberta/Whitecourt Wolverines ) had a goal and an assist, while Mark Golberg (Ottawa, Ontario/Cumberland Grads) recorded his second straight multiple-point effort with a pair of assists. Greg Amlong (O’Fallon, MO/UMass Lowell) scored for the third straight contest, while Dan Schuler (Webster, NY/Powell River Kings) and Abbott Girduckis (Belleville, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) snapped a 2-2 tie with goals 1:10 apart in the second period. Girduckis’ goal was the first of his collegiate career.
In net, Mike Rotolo (Rochester, NY/Cedar Rapids Roughriders) picked up his first victory of the season and 19th of his collegiate career, stopping 15 shots.
RIT out-shot American International, 38-17, including 30-11 after the opening period. AIC was 1-for-5 with the power-play, while RIT was 0-for-3.
Daniel Mele and Shawn McBride scored first period goals for the Yellow Jackets. In net, Hunter Leisner earned the start, stopping seven shots over the first 28:13. He was pulled after Cameron’s goal and replaced by Alex Murray, who was sensational. Murray stopped all 27 shots he faced over the final 31 minutes.
“I thought once we took the lead, we controlled play, especially in the third period,” said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. “It was nice to get our first two points in league play, but want to get the weekend sweep tomorrow night.”
Both teams scored twice in a quickly played first period, with just 14 total shots on goal.
Abt got the Tigers on the board just 1:38 into the game, ripping a shot from the left point over the glove of Leisner for his first goal of the season. Golberg won a face-off back to Michael Holland (Cambridge, MA/Chicago Steel), who came in from the right point and centered a pass that eluded everyone and bounced off the left boards to Abt, who was able to beat Leisner cleanly.
The Yellow Jackets would knot the game at 1-1 just 2:17 later, as Mele came down the right wing as a power-play was expiring and roofed a shot off the crossbar past Rotolo.
RIT would regain the lead just 7:19 into the contest, as Todd Skirving (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Sioux Falls Stampede) stripped a Yellow Jackets defenseman of the puck, and slipped a pass to Amlong in the slot. Amlong made no mistake for his third goal in as many games to make it 2-1.
With just 36 seconds left in the opening period, McBride stripped the puck from a RIT player in the neutral zone, came in on a 2-on-1, used his teammate as a decoy and slipped a shot past Rotolo from close range to tie the game.
RIT took control in the second period with a pair of goals 1:10 apart to take a 4-2 lead after 40 minutes of play.
A big turning point early in the second was RIT killing off 1:30 of an American International 5-on-3 power-play. The Yellow Jackets had one big chance, a blast from Orzulak that rang off the post and out.
Schuler would give RIT the lead 7:03 into the second period, firing a shot from the goal line from the left side of the net on a weird angle that somehow eluded Leisner to make it 3-2. Gabe Valenzuela (Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers) would feed Abt along the left side boards, with the RIT defenseman promptly sent to Schuler in the corner. Schuler would tally his first goal of the season.
Just 1:10 later, Golberg stole a clearing pass at the AIC blueline, sending a pass to Caleb Cameron (Sundridge, Ontario/Listowel Cyclones), causing a 2-on-1 down low with Girduckis. Girduckis sent a shot on goal that went through the legs of Leisner from the right side in close for his first collegiate tally.
That goal would chase Leisner, as Murray would replace him and play well the rest of the way. RIT had several chances to add to the lead, but Murray made several huge saves to keep it a 4-2 game. He stopped 79 of 85 shots in two games against RIT last season.
Rotolo was barely tested in the final period, as RIT held a 16-5 edge in shots over the final 20 minutes of play. His best save came in the final minute off a hard shot that was tipped in front.
Tonight’s meeting was the first of four this season between the two schools. The two teams meet tomorrow night and American International travels to the Gene Polisseni Center for a pair of games on Feb. 12-13, 2016.
RIT is 26-3-3 all-time against the Yellow Jackets, including a 23-3-2 mark since the 2005-06 season. The Tigers have a 13-game unbeaten streak against American International dating back to the 2011-12 season.
Including tonight, the Tigers play 28 of their final 29 regular season games against league foes.
RIT and American International conclude the weekend series on Saturday night from the Olympia Ice Center at 7:05 p.m.
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