Courtesy of RITAthletics.com
BRIDGEPORT, CT – Junior forward Erik Brown (Keene, Ontario/Kemptville 73’s) tied a Division I team record with four goals for his second consecutive hat-trick, as the RIT men’s hockey team (14-15-2, 13-11-1 AHA) earned its fourth straight win, defeating host Sacred Heart University (10-17-4, 8-13-4 AHA) 5-0 at Webster Bank Arena Saturday night.
Brown scored RIT’s first three goals, two in the first period and one 1:05 into the second period. After Jake Hamacher (Corona, CA/Dubuque Fighting Saints) made it 4-0 with 9:08 left in the third period, Brown fired a one-timer off a feed from Gabe Valenzuela(Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers) for his fourth goal of the game with 5:47 left in regulation.
Brown recorded his second hat-trick in five days, giving him 24 goals on the season, second most in all of Division I. His 24 goals are fourth in one season at RIT’s Division I era. Brad McGowan also scored four goals for the Tigers in a 7-3 win over Air Force on March 14, 2015. Matt Smith tallied back-to-back hat-tricks in identical 5-4 overtime wins over Holy Cross in games one and two of the Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals from Ritter Arena on March 7-8, 2018.
RIT has now won four straight games, all on the road, having scored 21 games over that stretch. The Tigers moved into a tie for fourth place in the Atlantic Hockey standings with 27 points. RIT is just one point out of third place and three from second.
Junior goaltender Christian Short (Vaughan, Ontario/Surrey Eagles) won his fourth straight decision and earned his second shutout of the season, stopping all 18 shots he faced.
Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals) dished out three assists, while Valenzuela added two assists. Powell is now just two points shy of 100 for his career at the university.
RIT out-shot Sacred Heart, 24-18. The Tigers were 1-for-6 on the power-play, while Sacred Heart was 0-for-4. Sacred Heart goaltender Brett Magnus made 18 saves.
“We were opportunistic and played smart with the lead to get the win,” said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. “Brownie (Erik Brown (Keene, Ontario/Kemptville 73’s)) had the big night offensively for us, Shorty (Christian Short (Vaughan, Ontario/Surrey Eagles)) made some big saves, and our special teams were very good.”
Brown tapped in a pass from Valenzuela off the rush 5:39 into the game for his 21st goal of the season. Abbott Girduckis (Belleville, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) also drew an assist on the goal. Right before the end of the period, with three seconds left, Brown slammed home a rebound after Magnus made the initial save on a shot by Powell on a 5-on-3 power-play. Adam Brubacher (Elmira, Ontario/Powell River Kings) also assisted on the goal.
Just 1:05 into the second period, Brown completed the natural hat-trick, slamming in a loose puck at the side of the net, after Magnus made the initial save on a shot by Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers), just after a power-play ended to make it 3-0.
Short had to come up with two huge saves, both on Kory Kennedy to preserve the 3-0 lead in the second period. First, Short got the pad across to rob Kennedy of what looked to be a sure goal on a 2-on-0, while Sacred Heart was on a power-play. Later in the period, Short stood his ground and robbed Kennedy on a partial breakaway.
Hamacher gave RIT more breathing room with his goal just before the halfway point of the third period. Shawn Cameron (Sherbrooke, Quebec/Cumberland Grads) deflected a Sacred Heart dump in to Dan Willett (Bayville, NY/Bloomington Thunder) at the RIT blueline. Willett fired a long pass to Hamacher, who got behind the Pioneers defense. Hamcher had his first shot stopped by Magnus, but buried his own rebound for his fourth goal of the year. Sacred Heart challenged that the play was offsides and after a long review, was deemed a good goal.
Brown completed his historic night just over three minutes later, one-timing a pass from Powell from the right circle that deflected off Valenzuela’s skate through the pads of goaltender Nathan Perry for his fourth goal of the night and 24th of the season.
Short and Tigers had to kill off a late penalty to preserve the shutout.
RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 23-6-2. The Tigers are now 12-3-1 all-time against Sacred Heart in Connecticut.
RIT and Sacred Heart wrap up the weekend and regular season series on Sunday afternoon from Ingalls Rink on the campus from Yale University at 3:05 p.m.
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