A week after sweeping Bentley University, RIT fell to Niagara, 4-1. It was the Tigers’ first loss in three meetings to their Atlantic Hockey rivals this season. Freshman forward Andrew Rinaldi netted his 10th goal of the season, but Niagara ran with an early lead to pin RIT with its first loss in six games.
Junior defenseman Jared Brandt initiated scoring 12:14 into the first on touches from junior forwards Jack Billings and Eric Cooley. Sophomore forward Jon Hill doubled the Purple Eagles’ lead 1:35 into the second period.
Five minutes later, Rinaldi got the Tigers on the board with a wrist shot through traffic. Sophomore forward Kobe Walker and junior forward Bryson Traptow gathered their 10th and ninth point of the season, respectively.
Senior defenseman Ryan Cook restored Niagara’s two-goal lead a few minutes after RIT’s only tally. Senior forward Ben Sokay added another with 12:10 left in the third period.
Junior forward Eric Cooley recorded three assists and freshman netminder Chad Veltri made 29 saves on 30 shots for his sixth win of the season.
For RIT, junior goalie Logan Drackett turned away 22-of-26 shots in the loss.
The two squads will complete their weekend series Saturday, Feb. 22nd at RIT’s Gene Polisseni Center. Opening puck drop scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Leave a Reply