A day after losing to Air Force Academy 3-0, five RIT players found the back of the net to storm back and defeat the Falcons 5-3 in its final game of the regular season. Ten total players recorded points including four players who finished with multiple points.
Tied at three in the dying minutes of the third, senior defenseman Chris McKay netted his third of the year to push RIT to the finish line. Senior forward Shawn Cameron and junior forward Alden Dupuis collected assists on the game-winner. A minute later, Cameron buried the dagger on an empty net to finalize the score at 5-3.
Eight minutes into the third with a 2-2 score, freshman forward Caleb Moretz gave RIT its second lead of the game on the power-play. Freshman forward Luke Manning retied the score for the Falcons less than two minutes later.
The Tigers got themselves on the scoreboard three minutes into the second period to tie the game at one. Sophomore forward Will Calverley registered his 12th of the year on touches from sophomore forward Kobe Walker and junior defenseman Dan Willett. A minute and a half later, senior forward Ryan Kruper gave RIT its first lead of the game. Senior defenseman Adam Brubacher picked up his first of two assists on the play.
Air Force managed to tie the game on the power-play with less than four minutes remaining in the second.
Freshman forward Elijah Gonsalves and Calverley each added an assist while Dupuis finished with two. Junior goaltender Ian Andriano made 13 saves on 16 shots to earn his first win of the year.
With the win, RIT managed to steal the third seed from Army West Point in the final game of the regular season. The Black Knights entered the night with a 48-47 lead over RIT in the standings. They lost to American International College, the top team in the conference and dropped to fourth seed.
After their first round bye, the Tigers will their postseason on March 13-15 when they’ll host the highest remaining seed in a best-of-three series for a spot in the semifinals.
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