By TIM IRVING
RIT men’s hockey team dropped three of four games on road trips to American International and Canisius and found themselves down 1-0 against Holy Cross at home on Friday night.
“We just stuck with it better, we didn’t get as down on ourselves like we had in a couple losses to Canisius, “ coach Wayne Wilson said after the Tigers scored three unanswered goals and held off a late rally to top the Crusaders 3-2.
The visitors scored at 12:21 on just their second shot on RIT goalie Kolby Matthews after RIT had dominated play including three power play opportunities.
With 2:25 to play in the first, the Tigers pinned themselves into the Crusaders zone, Dan Willet slid a pass to Gianfranco Cassaro for a shot from the left point and Will Calverley put in the rebound to tie the game.
“We knew our chances were gonna come and we were gonna bury them,” Calverley said of the equalizer. “It kept the energy and kept the momentum in our favor getting that first one.”
The second period went back and forth with Matthews, The Brick Wall, coming up big.
“That’s what the fans call him and it’s a good comparison because he’s been playing great for us back there, we feel safe having him back there,” Calverley said.
With 1:22 to play in the period, the teams 4-on-4, Cassaro worked his way off the side boards and shot. The puck bounced to Calverley and he put the Tigers up 2-1 heading to the third.
Midway through the third, the Tigers found themselves on the wrong side of a 5-on-3 but killed it off.
With 3:32 to play, Grady Hobbs came across the Holy Cross blue line and crossed with Carter Wilkie. The Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Month of October fired home his sixth goal of the year to create a cushion.
It turned out to be a big one as Holy Cross scored a power play goal with 34 seconds left with an extra skater to cut the lead to one.
“Being at home certainly helps out a little bit, unleash their energy and we had a good crowd tonight, “ Wilson said. Calverly added, “We had a couple of back-to-back road weekends and we didn’t perform the way we thought we should. Just to come home and have the crowd supporting us and to get that win was big for the momentum.”
The teams play again Saturday at 5:05 at the Gene Polisseni Center.
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