Courtesy of RITAthletics.com
TEMPE, Ariz. – RIT junior forward Cody Laskosky totaled two goals and an assist while junior goaltender Kolby Matthews made 32 saves as the No. 19/20 Tigers defeated host Arizona State, 5-3, Saturday.
RIT trailed, 2-0, early in the second period and later, 3-2, early in the third before finishing with three-unanswered goals to complete the two-game sweep of the Sun Devils following Friday’s 5-1 victory.
Arizona State took advantage of a RIT miscue behind the Tiger net with 1:42 on the clock to score the lone goal of the first period.
The Sun Devils intercepted a neutral zone pass and finished a 2-on-1 break for a 2-0 lead with 17:46 left in the second period.
RIT tied the game with similar goals during a four-minute stretch to finish the period. Laskosky re-directed a long-distance shot from the right point by junior defenseman Dimitri Mikrogiannakis with 7:17 on the clock, before graduate student forward Andrew Petrucci tipped another Mikrogiannkis drive from the top of the zone into the ASU net with 3:32 remaining.
Arizona State finished an odd-man rush to retake the lead 27 seconds in to the third, but sophomore forward Tanner Andrew cleaned up a loose puck on the Sun Devil crease 18 seconds later to retie the game, 3-3, with 19:15 left in regulation.
RIT took its first lead of the game after senior forward Calvon Boots dug a rebound off the back of the Arizona State goaltender’s pads and scored with 16:40 on the clock.
Matthews held the ASU scoreless the rest of the way, totaling 15 saves in the third period, while Laskosky tacked on an empty-net tally with 22 seconds left to put the game out of reach.
Sophomore forward Carter Wilkie logged his 17th and 18th assists of the season to eclipse the 17 he had a season ago on his way to Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Year honors. He also had a goal and two assists in Friday night’s victory for a team-high five-point weekend.
Andrew scored a goal for the second-straight night and now has six tallies this winter.
Matthews made his fourth start of the season and tied his season high for saves. He also stopped 32 shots opposite visiting Princeton (Nov. 26).
Graduate student defenseman Spencer Berry blocked four shots after also knocking down three on Friday. He entered the weekend tied for 11th in the nation in blocked shots and currently has 51 this season.
Mikrogiannakis registered his first two assists of the season for his first career multi-point game.
RIT had fallen in all six previous meetings with Arizona State prior to this weekend’s sweep.
RIT finished the non-conference portion of the 2022-23 schedule with a 4-4-0 record, marking the fourth-consecutive season the Tigers finished with a .500 non-league record. The four wins also tied the Division I-era program record for most non-conference victories in a season.
Tiger head coach Wayne Wilson coached his 800th career game, becoming the 48th coach in NCAA men’s hockey history to achieve the milestone. He currently also ranks 41st in career wins with a 426-296-78 record over the last 24 seasons behind the RIT bench.
Senior defenseman Gianfranco Cassaro played his 100th collegiate game, joining senior forward Caleb Moretz, Berry and senior defenseman Ryan Nicholson in achieving the feat this season.
WHAT’S NEXT
RIT continues its current five-game road trip with a pair of Atlantic Hockey games at Holy Cross next Friday and Saturday (Jan. 27-28). Faceoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. both nights.
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