By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — It has become a tradition for the Rochester Institute of Technology men’s hockey team to hand out “team” awards in the dressing room following every victory.
An orange, tiger-striped sport coat goes to the player of the game, oversized tiger paws are given for “silky mitts” and the hardest worker gets a hard hat.
So after Saturday evening’s 4-2 victory over Niagara University when it came time to hand out The Jacket – something definitely not found at Adrian Jules Custom Clothier – Will Moore was an obvious choice.
The sophomore winger scored what became the winning goal in the second period, then hit an empty net in the final minute as RIT avenged Friday’s 4-1 loss at Niagara.
Moore wasn’t so sure he was deserving, though. He was still lamenting his two first-period slashing penalties – taken just 6:16 apart – that could have cost the Tigers dearly.
But Moore made sure his stick was used to create offense the rest of the night. His scored a slick short-handed goal off a two-on-one for a 3-1 lead 6:49 into the second period, then worked to gain the center red line and fight off a defender before hit the open-net bullseye with 31.6 seconds remaining.
“When the guys gave him the player of the game, the first thing he did was thank the penalty killers and thank Kuba (goalie Jakub Krbecek),” Tigers coach Matt Thomas said.
Indeed, Moore knew his teammates had bailed him out.
“It was a tough start personally, I took two bad penalties,” he said. “I was fortunate with Kuba and the PK, they got two needed kills.”
He went to work in the second period, intent on making a difference, and did so first as a penalty killer. He took the puck in the neutral zone and raced away on right wing one-on-one.
But as Moore moved into the circle in the Niagara zone, he found Caleb Elfering racing up ice to join the play. Moore passed into the high slot for Elfering, who made an immediate return pass that Moore one-timed between the legs of goalie Charles-Edward Gravel.
“Another lucky five-hole goal,” he said.
Said Thomas: “We don’t see those types of plays from him a ton but when he shoots the puck it squeaks in. He has a knack of finding the net.”
Most of time, Thomas said, it’s from gritty work near the goal mouth.
“I don’t think he’s an overly creative offensive type of player but he has elite net-front presence,” Thomas said.
That’s a big reason that, as a freshman, Moore finished second on the Tigers in goals (with 11) and fifth in scoring (17 points).
While he doesn’t set personal benchmarks for production, he does strive to be “a guy making a difference.”
That was very much the mantra for the entire team on Saturday after a less-than-stellar performance on Friday.
“Guys wanted to be better, they didn’t like the way they showed up last night,” Thomas said.
RIT took an instant lead, with Matthew Mania scoring just 41 seconds into the game. Niagara, however, tied it only 2:11 later on a goal by Theo Lemieux.
A slick between-the-legs pass by Matthew Wang set up Julian Demiglio’s first collegiate goal for a 2-1 RIT lead 2:55 into the second period. Moore then extended the lead with his short-handed goal.
Rochester native Adam Gionta, the 18-year-old son of former NHL star Brian Gionta, scored his first NCAA goal 1:20 into the third period to slice the Tigers lead to 3-2 but the Tigers held on until Moore’s clinching empty-net goal to the delight of the Corner Crew at the Gene Polisseni Center.
The next two weeks will provide a chance for the Tigers to make early season statements. They are at UMass-Amherst (ranked 10th going into the season) next weekend and then host No. 3 powerhouse Michigan State in the annual Brick City Homecoming game at 7 p.m. Oct. 17 at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.
Moore, however, said the Tigers don’t see playing ranked opponents as a measuring stick.
“I think we know as a team we’re capable of beating anyone,” Moore said.
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