Men's Hockey | 11/30/2013 5:59:00 PM

Box Score


MILFORD, CT – Freshman goaltender Mike Rotolo (Rochester, NY/Cedar Rapids Roughriders) made 38 saves to record his first career shutout, while four different players scored to lift the RIT men's hockey team (4-7-2, 3-3-0 AHA) to its third straight win, 4-0 over Sacred Heart University (4-10-0, 3-5-0 AHA) at the Milford Ice Pavilion on Saturday afternoon.

Rotolo was brilliant throughout, making 10 saves in the first period, 15 in the second, and 13 in the final frame for the victory. Rotolo is now 3-0-0 this season with a 2.00 goals against average and .938 save percentage.

Danny Smith (Edmonton, Alberta/Sherwood Park Crusaders), Dan Schuler (Webster, NY/Powell River Kings), Brad McGowan (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles), and Nolan Descoteaux (Dallas, TX/South Shore Kings) scored for the Tigers, who have tallied 15 goals over their last three games, all wins. McGowan added an assist for a two-point effort, while Ben Lynch (Blaine, MN/Lincoln Stars) and Mike Colavecchia (Maple, Ontario/Lindsay Muskies) dished out a pair of helpers.

Colavecchia now has seven points over his last three games and a team-high 16 points this season. Colavecchia has 16 points (8-8-16) in his last six games against the Pioneers, including a hat-trick on Jan. 14, 2012.

Sacred Heart out-shot RIT, 38-36. Vazzano stopped 32 shots in defeat. RIT was 2-for-6 with the man-advantage, and held Sacred Heart scoreless in four attempts, including 1:45 of a two-man advantage late in the first and early into the second period.

"I thought we were very sound defensively, our special teams were strong, and Mike (Rotolo) played his best game so far in net, which was great for us" said Wilson. "Our freshman class has really stepped for us and given us a needed boost of energy."

The Tigers scored the lone goal in the opening period and held a 13-10 edge in shots.

Just 2:52 into the contest, Smith out-muscled a Sacred Heart defender for the puck behind the net and beat Vazzano with a wrap around for his second goal of the year. McMullen and Andrew Miller (Chicago, IL/Chicago Steel) worked the puck down behind the net, where Smith was able to make the play. The assist was McMullen's first collegiate point.

RIT had a few other glorious chances to add to its early lead, but Vazzano was up to the task.

Rotolo was sharp as well in the opening period, making a handful of nice stops of his own, including three on a scramble in front where he was interfered with, but no call was made.

The Tigers would open the second period down two men for 1:37, but would do a tremendous job killing off both penalties, limiting Sacred Heart to nothing of quality.

Rotolo made 15 saves in the period, including several from point blank range. Rotolo had to make two early on a 2-on-1, robbing Jeff Carroll on the initial shot, and Erlich Doerksen, who followed up on the rebound. Moments later, he robbed Evan Jasper from point-blank, and later in the period, stopped Jasper once again on a 2-on-1.

Caleb Cameron (Sunridge, Ontario/Listowel Cyclones) had a glorious chance for the Tigers in front midway through the period, after a nifty setup by Anthony Hamburg (Phoenix, AZ/Omaha Lancers), but Vazzano was up to the task.

The Tigers would up their lead to 2-0 at the 11:25 mark, on the power-play, as Schuler jammed home a rebound in front for his sixth goal of the season. Greg Noyes (Lucan, Ontario/Salmon Arm Silverbacks) made a cross-ice pass to Colavecchia, who ripped a one-timer that Vazzano stopped. Schuler was right on the doorstep to score and extend his point-scoring streak to five games.

McGowan tallied a huge insurance marker for the Tigers into the third period, putting in a rebound off a shot from Colavecchia for his third goal of the season. Colavecchia fired a shot that Vazzano stopped, with the rebound batted out of the air by Ben Lynch (Blaine, MN/Lincoln Stars). Lynch found McGowan all alone in front for the tap-in attempt.

Descoteaux put the game away with his second goal of the season in the final moments on the power-play, ripping a blast from the point through traffic and in. Lynch and McGowan assisted on the goal.

RIT has a nine-game unbeaten streak (8-0-1) against Sacred Heart and is now 16-4-0 all-time against the Pioneers. The Tigers are out-scoring Sacred Heart, 44-12 over the unbeaten streak.

Yesterday, Noyes and Colavecchia combined for six points in a 5-2 RIT win.  Rotolo made 26 saves for the Tigers.

The Tigers return home for the month of December. Next up for the Tigers is a two-game series against AHA foe American International on Dec. 6-7 at Ritter Arena. Both games get underway at 7:05 p.m. RIT closes out the 2013 calendar year by playing in its first outdoor game against Niagara at Frontier Field in downtown Rochester as part of the "Frozen Frontier" on Saturday, Dec. 14.