COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – The RIT men's hockey team (2-2-0, 1-0-0 AHA) opened up Atlantic Hockey Association play by rolling to a resounding 5-1 win over Air Force Academy (1-4-0, 1-2-0 AHA) in front of 2,319 fans at steamy Cadet Ice Arena on Friday evening.

Five different players scored for the Tigers. Andrew Miller (Chicago, IL/Chicago Steel), playing in his first game of the season, recorded his first multiple-point effort of his career with a goal and an assist. Linemate Brandon Thompson (Vancouver, British Columbia/Handsworth) and junior Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) also had a goal and an assist. Matt Garbowsky (St. George, Ontario/Powell River Kings) and Garrett McMullen (Churchville, NY/Trail Smoke Eaters) also scored for RIT, while Matt Abt (Leduc, Alberta/Whitecourt Wolverines ) dished out a career-best two assists.

Freshmen Max Mikowski (Cheekotwaga, NY/Buffalo Jr. Sabres) and Mark Golberg (Ottawa, Ontario/Cumberland Grads) recorded their first career points, both drawing assists on third period goals.

Tonight was the 500th game at RIT for head coach Wayne Wilson. He is now 284-167-49 in his 16th season with the Tigers.

RIT out-shot Air Force, 31-21, holding the Falcons to just 11 shots over the final 40 minutes. In net, RIT goaltender Mike Rotolo (Rochester, NY/Cedar Rapids Roughriders) was excellent, stopping 20-of-21 shots, including a handful of key saves late in the second and early in the third.

RIT was 1-for-6 with the man-advantage, while Air Force was 0-for-4. Air Force goaltender Chris Truehl took the loss, stopping 20-of-24 shots before being replaced with 17:09 left by Connor Girard, who made six saves.

"I thought everyone played well; it was a really good effort tonight," said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. "We scored some timely goals and did a really good job limiting Air Force's chances. Tommy (Brandon Thompson (Vancouver, British Columbia/Handsworth)) getting that first goal really got us going, and Mike (Rotolo) was great back there (in goal) when we needed him."

The Tigers scored a goal in the first two minutes and last two seconds of the opening period, sandwiched around an Air Force tally to lead 2-1 after 20 minutes of play.

Just 1:48 in, an errant Air Force shot caromed off the back boards and came right to Miller at the right side boards in his own zone. He quickly fired a pass to Thompson in the neutral zone, who came into the Air Force end with Golberg on a 2-on-1. Thinking shot all the way, Thompson wired a wrist shot from the right circle over the shoulder of Truehl for his first goal of the season, making it 1-0 Tigers.

Air Force would answer back at the 4:31 mark, asChad Demers deposited a feed from Cole Gunner in front past Rotolo for his second goal of the season. Gunner was behind the net and made a nifty pass to Demers, who was left alone in tight.

RIT had plenty of good chances later in the period, including one by Brad McGowan (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) in tight. Thompson just missed his second of the period from the slot on a point-blank chance.

With just 2.6 seconds left in the period, Garbowsky ripped a shot from the right circle off the right post and in for his second goal in as many games to give RIT the 2-1 lead. RIT kept the puck in the Air Force zone for a good 20 seconds, as Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) fired a pass to Matt Abt (Leduc, Alberta/Whitecourt Wolverines ) at the left point. Abt fired a shot that was blocked, but the rebound came right back to him. The freshman defenseman made a nifty cross-ice pass to Garbowsky, who fired it home for the big goal.

Rotolo came up with a handful of big saves in the second to keep RIT in the lead, including a one on a point-blank chance by Erik Baskin with just under eight minutes left in the period. He also made a big save on George Michalke moments later, while the Falcons had the Tigers hemmed in their own zone for an extended period.

Right before the end of RIT's third power-play, Mitchell won a face-off cleanly back to Michael Holland (Cambridge, MA/Chicago Steel), who fed Abt at the opposite point. Abt fired a low shot that Mitchell, going to the net, was able to tip past Truehl for his first of the season with 1:41 left in the period, giving RIT a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes of play.

The Tigers played an excellent third period with the lead, limiting Air Force to mainly shots from the perimeter and added a pair of insurance goals.

At the 2:51 mark, McMullen crashed the net and deflected a centering pass from Brad Reid (Delta, British Columbia/Coquitlam Express) for his first goal of the season to make it 4-1 Tigers. Max Mikowski (Cheekotwaga, NY/Buffalo Jr. Sabres) also assisted on the goal for his first collegiate point.

That goal chased Truehl, as Connor Girard replaced him in net. Just 1:40 later, Miller scored his first of the year and fourth of his career, taking a feed from Thompson in front and sweeping a shot past a diving Girard. Golberg also assisted on the goal, the first of his collegiate career.

Tonight marked the first time in 10 trips to Air Force since moving to Air Force in 2005 that RIT was able to win on the first night of a one or two-game series. RIT has fared much better on the second night, going 3-2-2. The Tigers have now won two straight at Cadet Ice Arena.

The four-goal margin of victory was the largest ever for the Tigers over Air Force in 41 all-time meetings.

Air Force leads the all-time series between the two schools, 21-17-3. The teams met in the 2011 and 2012 AHA Championship games and combined to win the last six of the last eight league titles. Since the start of the 2005-06 season, RIT is 14-19-3 against Air Force.
 
The two teams wrap up their regular season series on Saturday night at Cadet Ice Arena, with the opening face-off scheduled for 9:05 p.m.