MILFORD, CT – Caleb Cameron (Sunridge, Ontario/Listowel Cyclones) and Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals) scored 30 seconds apart in the second period to erase a 1-0 deficit and lead the RIT men's hockey team (8-10-4, 7-5-4 AHC) a 3-1 win over Sacred Heart University (6-15-3, 5-10-3 AHC) in Atlantic Hockey action from the Milford Ice Pavilion on Friday evening. RIT now has a four-game unbeaten streak, its longest of the season.
 
Cameron tied the game with a power-play goal 14:39 into the second period and 30 seconds later; Powell would deflect in his first collegiate goal, which proved to be the game-winner.  Brad McGowan (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) would put the game away with a power-play goal with 13 seconds left to play.
 
In goal, Mike Rotolo (Rochester, NY/Cedar Rapids Roughriders) won his second straight start, making 24 saves to improve to 3-5-0 this season. He also improved to 3-0 all-time against the Pioneers with a 1.00 goals against average and .967 save percentage in three career starts.
 
Zach Luczyk scored Sacred Heart's lone goal, 4:49 into the second period to give them a 1-0 lead. In goal, Alex Vazzano was very good, stopping 39 of 42 RIT shots.
 
RIT out-shot Sacred Heart, 42-25, firing 14 shots on goal in each period. RIT killed off all five Sacred Heart power-play attempts and went 2-for-6 with the man-advantage.  It is just the second time this season that RIT has scored more than one power-play goal in a game.
 
"This was a big four point weekend for us," said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. "I thought we did a good job fighting through adversity tonight and played well for 60 minutes. The focus was going on the road and getting four points this weekend and we accomplished that."
 
RIT would control play in the first period, out-shooting Sacred Heart, 14-5, but Vazzano would keep the Tigers off the scoreboard.
 
The Tigers thought they got on the board early in the second period, as Matt Garbowsky (St. George, Ontario/Powell River Kings) beat Vazzano from the high slot for what he thought was his 16th goal of the season. Unfortunately for RIT, it was ruled that Vazzano was interfered with by Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs), who looked to be pushed into the Sacred Heart goaltender, who was well out of his crease, and ruled no goal.
 
Sacred Heart would take advantage at the 4:49 mark of the period, as Luczyk would complete a nice three-way passing play with Zach Sabatini and Mitch Nylen, beating Rotolo from the doorstep for his ninth goal of the season and a 1-0 Pioneers lead.
 
RIT's penalty-killing unit and Rotolo would keep it just 1-0, as Sacred Heart had two good chances to expand the lead with the man-advantage.
 
With 5:21 left in the second period, RIT would get on the board, as Cameron rifled home a shot from the high slot while the Tigers were on a power-play for his seventh goal of the season in 13 games to tie the game at 1-1. After a shot from Alex Perron-Fontaine (St. Mathieu de Beloeil, Quebec/Chilliwack Chiefs) whistled wide, a Sacred Heart player tried to clear the zone, but Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) was able to keep the puck in at the left point and feed Cameron at the right point. Cameron took a few strides in and blasted a well-placed shot through a slight screen and past Vazzano.
 
On the very next shift, RIT would get the game winner, as Powell deflected Brad Shumway (Lafayette, CO/Chicago Steel)'s point-shot in from the left side of the net past Vazzano for his first collegiate goal. Danny Smith (Edmonton, Alberta/Sherwood Park Crusaders) would also assist on the goal, setting up Shumway with a pass from the right side boards back to the point.
 
Powell is the first RIT player to have his first career goal also be a game-winner since teammate Alexander Kuqali (Pittsburgh, PA/Sioux City Musketeers), also against Sacred Heart on Dec. 7, 2012.
 
In the third period, Sacred Heart tried to mount big pressure, but Rotolo and the RIT defense held their ground and with just over a minute left, Sacred Heart took a penalty, putting the shorthanded for the remainder of the contest.
 
With 13 seconds left, McGowan would take a feed from Mitchell and bury his seventh goal of the season and 30th of his RIT career to close out the scoring. Garbowsky drew the second assist on the goal, giving him 28 points in 22 games.
 
All three players would extend their point-scoring streaks to four games on McGowan's goal.
 
Tonight was the fourth and final regular season meeting between the two schools this season, as the two teams met previously this season on Nov. 21-22 at the Gene Polisseni Center, with RIT winning 5-1 on Nov. 21 and Sacred Heart earning a 2-1 victory the next night. Last night, Cameron had a goal and an assist and goaltender Jordan Ruby (Tavistock, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) stopped a season-high 39 shots in a 4-1 RIT win.
 
RIT is 19-5-2 all-time against the Pioneers and 7-3-1 from the Milford Ice Pavilion. The Tigers have won or tied 12 of the last 13 meetings against Sacred Heart.
 
Tonight marked the second time this season when RIT earned a win when the opposition scored first (Niagara, 4-1 on Dec. 12). It was also RIT's first weekend sweep in AHC play on the road since Nov. 29-30, 2013, also against Sacred Heart.
 
The Tigers go right back on the road next weekend, as they travel to AHC foe Bentley University for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday, both starting at 7:05 p.m.