MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Despite a career-high 46 saves from goaltender Mike Rotolo (Rochester, NY/Cedar Rapids Roughriders), the RIT men's hockey team (5-10-3) dropped a heart breaker in overtime, falling to No. 8 University of Minnesota (10-5-1) in overtime by a score of 3-2 in front of 9,790 fans at Mariucci Arena in the consolation game of the Mariucci Classic on Saturday evening.

In overtime, RIT started with a power-play and were unable to score, as Rotolo made two big saves on a 3-on-2 rush moments after the man-advantage ended. Halfway through the overtime, RIT looked to have an easy clear out of its own end, but coughed the puck up at its own blue line. Mike Reilly stole the puck and fed Hudson Fasching, who fired a shot that Rotolo turned aside, but Kyle Rau crashed the net and backhanded the rebound home from the doorstep with 2:26 left, giving Minnesota the win.

Down 2-1 with just over seven minutes left in regulation, Brandon Thompson (Vancouver, British Columbia/Handsworth) took a long breakout feed from Alexander Kuqali (Pittsburgh, PA/Sioux City Musketeers) on the left wing, came into the Gophers zone and from a tight angle with a ton of speed, fired a highlight-reel worthy wrist shot over Minnesota goaltender Adam Wilcox, just under the crossbar to tie the game at 2-2. Michael Holland (Cambridge, MA/Chicago Steel) also assisted on the goal, Thompson's second of the season.

From there, both teams pushed for the win. Rotolo made a great save on Travis Boyd from the left circle, flashing a quick glove hand with 1:56 left, as Minnesota was on the power-play. RIT's Caleb Cameron (Sunridge, Ontario/Listowel Cyclones) had two chances go wide in the final minute, one that hit the outside of the net. RIT had a chance right at the start of overtime, as Brad McGowan (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) had the puck on his stick with Wilcox out of position at the side of the net, but had it poked away by a Minnesota defenseman.

Dan Schuler (Webster, NY/Powell River Kings) also scored a first period goal for the Tigers, his first of the year. Despite the loss, Rotolo was sensational in net, stopping 46 shots, as Minnesota out-shot the Tigers, 49-22. He made 15 saves in the first period, 13 in the second, 15 in the third, and three in overtime.

Vinni Lettieri and Mike Reilly also scored for the Gophers, while Wilcox made 20 saves for his 61st career win.

RIT held Minnesota, the nation's top power-play to one goal in six chances with the man-advantage. The Tigers were 0-for-3 on the power-play.

"The result is a tough pill to swallow, but I was really happy with our effort tonight, as we battled really hard," said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. "Minnesota is a really skilled team, but I thought we executed our game plan well and kept a lot of their shots to the perimeter.

Minnesota got on the board first at the 3:45 mark of the opening period, as Lettieri got in behind the RIT defense and tipped a shot from Christian Isackson over Rotolo. Taylor Cammarata took a big hit at the line to keep the puck in RIT's end, setting up the goal.

Minnesota nearly made it 2-0 moments later on a scrum in front, but the puck came out to Schuler, who went around a player at the RIT blueline and came in on a 2-on-1. Thinking shot the whole way, Schuler cut to the middle and beat Wilcox to the far side for his first goal of the year, tying the game at 1-1.

Rotolo was excellent the rest of the period for the Tigers, making several big stops to keep it tied. He robbed Rau twice from in twice, the second, a dazzling pad save on a Golden Gophers power-play. He then robbed Sam Warning on a tip-in attempt in tight.

The RIT goaltender received a little help from his friends on a Gophers power-play later in the period, as Justin Kloos looked to have an open net after a shot stopped by Rotolo came to the side of the net. Fortunately for RIT, Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) and McGowan were there to sweep the puck off the line and out.

RIT had two really great chances before the period ended, as McGowan rifled one off the crossbar in the slot off a nifty feed from Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs), while Mark Golberg (Ottawa, Ontario/Cumberland Grads) made a nice cross-ice feed to Brad Reid (Delta, British Columbia/Coquitlam Express) who was all alone in front, but the puck just hopped off his stick.

Minnesota would get the only second period goal, as Rotolo was once again strong in net, turning aside 13 Gopher shots.

Mike Reilly would give Minnesota a 2-1 lead on the power-play at the 6:32 mark of the period, firing a hard shot from the point off Rotolo and in after sustained pressure in the RIT zone. Travis Boyd and Rau would assist on the goal, Reilly's fifth of the year.

RIT would keep coming back, making Wilcox have to come up big later in the period. The Minnesota goaltender made a great sliding save on McGowan from the left circle on a RIT power-play and then flashed a quick glove hand to rob Golberg on a rush from the left circle.

Rotolo came up big with a nice pad save on Lettieri in front and helped RIT weather a Minnesota flurry later in the frame, as the Gophers would have a 30-11 edge in shots after 40 minutes of play.

Holland had an incredible chance for the Tigers with 13 minutes left in regulation, going hard to the net on the rush and redirecting a feed from Cameron, but Minnesota netminder Adam Wilcox made an even better save to keep it 2-1.

Tha crowd of 9,790 was the 10th largest the Tigers have played in front of in program history. The all-time series against Minnesota is now even at 1-1. The last time RIT played at the Mariucci Classic, they shocked the college hockey world by defeating Minnesota 4-3 on Dec. 28, 2007, while dropping the championship game to eventual national champion Boston College  the next day. In that win over Minnesota, Matt Smith scored his second goal of the game to snap a 3-3 tie with 11 minutes left in regulation. Mike Janda, Sean Murphy also scored for RIT, while Louis Menard made 28 saves.
 
Yesterday, RIT fell to No. 9 UMass Lowell, 7-3 in the first game of the Mariucci Classic, while Minnesota lost to No. 18 Merrimack, 3-2. Lowell would win the Mariucci Classic Championship, scoring two late third period goals to knock off Merrimack, 3-1 on Saturday.

The Tigers will play their final 16 regular season contests against Atlantic Hockey Conference opponents. RIT finished its non-conference schedule with a 1-5-0 mark.

RIT is back in action on Friday, Jan. 9 and Saturday, Jan. 10, as Atlantic Hockey foe American International comes to the Gene Polisseni Center for a pair of games, both getting underway at 7:05 p.m.

"We will have to be ready to go next weekend against American International," said Wilson. "It will be great to be in front of our home fans and get the second half of the season rolling."