SPRINGFIELD, MA – The RIT men's hockey team (2-4-1, 2-0-0 AHC) exploded for five first period goals en route to its second straight win, 6-2 over host American International (0-8-0, 0-3-0 AHC) at the Olympia Ice Center on Saturday night.
 
Twelve different players had at least a point for the Tigers. Liam Kerins (Caledon, Ontario/North York Rangers) scored his first two collegiate goals and added an assist, while Mark Golberg (Ottawa, Ontario/Cumberland Grads) recorded a career-high three points on a goal and two assists. Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) added a goal and an assist, while Caleb Cameron (Sundridge, Ontario/Listowel Cyclones) recorded a pair of helpers. Gabe Valenzuela (Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers) and Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) also scored for the Tigers.
 
RIT goaltender Christian Short (Vaughan, Ontario/Surrey Eagles) picked up his first collegiate win, stopping 17 shots.
 
Jackson Dudley and Derek Henderson scored for American International, while Johno May and Shawn McBride had two assists apiece. In goal, Alex Murray stopped 21 of 27 shots.
 
RIT tied a Division I team record by taking just one penalty, a too many men on the ice call with 12:45 left in regulation. RIT was 1-for-3 with the man-advantage, while killing off AIC's lone power-play attempt.
 
The Tigers, after scoring five times on 13 shots in the first period, mustered just 14 shots on goal the rest of the way. Overall, RIT out-shot American International, 27-19. It is the first time RIT has allowed less than 20 shots in back-to-back games since March 12-13, 2010 vs. Connecticut.
 
"I thought we played a great first period, but shut it down for the final two periods, which we can't do as the year goes on," said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. "It was nice to get four points to start league play."
 
RIT continued its strong play from Friday night, tallying five times over the first 20 minutes to take a commanding 5-1 lead into the locker room.
 
RIT jumped on top just 1:16 into the contest, as Mitchell was the recipient off a cross crease feed from Skirving that bounced off Powell right to the senior captain at the side of the net. Mitchell made no mistake in burying the shot past Murray for his first goal of the year. An odd-man rush set up the play as Skirving was stopped by Murray seconds before.
 
The Tigers would score twice in a span of 1:14 to take a 3-0 lead before the game was 12 minutes old. At the 10:09 mark, Valenzuela cleaned up a big rebound in front off a shot from Alexander Kuqali (Pittsburgh, PA/Sioux City Musketeers) that Murray could not clean up for his second goal of the year.
 
Kerins would be the recipient of a nice pass from Golberg from behind the net, crashing the net and one-timing a shot past Murray foe his first collegiate tally. Alex Perron-Fontaine (St. Mathieu de Beloeil, Quebec/Chilliwack Chiefs) would also assist on the goal.
 
After AIC cut the RIT lead to 3-1 on Dudley's second goal of the year, RIT would respond by scoring twice in a span of 24 seconds to go up 5-1. Nine seconds into a power-play, Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) would one-time a blast from the right face-off circle off a pass from Mitchell to put RIT up 4-1. On the ensuing shift, Caleb Cameron (Sundridge, Ontario/Listowel Cyclones) would create a turnover behind the Yellow Jackets net, kick the puck to Kerins, who then found Golberg all alone in front for the tap-in goal to make it 5-1.
 
RIT played an uncharacteristically sloppy second period, mustering just four shots on goal, as AIC scored the only goal of the frame to make it a 5-2 contest after 40 minutes of play.
 
In the third, RIT tallied the only goal, as Kerins potted his second of the game with 5:55 left in regulation, jamming home a rebound into the open net after Cameron hit the post in front off a perfect feed from Golberg.
 
Golberg now has seven points (2-5-7) over his last three games. He had 11 points in his first 40 career contests.
 
Tonight's meeting was the first of four this season between the two schools. Last night, the Tigers defeated AIC by a score of 4-2. Four different players scored for RIT, including Abbott Girduckis (Belleville, Ontario/Wellington Dukes), who tallied his first collegiate goal.
 
American International travels to the Gene Polisseni Center for a pair of games on Feb. 12-13, 2016.
 
RIT is now 27-3-3 all-time against the Yellow Jackets, including a 24-3-2 mark since the 2005-06 season. The Tigers have a 14-game unbeaten streak against American International dating back to the 2011-12 season. RIT has outscored AIC 55-21 during that span.
 
The Tigers are right back in action next weekend, as they travel to Army West Point for a pair of contests. Both games on Nov. 6-7 from Tate Rink get underway at 7:05 p.m.