ROCHESTER, NY – Caleb Cameron (Sundridge, Ontario/Listowel Cyclones) and Brady Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) scored 36 seconds apart with RIT goaltender Christian Short (Vaughan, Ontario/Surrey Eagles) pulled for the extra attacker, as the RIT men's hockey team (12-10-3, 12-5-3 Atlantic Hockey) rallied from two goals down in the final 1:10 to skate to a 2-2 draw against Holy Cross (13-9-3, 11-5-3 Atlantic Hockey) in front of 2,920 fans at the Gene Polisseni Center on Friday evening.

With the tie, RIT extended its unbeaten streak to six games (5-0-1) and is 8-1-1 over its last 10 games. The Tigers remain a point ahead of Holy Cross and two ahead of Air Force for second place in the league standings, two points behind idle Robert Morris.

RIT put on the pressure all evening, attempting an astounding 104 shots to 39 for Holy Cross, with the final shots on goal tally reading 44-22 in favor of the Tigers. Holy Cross goaltender Paul Berrafato and the Crusaders defensive unit were able to withstand the RIT offensive push for nearly the first 59 minutes of the contest, but RIT was able to push through and gain a huge point.

Down 2-0 in the final 90 seconds with Short on the bench, Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) chipped a pass off the boards in the neutral zone to Todd Skirving (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Sioux Falls Stampede), who came into the Crusaders zone with a full head of steam. Skirving fired a hard backhander from the right circle that Berrafato stopped, but the rebound came right to Cameron, who beat his man to the net and had nothing but an open cage to shoot at for his fifth goal of the season, making it 2-1 Crusaders.

RIT won the ensuing face-off and once again, Short came off for the extra attacker and the Tigers went to work in the Holy Cross zone, trying to generate offense to get the tying goal. After a few chances went wide, the puck came to Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) at the left wing wall. He whipped a pass around the boards to the opposite side to Mitchell, who fed Brady Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) in the high slot. Brady Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) one-timed a hard shot through traffic that eluded Berrafato with 34 seconds left to tie the game and send the Polisseni Center crowd into a frenzy.

RIT dominated the overtime session territorially, but could not get the winning goal. The Tigers out-shot Holy Cross 36-12 after the opening period. Overall, Holy Cross blocked 37 shots in addition to Berrafato's 42 saves.

Tonight marked the first time in program history that RIT played a full game without committing a penalty. Holy Cross was only whistled for one minor, a hooking call midway through the first period.

Mitchell dished out a pair of assists for the Tigers, moving into fourth place all-time in RIT's Division I era with 78 for his career. In goal, Short stopped 20 shots to move to 8-3-1 on the season. He has a 6-1-1 record over his last eight decisions.

Danny Lopez and Matt Vidal scored for the Crusaders, while Berrafato stopped a career-high 42 shots to be named the game's first star.

"This was a testament to our guys that we never quit tonight," said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. "It was a good, hard fought game, as I thought we battled throughout. This is another step in the right direction for us, but we will have to bear down tomorrow and do a few of the little things better to get the win."

Neither team scored in a tightly played first period, in which neither team generated a lot in the way of quality chances. Holy Cross held a 10-8 edge in shots on goal, despite RIT firing 31 shots towards the Crusaders net to just 16 for the visitors.

Valenzuela had RIT's best chance of the period with just under three minutes left, taking a feed in tight after some nifty work by Kerins, but Berrafato was the there to make the save. Short had to make two nice pad saves on Ryan Ferrill moments later.

Despite holding a 20-4 edge in shots during the second period, RIT found themselves down 1-0 after 40 minutes of play.

Lopez would give the Crusaders the lead 4:25 into the period, taking a drop feed from Mike Barrett just inside the RIT blue line, walk in and from the tip of the left face-off circle, fire a high wrist shot over the blocker of Short for his sixth goal of the season. Jake Bolton also assisted on the goal.

A few minutes later, Short would have to come up big to keep it 1-0, robbing Scott Pooley on a breakaway attempt. Pooley was all alone from the blue line in and tried to beat Short to the stick side, but the RIT goaltender held his ground to make a crucial save.

Just after Pooley's breakaway, Kerins would have a breakaway chance of his own, blocking a Holy Cross shot and coming in all alone on Berrafato. Kerins made a shoulder move and move to his forehand and looked to have Berrafato beat, but somehow the Holy Cross goaltender kept the puck out of the net.

From there, RIT held a distinct territorial advantage, but Berrafato and the Holy Cross defense, along with a few unlucky bounces kept it 1-0 Crusaders.

Valenzuela appeared to have tied the game at 1-1 midway through the period, whacking at a loose puck between the legs of Berrafato and getting it past him. The referee blew the play dead and signaled no goal and did not go to instant replay, so the game stayed 1-0 Crusaders.

RIT kept coming in the third period, but it was the Crusaders who scored to make it 2-0 with 5:27 left, as Brett Mulcahy took advantage of a turnover in the RIT zone and fed Vidal in the slot, who beat Short for his third goal of the season to make it 2-0 Crusaders.

RIT is now 24-12-6 all-time against Holy Cross and 20-7-6 at the Division I level.

The two teams conclude their regular season series on Saturday night from the Polisseni Center, starting at 7:05 p.m. Earlier on Saturday, RIT will hold its annual alumni game at 3 p.m. and will honor those in attendance throughout the evening.