ROCHESTER, NY – For the second straight night, the RIT men's hockey team (12-10-4, 12-5-3 Atlantic Hockey skated to a draw against Atlantic Hockey foe Holy Cross (13-9-4, 11-5-4 Atlantic Hockey). Saturday, RIT extended its unbeaten streak to seven games (5-0-2) with a 3-3 draw against the Crusaders in front of 2,994 fans at the Gene Polisseni Center.

The two teams combined for six goals over the opening 31:44 of the contest, but despite a plethora of chances from each side, went scoreless over the final 33:16.

RIT had two excellent chances early in the third period, as Abbott Girduckis (Belleville, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) had a swipe at a rebound with an open net, but Holy Cross goaltender Paul Berrafato was somehow able to get back and keep the puck from going over the line. Moments later, Greg Amlong (O'Fallon, MO/UMass Lowell) wound up and unleashed a big slap shot that went off the right post and out.

Holy Cross had two great chances seconds apart late in regulation. With 1:11 left, RIT goaltender Christian Short (Vaughan, Ontario/Surrey Eagles) unleased a quick glove to rob Brett Mulcahy from the high slot. Second later off the ensuing face-off, he made another great glove save on Karl Beckman.

RIT out-shot Holy Cross 5-0 and attempted all 11 shots on the net in the overtime, but were unable to get the winner. In the final 30 seconds, a frantic scene ensued in front of the Holy Cross net, with RIT getting two incredible chances. Gabe Valenzuela (Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers) wheeled from behind the net and fired a shot through the goal mouth that went off the skate of Liam Kerins (Caledon, Ontario/North York Rangers) and looked to be heading into the goal, but Berrafato pushed it away. The puck squirted to Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) at the left point, who then walked in and got a shot off through a maze of bodies that Berrafato smothered.

The Tigers entered the evening second in the league standings, a point ahead of Holy Cross and it remained that way. RIT is now a point behind Robert Morris for first place. and a point up on Holy Cross and Air Force.
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Defensemen Brady Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers), Matt Abt (Leduc, Alberta/Whitecourt Wolverines ), and Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) scored for the Tigers. Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) and Valenzuela added assists. Mitchell finished the month with 15 points, as RIT went 7-1-2 in January.

In goal, Short stopped 21 shots. He is now 8-3-2 this season and finished 6-1-2 in January.

Castan Sommer scored a pair of goals for the Crusaders, while Mike Barrett also scored. In net, Paul Berrafato made 33 saves.

Overall, RIT out-shot Holy Cross, 36-24. RIT was 1-for-2 with the man-advantage, while Holy Cross was 0-for-3.

"I thought this was a great series for both teams, and a good barometer to see where we are at," said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. "We pushed hard and wanted to get the goal in overtime, but if we continue to the play this way, we will see good results."

For the second straight night, Holy Cross scored first, but unlike last night, RIT responded right away, scoring before the end of the first period to lead 2-1 after 20 minutes of play.

Sommer got the Crusaders on the board first, 7:41 into the game right after a power-play expired, as he collected a loose puck right in front of a lunging Short, after Spencer Trapp put a rolling puck to the net. Sommer was able to slip the puck between Short's pads for his fifth goal of the season.

RIT would answer 2:56 late on a power-play of its own, as Brady Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) was the recipient of a pretty passing play for his sixth goal of the season. Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) would feed Valenzuela at the left side boards. Valenzuela sent a pass to Mitchell on the goal line to the left of Berrafato, who then promptly fired a cross ice feed to Brady Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers), who was cutting to the goal. Norrish one-timed the feed on the backdoor feed past Berrafato for the goal.

Abt would give RIT its first lead of the weekend with 2:48 left in the opening period, intercepting a clearing pass just inside the Holy Cross blueline, taking one step in and firing a rocket of a slap shot over the blocker of Berrafato into the top corner of the net for his second goal of the season.

Holy Cross would regain the lead with two quick goals midway through the second period before RIT answered right back, as the two teams headed to the second intermission tied at 3-3.

The Crusaders would even the game at 2-2, 7:28 into the period, as a RIT turnover at the Holy Cross blueline and a line change would lead to a 2-on-0 rush. Michael Laffin would come in alone and feed Sommer just to the right of Short. The RIT goaltender pushed across and almost made a miraculous save, but the puck just trickled in for Sommer's second tally of the game.

Barrett would take a feed from T.J. Moore nearly three minutes later and whistle a shot from the high slot past Short to give the Crusaders their first lead of the night, 3-2.

RIT would answer right back, as Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) made an incredible individual play, picking up a puck at his own blue line, sprinting towards the Holy Cross line, intentionally chipping a pass off the back boards hoping to beat the Crusaders to the puck. Not only did he do that, but Berrafato missed the carom, leaving Norrish with a wide open net to tie the game at 3-3.

Last night, RIT scored two goals in a span of 36 seconds late in regulation to erase a 2-0 deficit and skate to a 2-2 draw against the Crusaders. Caleb Cameron (Sundridge, Ontario/Listowel Cyclones) and Brady Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) scored for RIT, while Berrafato had 42 saves for Holy Cross.

RIT is now 24-12-6 all-time against Holy Cross and 20-7-6 at the Division I level. This weekend marked the only two regular season meetings between the two schools this season.

RIT is back on the road next weekend for a pair of road contests at league foe Air Force. Both Friday and Saturday's game at Cadet Ice Arena get underway at 9:05 p.m. EST. RIT is a point ahead of Air Force in the league standings, as just two points separate the top four teams.