ROCHESTER, NY – Sophomore forward Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals) scored with 7:42 left in overtime to lift the fifth-seeded RIT men's hockey team (17-14-6) to a 2-1 win over No. 2 seed Air Force Academy (20-12-5) in the Atlantic Hockey Semifinal at Blue Cross Arena on Friday night. RIT, the defending league champions, will face top-seeded Robert Morris (24-10-4) in the Atlantic Hockey Championship on Saturday at 7:05 p.m.

Saturday's winner will earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Division I Tournament.

In the overtime, both teams had several great chances to win. RIT held the puck in the Air Force zone for an extended period of time, cycling the puck down low before Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) fed a perfect pass to Powell in the slot. With a defender quickly closing in, Powell one-timed a low hard shot past Air Force goaltender Shane Starrett off the left post and in for his team-leading 13th goal of the season. Danny Smith (Edmonton, Alberta/Sherwood Park Crusaders) also assisted on the goal.

Powell is currently the only active RIT player to have scored an overtime goal, with two. He also scored an overtime winner in the final game of the 2014-15 regular season against Mercyhurst. RIT improves to 7-3 all-time in overtime postseason games at the Division I level. It was also RIT's first overtime win of the 2015-16 season (1-2-6).

With 2:54 left in regulation, and RIT trailing 1-0, Andrew Miller (Chicago, IL/Chicago Steel) picked off an errant pass as Air Force was trying to clear the zone, walked into the slot and ripped a hard wrist shot over the glove of Starrett for his fourth goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1.

Junior goaltender Mike Rotolo (Rochester, NY/Cedar Rapids Roughriders) was sensational in net for the Tigers, stopping 36-of-37 shots to earn his seventh win of the season. He made several key saves throughout, stopping 28 shots after the first period. Rotolo has stopped 88-of-91 shots (.967 save percentage) in the postseason.

Starrett made 31 saves in defeat for the Falcons.

Air Force out-shot RIT, 37-33. The Falcons were 0-for-3 with the man-advantage, while RIT was scoreless on its lone power-play chance of the night.
"I thought it was a gutsy effort on our part, as we found a way to win," said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. "I thought we were sloppy at times and didn't skate very well, but we were able to advance."

Neither team scored in a quickly played defensive first period, with few quality chances on each side. Liam Kerins (Caledon, Ontario/North York Rangers) had RIT's best chance, getting free in the slot off a rush before firing a shot just wide.

Air Force took control in the second period, opening the scoring 12:03 into the period, as Evan Feno jammed home a rebound in front after the initial shot by Matt Koch was stopped by Rotolo.

Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) had a golden chance in the final seconds of the period, but his shot from the right circle off a rebound went off the right post.

In the third period, both teams had little in the way of scoring chances before play opened up around the halfway mark. Todd Skirving (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Sioux Falls Stampede) had a golden chance with 8:30 left, firing a point-blank shot from in close that Starrett stopped. Moments later, Miller spun and fired a backhander that Starrett stopped with the rebound coming to Powell, who was charging the net. Powell's shot was deflected by Starrett before hitting the crossbar and bouncing out.

Rotolo had to make his best save of the game with just over five minutes left, robbing Jordan Himley on a partial breakaway before stopping Evan Giesler on the rebound attempt in close.

Early in the overtime, RIT had a great chance to win it, as Gabe Valenzuela (Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers) sped around a Air Force defender but had his shot smothered by Starrett. Rotolo had to come up big with a series of big saves moments later, as Air Force put on the pressure.

Tonight marked the first time all season that RIT won when trailing after two periods and first time overall since Feb. 16, 2013 at Mercyhurst.

The Tigers are 7-4 all-time at Blue Cross Arena in the postseason, including a pair of wins last season to claim the 2015 Atlantic Hockey Championship. RIT has won seven straight Atlantic Hockey postseason games. RIT improves to 27-12 all-time in the postseason at the Division I level.

RIT finished 1-1-1 against Air Force this season, skating to a 2-2 tie at Cadet Ice Arena on Feb 5, while the Falcons earned a 4-0 win the next night. Air Force leads the all-time series between the two schools, 23-20-4, including a 21-17-4 mark in RIT's Division I era. The 42 meetings since 2005 is the most for RIT against a team in the Division I era. Both teams have three wins in the postseason against each other. Last year, RIT eliminated the Falcons in the Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinal series at the Gene Polisseni Center.

RIT and Saturday's opponent Robert Morris split the regular season series on Dec. 4-5 at the Gene Polisseni Center with Robert Morris winning 4-0 in the opener and RIT skating to a 6-3 win the next night.

"Robert Morris was the best team in our league during the season, but we are excited for the challenge," said Wilson. "It should be a great championship game.

It will be RIT's fifth appearance in the Atlantic Hockey Championship game and the second for Robert Morris. RIT won titles in 2010 and 2015, while Robert Morris won the 2014 championship.