ROCHESTER, NY – Jake Hamacher (Corona, CA/Dubuque Fighting Saints) and Regan Seiferling (Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) scored third period goals to break a 2-2 tie and lift the RIT men's hockey team  (11-9-3, 9-7-3 AHA) to a 4-2 win over Army West Point (8-11-3, 7-6-3 AHA) at the Gene Polisseni Center Friday night.

Hamacher gave RIT the lead for good just 1:23 into the third period, grabbing a loose puck at the side of the Army net after a giveaway and sliding a shot between the legs of goaltender Jared Dempsey, who had gone for the poke check. The goal was Hamacher's eighth of the season.

Seiferling scored his first collegiate goal 6:08 into the period, converting his own rebound after taking a drop pass from Gabe Valenzuela (Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers) in the slot. Dempsey made the initial save, but Seiferling slammed in the rebound from the side of the net to make it 4-2 Tigers.

RIT goaltender Ian Andriano (Barrie, Ontario/Ottawa Jr. Senators) made his first start of the season and earned his first win since Jan. 27, 2018, stopping 32 of 34 shots. He stopped all 12 shots he faced in the third period and 31 of his final 32 shots in the win.

The line of Valenzuela, Abbott Girduckis (Belleville, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) and Erik Brown (Keene, Ontario/Kemptville 73's) combined for 17 shots on goal and eight points in the win. Valenzuela tied a career-high with three points on a goal and two assists, while Girduckis added three assists and Brown tallied a goal and an assist.

Michael Wilson and Zach Evancho scored for Army in the loss. Dempsey made 27 saves in goal.

Army out-shot RIT, 34-31. The Tigers were 1-for-3 on the power-play, while holding Army scoreless in two attempts with the man-advantage. The Black Knights entered the night ranked third nationally on the power-play.

"Winning the third period was something we emphasized coming into the weekend," said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. "I thought our top line responded with a great game. Overall, we played well and I was happy with Ian (Andriano), who got stronger as the game went on."

The two teams traded goals 35 seconds apart early in the opening period. Brown opened the scoring just 3:48 into the contest for the Tigers, taking a feed from Girduckis in the neutral zone, gliding into the Army zone and firing a perfectly placed wrist shot from the left circle off the right post and in for his team-best 11th goal of the season.

Army would respond on the next shift, as Wilson slammed in a rebound after Andriano made the initial save on a long shot by Marshall Plunkett.

Andriano was called upon to make two key saves from point-blank range moments later, first on Trevor Fidler and next on Brendan Soucie.

Girduckis had a golden chance to put RIT back up a goal midway through the first period on a power-play, but Dempsey got just enough of the backhand in front to deflect it off the crossbar and out. Brown had two golden chances all alone in front that Dempsey denied later in the period.

RIT would retake the lead just after the halfway mark of the second period, as Valenzuela jammed in a loose puck in front on a power-play after Brown came out from behind the net and had a chance poked away. The goal was Valenzuela's eighth of the season.

Evancho knotted the game up at 2-2 just under three minutes later, firing a shot from the high slot off the rush past Andriano for his eighth goal of the season.

Andriano made a great save right after on a breakaway attempt from Taylor Maruna to keep it 2-2. Dempsey robbed Alden Dupuis (Edmonton, Alberta/Bonnyville Pontiacs) on a rebound chance moments before the second period ended.

RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 20-3-6. The Tigers are now 19-1-4 against the Black Knights over the last 24 meetings, out-scoring them 91-45 over that stretch.

RIT and Army West Point wrap up the weekend series on Saturday night from the Polisseni Center at 5:05 p.m. It is free student ticket night for RIT students (one per student ID).