ROCHESTER, N.Y. – RIT senior forward Shawn Cameron (Sherbrooke, Quebec/Cumberland Grads) scored his eighth goal of the season, but it was No. 13 UMass-Lowell scoring three-straight goals to break a third-period tie en route to a 6-4 victory over the host Tigers, Friday, at the Polisseni Center.
The River Hawks (12-4-4) took a 3-2 lead with 30 seconds left in the second period, but RIT (10-8-3) sophomore forward Jake Joffe (Toronto, Ontario/Toronto Jr. Canadiens) tied the score with 15:29 left in regulation. UMass-Lowell responded with its decisive run over the next 10 minutes to put the game out of reach.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- RIT got on the board with 12:19 on the first period clock after Cameron intercepted a pass in the River Hawk zone and lifted a backhander into the net from the slot.
- UMass-Lowell responded less than three minutes later with the teams skating 4-on-4. A puck deflected through the RIT zone to freshman forward Carl Berglund on the left wing, who scored on a wrist shot from the left face-off circle with 10:00 on the clock.
- UMass-Lowell took advantage of a RIT hooking penalty with 12:45 on the second-period clock after a shot deflected into the Tiger goal off sophomore forward Lucas Condotta's skate in front of the crease 10 seconds later.
- RIT re-tied the game after senior defenseman Chris McKay (Edmonton, Alberta/Sherwood Park Crusaders) scored on a shot from the right face-off circle with 6:44 on the clock, but UMass-Lowell re-took a 3-2 lead after Condotta curled around the right post and muscled a slap shot inside the near post with 30.4 on the clock.
- Joffe took a cross from sophomore forward Andrew Petrucci (Toronto, Ontario/Toronto Patriots) and scored in front of the right post with 15:29 left in the third, but goals by sophomore defenseman Seth Barton at 13:40, Berglund at 9:26 and senior forward Colin O'Neill pushed UMass-Lowell into the lead for good..
- RIT freshman forward Andrew Rinaldi (Pierrefonds, Quebec/Wellington Dukes) came up with a loose puck and scored inside the right post with 4:40 left in regulation for the game's final tally.
GAME NOTES
- RIT finished the game with a 29-26 shooting advantage.
- Junior goalie Andrew Drackett totaled 17 saves in 53:47 of play before junior Ian Andriano (Barrie, Ontario/Ottawa Jr. Senators) came in for three saves in 5:07 of action.
WHAT'S NEXT
The two teams meet again on Saturday (Jan. 11) at 5:00 p.m. at the Polisseni Center.