NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – Rochester Institute of Technology junior forward
Will Calverley (Scarborough, Ontario) notched a goal and an assist while sophomore forward
Elijah Gonsalves (Scarborough, Ontario) totaled three assists to lead the Tigers to a 5-1 victory at Niagara in Atlantic Hockey action, Sunday.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Niagara got on the board 5:17 into the game after Jason Pineo scored on a drive from the point under RIT senior goalie Logan Drackett's (Calgary, Alberta) glove.
- RIT responded eight seconds later after junior defenseman Spencer Berry (White Rock, British Columbia/Langley Rivermen) flipped a puck from the left-wing boards on goal that deflected off Niagara goalie Chad Veltre's pads. Senior forward Alden Dupuis (Edmonton, Alberta) grabbed the loose puck and wristed a shot inside the right post at 5:09.
- RIT took a 3-1 lead with back-to-back goals in a 35-second span late in the second. Following a Niagara inference call, Hamacher converted the ensuing power-play opportunity with a slap shot from the right face-off circle off a feed from sophomore forward Elijah Gonsalves (Scarborough, Ontario) with 2:03 on the clock.
- Junior forward Kobe Walker (Lloydminster, Alberta) then cleaned up a loose puck in the crease off a shot from the right face-off circle by senior forward Nick Bruce (Fall River, Nova Scotia/Johnstown Tomahawks) that trickled around Veltre's pads at 1:28.
- The Tigers closed the third period with two more unanswered goals. Gonsalves dug a loose puck off the right boards to junior forward Will Calverley (Scarborough, Ontario) at the RIT blue line. Caverley scooted behind the Purple Eagle defense and beat Veltre one-on-one with a shot into the top-left corner at 11:51.
- Niagara pulled Veltre for an extra skater, but a clear out of the RIT zone by junior forward Andrew Petrucci's (Toronto, Ontario) rolled all the way into the Purple Eagle net with 5:31 remaining in regulation.
GAME NOTES
- Drackett logged a season-high 34 saves to improve to 2-0-1 on the season.
- RIT out-shot Niagara, 35-28.
- The Tigers (2-1-1, 1-0-1 Atlantic Hockey) took five out of six points during the home-and-home doubleheader with the Purple Eagles after also coming back from a 3-0 first-period deficit to earn a 3-3 tie last night at the Polisseni Center that ended in a RIT shootout victory.
WHAT'S NEXT
RIT hosts Long Island University next Friday and Saturday (Dec. 11-12) for a pair of non-league games at 5:05 p.m. both nights. The Sharks are playing all 11 members of Atlantic Hockey twice during in their first season as an NCAA Division I program.