U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, COL. – RIT freshman forward Carter Wilkie scored the game-winning goal 38 seconds into overtime and also had an assist in a 3-2 victory at Air Force, Friday.
 
Senior forward Kobe Walker stole a puck in the neutral zone and skated down the left wing boards to feed sophomore defenseman Aiden Hansen-Bukata in the slot, who back-handed a pass to Wilkie for a glove-side finish to seal the win.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED 

• RIT opened the scoring with 5:05 left in the first period after Wilkie jumped a Falcon pass behind the Air Force goal and fed freshman forward Grady Hobbs in front for a wide-open one-timer.  
•  Air Force tied the game with 3:50 left in the second period after Clayton Cosentino finished a rush with a backhanded shot from the slot over RIT freshman goaltender Tommy Scarfone's stick.
• The Falcons took a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal with 10:58 left in the third period after Austin Schwartz won a faceoff to the right of Scarfone back to Brian Adams, who one-timed a shot from the top of the circle through traffic.
• RIT was hit with an interference penalty with 3:37 left in regulation, but Air Force was whistled for interference 1:18 later. Eventually skating 5-on-4, senior forward Jake Hamacher sent a pass in the slot to senior Will Calverley, who one-touched a pass to a wide-open Walker outside the left post for the equalizer with 58 seconds on the clock to force the decisive overtime. 

GAME NOTES 

• RIT moved into a tie for third place in the Atlantic Hockey standings with one game remaining in the regular season. The Tigers need one more point to clinch no lower than the fourth seed for the Atlantic Hockey Tournament and a bye to a home quarterfinal series (Mar. 11-13). 
• Hamacher notched his 105th career point to move into a tie for 11th place with Myles Powell '18 on RIT's Division I-era scoring list.
• Calverley tallied his 90th career point in his 120th career game.
• Wilkie recorded his team-leading fifth game-winning goal of the season while moving to the top of the Tigers' scoring list with 27 points. He also logged his team-high 15 assist.
• Hobbs logged his third goal in six games.
• Scarfone compiled 20 saves to win his third-straight game and improve to 6-6-1 this winter.
• Head Coach Wayne Wilson moved into a tie for 46th in NCAA hockey history with his 407th career victory. 
• Senior defenseman Dan Willett blocked three shots. He ranks third nationally with 84 totaled blocked shots. 
• RIT is 11-1-1 when scoring the first goal of the game this winter. 
• The Tigers improved to 13-3 in games decided by one-goal this season. 
• RIT is 5-0-4 in overtime games this season, winning three of the four games that have gone to a shootout. 

WHAT'S NEXT
RIT closes the regular season on Saturday at Air Force. Face-off is set for 7:05 p.m. EST.