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an RIT men's hockey player
Evie Linantud
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Sacred Heart SHU 15-18-4
3
Winner RIT RIT 18-15-4
Sacred Heart SHU
15-18-4
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Final
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RIT RIT
18-15-4
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Sacred Heart SHU 1 0 0 1
RIT RIT 0 1 2 3

Game Recap: Men's Hockey |

Men's Hockey defeats Sacred Heart, 3-1; advances to Atlantic Hockey Semifinals

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - RIT freshman forward Carter Wilkie and senior defenseman Dan Willett broke a 1-1, third-period tie with back-to-back goals in a 38-second span to lead the Tigers past Sacred Heart, 3-1, in game-three of the Atlantic Hockey Tournament Quarterfinals, Sunday. 

Fourth-seeded RIT won the series, 2-1, and advances to play sixth-seeded Air Force next Friday (March 18) in the semifinals, with a berth in Saturday's Atlantic Hockey Championship game on the line. Face-off is set for 7:35 p.m. following the night's other semifinal between top-seeded AIC and seventh-seeded Mercyhurst. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
  • Sacred Heart opened the scoring 16:28 left in the first period. The Pioneers took possession off a neutral zone turnover and quickly pushed the puck up ice. A long shot by Daniel Ebrahim deflected off Tiger freshman goaltender Tommy Scarfone's pads to the right boards where Todd Goehring intercepted a clearing attempt and skated toward the right post. Goehring slid a pass through a crowd in front of Scarfone to Austin Magera for a far-post finish.
  • RIT senior forward Kobe Walker tied the score with 3:01 left in the second period. Junior defenseman Ryan Nicholson pushed a loose puck in front of Scarfone to Walker, who shot down the right wing through the neutral zone. Cutting past a defender just over the Sacred Heart blue line to get open for a one-one-one opportunity with Pioneer goaltender Justin Robbins, Walker poked a short rebound through Robbins' pads to put the Tigers on the board.
  • RIT's decisive third period started when senior defenseman Spencer Berry took a shot from the left point that deflected off the glass behind the Pioneer goal to senior forward Jake Hamacher in front of the right post. Hamacher had the puck knocked off his stick, but it found Wilkie in the right face-off circle for a near-post finish with 17:54 on the clock.
  • On the next possession, Hamacher took a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle that was saved off Robbins' pads. A Pioneer defender attempted to clear the puck, but it went directly to Willett, who roofed shot from low in the left faceoff circle to put the Tigers up by two goals.
GAME NOTES
  • RIT advanced to the Atlantic Hockey Tournament semifinals for the ninth time where it owns a 5-3 record. The Tigers will be in the hunt for their fourth conference title after winning championships in 2010, 2015 and 2016.
  • RIT defeated Sacred Heart, 1-0, in Friday's opener on an overtime-game winner by Willett, but fell, 3-1, in Saturday's rematch to set up Sunday's rubber match. 
  • RIT finished a combined 10-for-10 on the penalty kill during the weekend series. 
  • Wilkie tied a RIT Division-I era record with his sixth game-winning goal of the season, matching the six Tyler Brenner tallied during the 2008-09 campaign.
  • Hamacher moved into a tie for 10th place on RIT's Division I-era scoring list with his 106th career point, joining Adam Brubacher, who tallied 26 goals and 80 assists from 2016-20. 
  • Scarfone totaled 30 saves for his eighth game with at least 30 stops this season.
  • RIT is 3-3 opposite Air Force in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament, including a 1-1 mark in the semifinals. The Falcons beat the Tigers in the 2008 semifinals, 5-0, the 2011 championship, 1-0, and the 2012 championship, 4-0. RIT beat Air Force twice in the 2015 quarterfinals, 2-1 and 7-3, before winning, 2-1, in overtime during the 2016 semifinals.
  • RIT split its pair of games at Air Force on the final weekend of the regular season, earning a 3-2 OT victory before falling, 1-0, in OT (Feb. 25-26).