UTICA, N.Y. – The RIT men's hockey team lost a 4-3 decision to Air Force in the semifinals of the Atlantic Hockey Tournament, Friday.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• RIT battled back to tie the score three times, including a goal by freshman forward Grady Hobbs which made it a 3-3 game with 14:24 left in regulation, but Air Force's Brandon Koch notched his second goal of the game with 10:07 on the clock for what proved to be the deciding tally.
• Air Force notched the lone goal of the first period with 6:34 on the clock.
• Tiger sophomore defenseman Aiden Hansen-Bukata scored on a backdoor pass from senior forward Nick Bruce to tie the score with 9:56 left in the second.
• The Falcons' Andrew DeCarlo was able to score out of a crowd in front of the RIT crease to retake a 2-1 lead with 35.7 seconds left in the second period.
• The teams opened the third period trading three goals in less than a two-minute stretch. Tiger senior defenseman Dan Willett tied the score, 2-2, with a power-play blast from the left point with 15:16 on the clock. However, Air Force had the answer with a power play goal of their own 44 seconds later.
•  Hobbs retied the game with an unassisted rush from the neutral zone, before Koch found the net 4:07 later with the winning tally. 

GAME NOTES

• Freshman forward Carter Wilkie notched two assists.
• Freshman goaltender Tommy Scarfone finished with 22 saves.
• RIT made its ninth Atlantic Hockey Tournament semifinal appearance.
• Willett finished his record-setting career with his Atlantic Hockey-record 166th career game while classmate Jake Hamacher finished second with 165 appearances.
• Air Force advances to face AIC in the championship game on Saturday. AIC defeated Mercyhurst, 5-4, in the night's other semifinal.