CANTON, N.Y. – Junior
Luke Pilcher scored five goals and an assist to lead No. 2 RIT (15-1, 6-1 Liberty League) to a 17-9 win at No. 10 St. Lawrence (12-3, 5-2 Liberty League), Saturday.
The Tigers clinched the top seed for the Liberty League Tournament and will host No. 4 RPI on Wednesday (May 4) in the semifinals at a time to be determined.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Pilcher scored two goals and added an assist to help RIT to a 4-1 lead after the first quarter.
- He tied the game at 1-1 on his goal off an assist from sophomore Seth Grottenthaler.
- Freshman Clifford Gaston gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead on his goal off an assist from Pilcher.
- Pilcher made it 3-1 and Grottenthaler gave the Tigers a 4-1 lead on his goal with 2:51 to play in the opening quarter
- St. Lawrence's Judge Murphy scored two straight goals, cutting the RIT lead to 4-3 on his goal off an assist from Ben Murtagh in the second quarter.
- Senior Marley Angus scored on a nice drive to give RIT a 5-3 lead.
- Sophomore defenseman Mike Grace scooped in a rebound and senior Spencer Bell scored with 9:16 to play to give RIT a 7-3 lead.
- Jack Hennessey scored off an assist from Mark Maloney with 2:48 to play in the half that cut the RIT lead to 7-5.
- Senior Quinn Commandant scored off an assist from Angus with 1:57 to play to give the Tigers an 8-5 halftime advantage.
- Senior long-stick midfielder Taylor Jensen gave RIT a 9-5 lead on his 13 seconds into the third quarter.
- RIT scored four straight goals, increasing its lead to 13-6 on Pilcher's goal with 7:47 to play in the quarter.
- After a Hennessey goal cut the lead to 13-7, Pilcher tallied his fourth goal of the game off an assist from Gaston to give RIT a 14-7 lead.
- Commandant, Pilcher and Bell each scored in the fourth quarter to make it a17-9 final
GAME NOTES
- RIT fired 49 shots, including 31 on target.
- The Tigers went 17-of-20 on clearing attempts and finished with 15 face-off wins.
- Grottenthaler finished with two goals and two assists.
- Commandant and Angus each had two goals and an assist and Bell and Grace each scored two goals.
- Senior Drew Hutchison made 11 saves in net to improve to 15-1 on the season.
- Grace led RIT with six ground balls and graduate student Jimmy Spillane won 15 face-offs.
WHAT'S NEXT
Top-seeded RIT will host No. 4 RPI in the Liberty League Semifinal on Wednesday (May 4) at 4:00 P.M.