ROCHESTER, N.Y. – RIT senior forward Cody Laskosky and junior forward Grady Hobbs notched third-period goals, but it was visiting Sacred Heart earning a 5-2 Atlantic Hockey victory, Saturday, at the Gene Polisseni Center.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Sacred Heart jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead. Blake Dangos had a shot from the slot blocked by a Tiger defenseman, but he collected his own rebound and scored past a screened Tiger fifth-year goaltender Luke Lush with 17:27 on the clock.
• The Pioneers took advantage of a turnover in the Tiger zone as John Jaworski fed Braeden Tuck in the slot for a goal over Lush's glove with 2:45 remaining in the first.
• Sacred Heart made it a 3-0 game early in the second after a faceoff in the Tiger zone made its way back to Hunter Sansbury at the left point. Sansbury skated on goal and scored on a shot between two defensemen with 17:12 on the clock.
• RIT scored a pair of goals in a five-minute span of the third period to make it a one-goal game. Graduate student defenseman Ryan Nicholson cut off a Pioneer clearing attempt at the top of the left boards and wristed a shot on net that deflected into the slot off a Pioneer in the left faceoff circle. Junior forward Grady Hobbs collected the loose puck and scored on a wrist shot under Sacred Heart goaltender Chase Clark's glove with 12:31 left in regulation.
• Junior forward Carter Wilkie caused a turnover along the right boards in the Pioneer zone and got the puck to first-year defenseman Kevin Scott at the right point. Scott fired a shot on goal that deflected off Clark's pads in front of the crease where Laskosky fought off a defenseman to put a short shot inside the left post with 7:27 remaining.
• Sacred Heart was whistled for their only penalty of the game with 2:56 left in regulation and the Tigers eventually pulled Lush for a 6-on-4 attempt with just over a minute on the clock. Tuck came up with a puck in front of the Pioneer goal and flipped a shot the length of the ice into the empty net with 54.4 on the clock. TJ Walsh tacked on another empty-netter with 1.3 left to close the night. 

GAME NOTES

• Laskosky also scored twice in the Tigers' 4-2 victory over Sacred Heart as the teams split their Atlantic Hockey-opening series.   
• Lush ended the game with 27 saves in his first appearance in a Tiger sweater following a four-year career and 56 starts at Sacred Heart.
• Hobbs scored his first goal of the season and 30^th career point.
• Scott's assist on Laskosky's goal was his first collegiate point.
• RIT finished two-for-two on the penalty kill, including a five-minute major at the end of the second period. The Tigers have killed their last 14 penalties as well as 17 of the 18 they have faced in their four-games this season.  
• Wilkie was credited with an assist on Laskosky's goal and has logged at least a point in all four games this season. He also had a goal and an assist in Friday's win. 
• Nicholson made his 125th career appearance for the Tigers.

WHAT'S NEXT
RIT will play two games at Holy Cross next Friday and Saturday (Oct. 27-28) slated to start at 7:05 p.m. both nights. The Crusaders took two out of three games to eliminate the Tigers in last year's Atlantic Hockey Tournament Semifinals.