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RIT's Elijah Gonsalves, #16, skates with the puck on November 25th, 2023 at Gene Polisseni Center in Rochester, NY. RIT Men’s Hockey plays University of New Hampshire. (Alex Miller)
Alex Miller / RIT Sports Network
5
Winner RIT RIT 11-5-0, 9-3-0
2
American Int'l AIC 10-7-0, 7-3-0
Winner
RIT RIT
11-5-0, 9-3-0
5
Final
2
American Int'l AIC
10-7-0, 7-3-0
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
RIT RIT 1 2 2 5
American Int'l AIC 0 2 0 2

Game Recap: Men's Hockey |

No. 19/19 Men’s Hockey posts 5-2 road victory over AIC

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Timely saves from junior goaltender Tommy Scarfone combined with a pair of goals from graduate student Elijah Gonsalves propelled the Tigers to 5-2 victory over AIC, which earned RIT a weekend series split in Atlantic Hockey play.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
  • AIC attempted to clear the puck from its zone, but sophomore Philippe Jacques intercepted the pass at the blueline and quickly passed it to the front of the net for sophomore Tyler Mahan who deked right and sent the puck over the goalie's stick side shoulder for the 1-0 lead with 12:42 remaining in the opening period.
  • The Yellow Jackets had more than three scoring opportunities stifled by Scarfone just over 10 minutes into the first period, including one against AIC's Alexander Malinowski on a breakaway with 4:17 left with a pad save to preserve the 1-0 lead.
  • But AIC evened the score at 1-1 with 14:07 to go in the second period when Jordan Biro used a quick move to his right to even the game at 1-1 on a similar play to RIT's first goal when the defense failed to clear the puck from the zone on an intercepted pass.
  • Gonsalves converted a breakaway goal with 9:07 left on the clock on a rocketed shot over the Yellow Jacket goalie's glove when fifth-year skater Gianfranco Cassaro relayed a long pass up center ice after collecting a blocked AIC shot in the defensive zone.
  • AIC evened it with 5:41 remaining in the second period on a second effort goal by Alfred Lindberg following a shot off the post by Dustin Manz.
  • Sophomore Gustav Blom scored his first career goal and what proved to be the game-winner on a shot from the top of the circle as RIT took advantage of a condensed crowd in front of the net with 4:30 remaining in the second period. Sophomore Xavier Lapointe connected with Blom on the goal sending a pass from the far boards of the offensive zone.
  • Gonsalves' second effort on a two-on-two attack notched his second goal of the game when he collected a centering pass from junior Grady Hobbs off his skate before burying the puck past AIC's goalie just 35 seconds into the third frame.
  • A shorthanded breakaway goal from sophomore Simon Isabelle was the final goal of the game. Mahan notched the assist as Isabelle's shot found the corner pocket of the top shelf with 16:03 on the clock.
  • AIC pulled its goalie at 7:56 in the third period as RIT held a 5-2 advantage, and played with an empty net and 6-to-5 skater advantage until a Yellow Jacket penalty with 2:44 remaining.
 GAME NOTES
  • Scarfone made his 66th career start and 68th career appearance, tying Louis Menard '09 for third all-time during the Tigers' D1-era. 
  • Scarfone improved to 10-4-0 this season and became RIT's fourth D1-era goaltender to win 40 games, tying Mike Rotolo '17 for third on the career list with a 40-24-2 record.
  • For the third straight game RIT's fourth line has produced at least one point. Four goals in the past three games, three by Jacques and one by Mahan.
  • Gonsalves scored twice, the fourth multi-goal effort in his career and first since a 4-4 tie with Colgate on December 29, 2020.
  • The Tigers improved to 4-3 when outshot by its opponent. The Tigers tallied 22 shots while AIC pressured Scarfone with 31 shots on net.
  • RIT has responded well to losses this season and improved to 4-0 in its next game after a loss.
WHAT'S NEXT
  • RIT has nearly three weeks off before its next contest when it travels to Hanover, N.H. for the Dartmouth Ledyard Classic on Dec. 29 at 4 p.m. against Maine.