ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The RIT Men's Hockey team earned a 6-2 victory over Clarkson in the 18th-annual Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend game in front of a sell-out crowd of 10,556 at Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester.
Senior forward
Simon Isabelle notched a career-high three points on a goal and two assists to lead six goal scorers and 10 players with at least one point. Sophomore goaltender
Jakub Krbecek made 28 saves, including 13 in the first period, to backstop the Tigers' first win of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After a scoreless first period, Clarkson got on the board 1:35 into the second after Talon Sigurdson centered a puck to Jared Mangan in the slot for a short finish at the end of a right-wing rush.
RIT answered 1:11 later after senior forward Phillippe Jacques knocked down a clearing attempt in the Clarkson zone to created a two-on-one chance finished by senior forward
Austin Brimmer.
The Tigers took the lead at 6:22 after junior forward
Christian Catalano created a turnover along the right boards in the Clarkson zone and wrapped a puck around the left post to Isabelle in front for a short finish.
Clarkson retied the game at 9:10 after Adrian Misaljevic intercepted a puck behind the Tiger goal and dropped a pass to Remi Gelinas outside the right post. Gelinas slipped a pass to Luke Palulak in the slot for a short one-timer.
RIT answered at 14:02 after senior defenseman
Crossley Stewart threw a pass down to Catalano in the left faceoff circle before scoring on a return pass on a long shot from the left point, far post.
RIT took a two-goal lead entering the third period after junior defenseman
Ben Roger send a puck to Isabelle low in the right corner, who one-touched a pass to first-year forward
Caleb Elfering for a quick one-timer inside the right post at 18:31.
First-year
Camden Bajzer made it a 5-2 game at 9:19 of the third after fighting off a defender on the right boards and scoring on a shot from the faceoff circle, unassisted.
First-Year
Evan Konyen closed the scoring at 15:30, scoring on a nice feed from first-year forward
William Moore in the slot to complete the victory.
COACH THOMAS SAID
"We came out here and we could feel the energy. You could even feel it outside the building walking in, and that is always a cool feeling. It kind of had a bit of playoff vibe. It was a great result and a good effort by our players.
"We had a slow start in the first period, but the guys found a way. We knew what we wanted to do, but we just weren't really doing it. We just needed to dig in a little bit and our senior line (
Adam Jeffery, Jacques, Brimmer) really got us going with a huge goal. We had some great response shifts and I thought we made some big plays at big times in the game and found a way to create a little momentum.
"If Krbecek doesn't play the way he played in this game, we don't have a chance. For me, he was our MVP. Obviously some other guys had some really good efforts out there, but he was certainly exaclty what we needed.
"I thought our five-on-five game was really strong. I liked the way we broke the puck out and I just liked the way that different guys dug in when we needed it the most. Everyone is pulling on the rope, which is great. We're looking for big time performances, but we also want guys to find the opportunity to step up when their called upon and we had a lot of guys do that tonight.
"This feeling is what we search for in this game. Winning is addictive and you have to want it. Our program has done a lot of it and we want to get that feeling back. Hopefully this gives the guys a little bit more motivation that these things are worth the effort. Our guys dug in deep tonight and really turned that game around and I'm really proud of them."
GAME NOTES
- First-year RIT head coach Matt Thomas earned his first victory behind the Tiger bench, returning to take the reigns at his alma mater last spring following the retirement of 26-year head coach Wayne Wilson. Thomas was a four-year member of the squad during RIT's Division III era, captaining the Tigers during his senior year in 1998.
- Elfering, Roger, Bajzer, Konyen and Moore all scored the first points of their Tiger careers.
- Clarkson finished with a 30-22 shot advantage.
- RIT killed three Golden Knight power plays while finishing scoreless on six power play chances of their own.
- Roger also blocked a team-high three shots.
- RIT improved to 8-6-4 during its annual Brick City Homecoming game, played at Blue Cross Arena since 2007.
WHAT'S NEXT
RIT hosts Atlantic Hockey America foe Air Force for two games next Friday and Saturday (Oct. 24-25) at 7:05 p.m. and 5:05 p.m., respectively.
