WALTHAM, Mass. – The RIT Men's Hockey team lost a 3-2 decision at Bentley, Friday, in Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) action.
Senior forward
Austin Brimmer gave RIT a 1-0 lead at 11:15 of the first before Bentley answered less than five minutes later and then took the lead less than three minutes into the second. The Falcons later led 3-1 midway through the third before Tiger first-year forward
Caleb Elfering tallied with 38 seconds remaining in regulation to close the scoring.
HOW IT HAPPENED
RIT opened the scoring with a power play goal at 11:15 of the first following a Bentley boarding penalty. Sophomore defenseman
Mason Croucher cycled a puck to the right faceoff circle for a blast by sophomore forward
Mathieu Cobetto-Roy that Brimmer tipped under Bentley goaltender Lukas Swedin's stick.
Bentley answered at 4:18 following a defensive zone faceoff win. Ryan Mansfield played a puck down the right boards through the neutral zone and got behind the Tiger defense to snap a shot from the slot over Krbecek's blocker.
The Falcons took the lead at 2:34 of the second after Stephen Castagna fought a puck off the right half boards to Dylan Cook at the right hashes. Cook one-touched a cross to Colton Cameron in front of the left post for a finish inside an open left post.
Bentley scored at 9:34 of the third seconds after a power play expired. David Helledy sent a long pass from the right point to Kellan Hjartarson in the left faceoff circle, who one-touched a pass to the slot for a short finish by Michael Mesic inside the right post.
RIT got one back with less than minute remaining in regulation. Sophomore defenseman
Tristan Allen muscled a puck around the right half boards to Brimmer behind the Bentley net. Brimmer fed the puck in front to Elfering, who tallied, near post.
GAME NOTES
- Bentley led in shots on goal, 26-21.
- RIT held Bentley scoreless in two power play attempts and hasn't allowed an extra man goal over its last five games.
- Senior forward Simon Isabelle won a season-high12 of 18 faceoffs.
- Allen moved into a tie for the team lead with his eighth assist of the season.
- Brimmer logged his third multi-point game of the season.
- Sophomore goaltender Jakub Krbecek ended the night with 23 saves in the loss.
- RIT played its fourth game in eight days – all on the road.
- After winning nine-straight games, RIT lost its second in a row after also falling in overtime at Niagara, 2-1, on Tuesday.
COACH THOMAS SAID
"We played a really good team on their home ice to a one-goal hockey game. We've been in a lot of one-goal games, and we've been able to be on the right side of those games. Now we are finding ourselves on the wrong side of them in the last two. We needed some guys to step up and be better in certain situations, but we just couldn't find the juice to get it done tonight.
"We played hard and I'm proud of the effort and the way guys showed up. They emptied their tanks and worked hard and fought right to the end. I would have loved to see us with a little better execution in some areas but some of the guys just didn't have their A-game and it showed.
"This is a process and we are building. When you do have some bumps in the road, that adversity reveals a lot of your character and I'm excited to see how we respond."
WHAT'S NEXT
RIT flies out on Sunday for Northern Ireland to play in the 2025 Friendship Four. The Tigers will face Miami (Ohio) next Friday (Nov. 28) at 2:00 p.m. EST and will either play Sacred Heart or Union on Saturday (Nov. 29) at a time to be determined.
