By Tommy Kane

Published: February 2nd, 2020

Chapter 13: Holy Grail

Tiger News and Notes:

Prior to the series, RIT was 25-11-8 against the Crusaders This season, the Tigers were 1-0-1 against them

Will Calverley (F) returned from a lower-body injury and played both games

Dan Willett (D) played in his 100th career game on Feb. 1, 2020

The RIT (14-11-2, 10-7-3 AHA) Tigers split their series against the Holy Cross Crusaders (9-13-5, 8-11-3 AHA) on Jan. 31, and Feb. 1, 2020. The Tigers lost the first game, 4-3, but won the second game, 4-2.

Both games took place at the Hart Center in Worcester, MA.

Reliving the Great Win

On Jan. 25, 2020, the Tigers defeated the Canisius Golden Griffins by a score of 5-4. At the start of the third period in that game, the Tigers were down 4-1. In a span of fewer than four minutes, RIT scored four goals and won the game in regulation, all while being on the night that commemorated the 2009-2010 Frozen Four Team.

Two of the goals came from Elijah Gonsalves (F), a Freshman on the team. He spoke about how he helped mount the comeback.

“Honestly, I just tried to work my hardest to help the team,” he said. “Anybody could have scored, but fortunately I got the two goals in the third period.”

One of the Captains, Chris McKay (D), was asked about how he handled being down 4-1 at the end of the second period. He answered with positivity.

“The biggest thing for us was staying positive and just working together as a team. We didn’t get down on each other,” Chris explained.

The Coach’s Corner

Head Coach, Wayne Wilson, also talked about the differences between the second and third periods of that game.

“We just needed to get a goal to get the crowd going,” Wilson started to explain. “The Captains of our team did a great job in the locker room. No one quit at all. The penalties didn’t help us in the third, but once we got the one goal, it just seemed to steamroll on them [Canisius] real quick.”

It was clear that Coach Wilson saw the positivity from the team. To make it clear, the team felt no pressure in letting the Frozen Four Team down but instead had the pride to get the win for them.

Only 40 Minutes Played

The first game started off with both teams going back and forth with shots and in terms of the momentum.

The Tigers got on the powerplay late in the first period, and Will Calverley (F) was able to get put the puck past Crusader goalie, Matt Radomsky.

About three minutes later though, Holy Cross took advantage of a Tiger defensive lapse and tied the game. Neil Robinson was credited with the goal, and the teams went into the first intermission even at one.

Holy Cross came into the second period on a mission, and Erkka Vanska put the puck past Tigers goalie, Logan Drackett, in the first few minutes. The Crusaders led, 2-1.

To round out the second period, the Tigers scored two unanswered goals.

Answering about a minute later, Gonsalves tipped a shot off his stick and into the net. That goal came nine seconds into the powerplay. Also, Darren Brady (D) got on a two-on-one with Gonsalves and scored to take the 3-2 lead.

Holy Cross came out into the third period firing on all cylinders, and RIT had no response, despite a few huge saves by Drackett.

Mid-way through the third stanza, Jake Pappalardo tied the game for the Crusaders by scoring off a Tiger defender. The Crusaders then had the fatal strike with about a minute left in the game. Kevin Darrar shot the puck through traffic and scored the game-winner.

The Tigers pulled Drackett to try and get a goal back, but it did not work. Holy Cross took the first game, 4-3. The Tigers had 26 shots, while the Crusaders had 33 shots. In terms of the powerplay, RIT scored on two of their three opportunities and Holy Cross came up empty on one chance. In the Tiger net, Drackett stopped 29 of 33 (.879). In the Crusader net, Radomsky saved 23 of 26 (.885).

Fueled to Win

Jake Hamacher (#14) On the Puck

The Tigers came out firing on all cylinders in the first period of the second game. In just 52 seconds, Brady fired a quick shot off and scored, giving the Tigers an early 1-0 lead.

RIT needed to kill off two penalties in the period, but the momentum didn’t seem to fade away. Towards the end of the period, Calverley scored, making it 2-0 by the end of the first. Merritt Oszytko (F) got his first career point by setting up Calverley with a perfect pass.

In the second period, the Tigers got on the powerplay early. Gonsalves scored his second goal of the series, extending the lead to three.

Jordan Peacock (F) got a five-minute misconduct for a hit from behind. The Tigers had to kill off a five-minute penalty, and Peacock was kicked out of the game. This occurred about halfway through the second.

The Crusaders started to finally gain momentum and they scored their first goal of the game, with just a few minutes left in the second period. Pete Kessel shot the puck at a tight angle that got passed Drackett.

The final 20 minutes of the game were a bit nerve-racking again for the Tigers, taking a few penalties in the third period.

With under four minutes left in the game, Kessel scored once again, this time on a rebound off Drackett. He cut the Tiger lead to just one.

Holy Cross pulled Radomsky to get the extra attacker on, but Alden Dupuis (F) scored an empty-net goal with just 22 seconds left to seal the game.

The Tigers won, 4-2. The Tigers and Crusaders each had 30 shots. In terms of the powerplay, both teams scored on one opportunity. RIT had four chances and Holy Cross had five, including the five-minute powerplay. In the Tiger net, Drackett saved 28 of 30 (.933) shots, making some huge saves in the third period. In the Crusader net, Radomsky stopped 26 of 29 (.897) shots.

A Date with the Colonials

The Tigers are back in action on Feb. 7, and Feb. 8, 2020, in Moon Township, PA. They will be taking on the Robert Morris Colonials (9-14-3, 9-8-3 AHA) for the first time in the 2019-2020 season.

Both games start at 7:05 PM EST.

GO TIGERS!

Rest in peace Kobe Bryant.

Game One Stats Against Holy Cross

Game Two Stats Against Holy Cross