By Tommy Kane

Published: December 8th, 2019

Chapter 10: Back on Track

Tiger News and Notes

Prior to the series, the Tigers were 20-12-4 against the Lakers

The Tigers looked to get back on track after being swept at AIC

Brody Valette (D) was out of the series due to an upper-body injury

Mike Floga was given a moment of silence prior to the game. Floga was the Mercyhurst Equipment Manager who lost his battle to cancer

This series was the last series for the Tigers in the 2019 calendar year

RIT (10-6-2, 7-5-2 AHA) swept the Mercyhurst Lakers (4-10-1, 2-6-1 AHA) in a weekend series on Dec. 6 and Dec. 7, 2019, at the Gene Polisseni Center.

The Tigers won the first game, 7-3, and the second game, 3-2.

Improvement Needed

The Tigers went 1-3 in the last two weeks on the road, and now they got an opportunity to get a few wins at the Gene Polisseni Center against a struggling Lakers team.

Logan Drackett (G) talked about what needs to be done for the team to improve against Mercyhurst and moving forward.

“I think all of us could improve and have another gear,” Drackett started to explain. “Right now we are lacking a bit of confidence, but for the most part, we need to keep working hard and sticking with it. We need to believe in ourselves and each other so we can get out of this rut.”

Overall, it was safe to say the entire team was looking for ways to bounce back and get back to the form they had at the beginning of the season.

The Coach’s Corner

Head Coach, Wayne Wilson, was asked about how the team can get back on track as well. He pointed to the special teams.

“One, our powerplay needs to get going. We have had a drought. By playing better, we can contribute at least a goal a game on the powerplay. Second, we are taking way too many penalties, despite our penalty killing not being bad. The problem is opponents are trying to figure us out and when we are taking penalties over and over again, they figure them out. That, in general, we got to get better at,” he explained.

Coach went on to say that the group was great collectively, but the special teams need to be better to be successful.

Huge Bounce Back at Home

Tigers Celebrate after a Goal

The first game of the series turned out to be great for the Tigers, despite going down 2-0 earlier on.

After a few penalties, the Lakers were able to capitalize on one of them. Dalton Hunter scored the powerplay goal by jamming the puck past Drackett.

That was the only goal in the first period, and it wasn’t until mid-way through the second period when another goal was scored. Khristian Acosta got on the 3-on-1 odd-man rush and decided to keep the puck and shoot. It paid off, and the Lakers went up 2-0.

Not too long after, RIT started its five-goal run. Andrew Rinaldi (F) fired a laser that whizzed past Mercyhurst goalie, Stefano Cantali. Minutes later, on the Tiger powerplay, Will Calverley (F) tied the game up by scoring mere seconds into the powerplay, right off the faceoff.

RIT was able to get on a few powerplays to round out the second stanza, and Alden Dupuis (F) cashed in on one with 12 seconds left on the clock. He was able to get in the slot and fire the puck at almost point-blank range. The Tiger crowd was roaring as the team went into the intermission, up 3-2.

Another powerplay goal was scored by the Tigers in the first 8 minutes of the third period. Calverley scored again, this time by tipping a shot past Cantali. About two minutes later, Rinaldi got his second of the game when he shot the puck in the five-hole. The game was quickly 5-2.

Steven Ipri of the Lakers did get on a breakaway later in the period, and he was able to maneuver around Drackett and put it home. This and a powerplay for the Lakers garnered them to pull Cantali and make it a 6-on-4 opportunity. Dupuis thought otherwise, and he scored a shorthanded goal to put the game to bed.

Finally, with about a minute left, Mercyhurst pulled Cantali again and Darren Brady (D) scored his first of the season on the empty net. The Tigers won the game in dominant fashion, 7-3.

The Tigers had 34 shots, while the Lakers only got 19. In terms of the powerplay, each team had five chances, but RIT scored on three of them and the Lakers scored on only one of them. In the Tiger net, Drackett saved 16 of 19 (.842) shots and in the Laker net, Cantali stopped 27 of 33 (.818).

Sweep Complete

Jake Hamacher

The second game of the series started off excellent for the Tigers, as they scored two goals early in the first period.

Caleb Moretz (F) was in the slot when he received a great feed from a teammate. He then fired the puck past Laker goalie, Colin DeAugustine, giving RIT the early 1-0 lead.

About mid-way into the first period, Hamacher increased the Tiger lead to two. He found the puck and scored close-range.

Mercyhurst did not go into the first intermission unheard of, and Gueorgui Feduolov was to thank for that. He was able to get on a breakaway and cut the lead to just one goal.

In the second period, the Tigers got a bit sloppy and had to kill off a few penalties, but the Lakers cashed in on one of the opportunities. Joseph Maziarz scored the final Mercyhurst goal on the powerplay. The Lakers found some life and continued to look for high-quality chances.

Towards the end of the period though, Calverley scored the game-winner by tapping in the puck into the open side of the net after a cross-net pass. The Tiger crowd went wild.

The third period involved Mercyhurst finding chances and gaining momentum, but the Tigers held on and won the game that went down to the final seconds. Drackett came up big in the period and made some huge saves, as well as the defense made some big plays.

The Tigers won the game, 3-2, and had 40 shots compared to 33 shots from the Lakers. In terms of the powerplay, RIT could not score on three tries, while Mercyhurst scored on one of four. In the Tiger net, Drackett saved 31 of 33 (.939) shots and in the Laker net, DeAugustine stopped 37 of 40 (.925) shots.

A Look at 2020

The Tigers will host the University of Guelph on Dec. 29, 2019, for an exhibition game at 3:05 PM EST.

They will then have a home-and-home series against Canisius College (2-12, 1-7 AHA), hosting them on Jan 3., 2020, and then traveling to Buffalo, NY., on Jan 4., 2020. Their home game will be at 7:05 PM EST, and their away game will be at 4:05 PM EST.

GO TIGERS!

Game One Stats Against Mercyhurst

Game Two Stats Against Mercyhurst