By Tommy Kane

Published: November 24th, 2019

Chapter 8: The Rival Downstate

Tiger News and Notes

Prior to the series, the Tigers were 21-3-6 against the Black Knights Including being on a 6-game win streak (all prior to the series)

The Tigers suffered their first league sweep of the 2019-2020 season Against the Sacred Heart Pioneers last weekend



The RIT Tigers (8-4-2, 5-3-2 AHA) split their series with the Army West Point Black Knights (7-4, 5-4 AHA) on Nov. 22 and Nov. 23, 2019, at Tate Rink in West Point, NY.

The Tigers lost the first game (Nov. 22), 2-1, but came back and won the second match (Nov. 23), 4-2.

Looking Ahead with a Positive Mindset

The Tigers were swept by the Sacred Heart Pioneers last weekend, but Kobe Walker (F), scored his first goals of the season (2 goals).

“Just kind of playing simple, I guess,” he said when asked about how he was able to score. “Just forechecking, getting the puck away from them. Our line has been clicking together, which is good. I also was lucky to get a rebound goal and a five-hole goal. Overall, it was nice to get on the scoresheet.”

It is true that his line is clicking together because Nick Bruce (F) already had 8 points in the young season. With the sweep last weekend, it is important for the team to get back to the win column.

“I think it starts with our practice habits as we are competing against each other. It’s just about trying to be at our best and pushing our teammates to do better,” he explained, talking about translating success throughout the team.

It is clear that practice is highly valued by every member of the team. With competition and a positive mindset, the Tigers could get back to their winning ways.

The Coach’s Corner

Head Coach, Wayne Wilson, was honest about the way his team played in that last series against Sacred Heart. He explained in more detail as to what happened.

“There are a number of reasons why we were swept this weekend. Over the course of the weekend, I thought they [Sacred Heart] did a good job of breaking the puck out cleanly and quickly. We weren’t able to sustain very much pressure on their defensemen and their forwards are a strong point of their team”, he explained. “We were a little sloppy with our passes at times. I thought they also won the special teams battle. In general, they are a very good team and we were not close to bringing our A-game Friday night and came up a little short on Saturday. We still feel that we have a very good team but need to bring our best every weekend.

Overall, Coach Wilson knew what needed to be done and was optimistic about the upcoming series against Army.

Krazy Kozlowski

The first game started with RIT getting a few chances in the Army zone, but Army would pounce right back and get a few chances of their own.

Momentum shifted throughout the first period, especially with the back-and-forth play and powerplays for each side. With that being said, the Black Knights had more shots than the Tigers in the period.

The second period continued the fast-paced play, with both teams once again getting numerous chances.

Mid-way through the period, the Tigers started to gain momentum and get quality shots, but a back-breaking penalty killed it all. Tucker DeYoung scored for the Black Knights and gave them a 1-0 lead.

The back-and-forth track meet continued until the end of the period, as both goalies needed to make great saves to keep their respective teams in it.

The third period led to urgency from the Tigers, but Matt Berkovitz was able to get a whizzing shot to go past RIT goalie, Logan Drackett.

With about a minute and a half left, RIT got on the powerplay and pulled Drackett for the extra attacker, warranting a 6-on-4 opportunity. With 8 seconds left in the game, Dan Willett (D) fired a shot that was tipped by Alden Dupuis (F), which went past Army goalie, Trevin Kozlowski.

RIT could not muster another goal, giving Army a 2-1 win. The Tigers had 24 shots, while the Black Knights had 28. RIT couldn’t score on 3 powerplay chances and Army scored on 1 of their 4 chances. In the Tiger net, Drackett stopped 26 of 28 (.929) shots and Kozlowski saved 23 of 24 (.958) shots for Army.

Both goalies played fantastically and made huge saves throughout the game.

The Tigers Strike Back

Will Calverley

The second battle between the foes started with a huge spring from the Tigers. Shawn Cameron (F) scored a quick goal off a beautiful feed with only a minute and six seconds into the game.

RIT continued to get shots to the net, and Colton Trumbla (F) scored his first collegiate goal and gave the Tigers a much needed 2-0 lead with only half the first period complete.

Army did get a few opportunities throughout the first stanza, but the Tiger prowess was evident throughout as well.

At the start of the second period, the play was starting to become physical between the two sides.

The Black Knights had numerous amounts of powerplay opportunities through the duration of the second, but they were unable to score on any. Drackett made some huge saves to preserve the 2-0 lead.

The Tigers added to the scoresheet once again, this time in the beginning stages of the third period. Jake Hamacher (F) was able to put the puck past Kozlowski on a break, giving the Tigers a commanding 3-0 lead.

About a minute later, Army was able to get their first goal of the game. Brett Abdelnour spoiled the party for the Tigers and scored, cutting the lead to only 2.

The Tigers then committed yet another penalty (possibly controversial), and Zach Evancho took advantage of it. The powerplay goal made the score 3-2 in favor of RIT.

The Black Knights pulled Kozlowski to get an extra attacker out with about a minute and a half left, but thirty seconds later, Kobe Walker (F) shot the puck through traffic and found the empty net.

RIT won the game, 4-2. The Tigers had 21 shots, while the Black Knights had 28. In terms of the powerplay, the Tiger couldn’t score on any of their 3 opportunities, but Army scored on 1 of 7 chances. In the Tiger net, Drackett saved 26 of 28 (.929) shots and for the Black Knights, Kozlowski stopped 17 of 20 (.850) shots.

A Visit to the Defending League Champs

Rounding out the month of November, the Tigers will head to Springfield, MA., to play the defending league champions, the AIC YellowJackets (3-5, 3-2 AHA).

That series will take place on Nov. 29, 2019, at 7:05 PM EST, and on Nov. 30, 3019, at 1:05 PM EST.

GO TIGERS!

Game One Stats Against Army

Game Two Stats Against Army