By Tommy Kane

Published: November 17th, 2019

Chapter 7: Shot Through the Heart

Tiger News and Notes

The Tigers were 27-13-2 against the Pioneers prior to the series.

Thomas Maia (F) broke his leg in a practice prior to the series. Timetable to return unknown.

Nov. 16, 2019, was a memorial night for Kristine Brassie. Played hockey at RIT from 1994-1999 and had a huge impact at RIT.



The RIT Tigers (7-3-2, 4-2-2 AHA) were swept by the Sacred Heart Pioneers (6-5-1, 6-3-0 AHA) at the Gene Polisseni Center on Nov. 15 and Nov. 16, 2019.

The first game (Nov. 15) was a whopping 9-5 contest, while the second game (Nov. 16) was only a slimmer score of 3-1.

Great Play All-Around

With the Tigers being 7-1-2 prior to the series against Sacred Heart, it is clear that there is chemistry within the organization.

Jake Joffe (F), has scored a goal in each of the last two series (against Holy Cross and Niagara).

“I’m just getting good bounces, being at the right place at the right time, and driving to the net,” Joffe said in regards to his performance. “Good things happen when you stay around the net.”

Will Calverley (F) has also had a pretty solid performance thus far in the season (five goals, two assists), and it is evident that his line is playing well as of late.

“We have pretty good chemistry. Kobe [Kobe Walker (F)] and I have played together for the majority of last year and Brucey [Nick Bruce (F)] has just started to play with us. We have just been clicking ever since and we are just keeping the ball rolling,” he explained.

Look for the Tigers to continue feeding off this chemistry and earning more wins.

The Coach’s Corner

Head Coach, Wayne Wilson, felt that the team played pretty solid for most of the prior series against Niagara, despite resulting in a tie the first match.

“I thought we played well throughout the whole weekend with the exception of the first period on Friday [Nov. 8, 2019], and we didn’t play poorly but we played average. We didn’t get the results we should of in that tie, because we had great scoring chances towards the end of the game,” he stated. “Those things will happen to you sometimes. Sometimes the puck goes in for you, sometimes it doesn’t. On Saturday [Nov. 9, 2019], I was overall happy.”

Coach Wilson is also overall pleased with the way the team has played this season and is looking for another successful series against Sacred Heart.

A Game to Forget

RIT Hockey Celebrating After a Goal

Friday’s match was a very physical match and had a total of 14 goals scored in it. Sacred Heart had 9 of them with the win.

The game started off very poorly for the Tigers, as the Pioneers scored 4 goals in 8 minutes and 36 seconds. Austin Magera, Vito Bavaro, Jordan Kaplan, and Jason Cotton all tallied against Tigers goalie, Logan Drackett (G), warranting him being pulled out for Ian Andriano (G).

Joffe then scored for the Tigers and cut the lead to 4-1, but Todd Goehring quickly scored right after making it 5-1 at the end of the first period.

In the second period, the Pioneers got on a 5-on-3 powerplay and cashed two goals in on it. Bavaro and Austin McIlmurray were the scorers. The game was then 7-1.

Andrew Rinaldi (F) got on a breakaway towards the end of the second stanza and put the puck past Sacred Heart goalie, Josh Benson. The game was 7-2 at the end of the period.

Kobe Walker (F) got to work early for the Tigers and lit the lamp twice, with his first one being his first goal of the season. By 7-4, Sacred Heart led early in the third period.

But, Jeppe Urup cut the momentum like a string when he scored his first collegiate goal for the Pioneers.

Rounding out the slugfest, Nick Bruce (F) scored and then Kaplan scored. The game was then 9-5, and Kolby Matthews (G) got his first experience on the ice as Andriano was pulled.

RIT had 22 shots, while Sacred Heart had an enormous 44 shots. The Tigers scored once on the powerplay after having four opportunities, but the Pioneers took advantage of their five chances and scored on three of them. In the Pioneer net, Josh Benson saved 17 of 22 (.773) shots.

All three Tiger goalies played. Drackett stopped 6 of 10 (.600) shots, Andriano stopped 27 of 32 (.844) shots, and Matthews stopped all 2 shots he faced.

More Difficulty For the Tigers

Elijah Gonsalves Playing the Puck

Saturday’s match involved less scoring than the prior, with the game only being 3-1 in the Pioneers favor.

Most of the first period involved back and forth action, with Drackett making a few big saves.

It wasn’t until midway through the second stanza that someone broke the ice. Cotton scored another goal in the series, this time on a powerplay, and gave Sacred Heart the 1-0 lead.

RIT made a few attempts to tie up the game, but the Pioneers scored another one, this time in the early stages of the third period. Alex Bates got out on the breakaway and put the puck past Drackett, giving his side a 2-0 lead.

The Tigers had numerous amounts of powerplays in the third period, while also getting chances. They pulled Drackett, but Sacred Heart took advantage of the empty net and scored.

RIT, late in the third, pulled Drackett to get the extra attacker on once again. This time, on the powerplay, Caleb Moretz put the lone Tiger goal home.

The 3-1 Tiger loss saw the Tigers with 29 shots and the Pioneers with 26 shots. In terms of the powerplay, each team scored once. In the Tiger net, Drackett saved 23 of 25 (.927) shots, and Benson stopped 28 of 29 (.966) shots for the Pioneers.

Road Trip to Round Out November

On Nov. 22 and 23, 2019, the Tigers will be heading to West Point, NY., to play the Army West Point Black Knights (6-3, 4-3 AHA). The first game will be at 7:05 PM EST, while the second will be at 4:05 PM EST.

Following that series, RIT will go to Springfield, MA., to face off against the defending AHA Champions, the AIC Yellowjackets (3-5, 3-2 AHA). They will play on Nov. 29, 2019, at 7:05 PM EST, and on Nov. 30, 2019, at 1:05 PM EST.

GO TIGERS!

Game One Stats Against Sacred Heart

Game Two Stats Against Sacred Heart