The RIT Tigers (2-0) skated to a 7-1 win over the Hobart Statesmen (1-1) in the championship game of the Chase Rochester Cup Tournament. The Tigers converted on three of six power-play opportunities, and rode a four-goal second period to the victory, the third straight time that RIT has won the tournament title.
RIT opened the scoring just 2:31 in to the first period. Mike Tarantino slapped in a rebound sitting on the doorstep of the Hobart net to give the Tigers the 1-0 lead.
However, Hobart answered with a goal of its own to tie the game up. Craig Levey sent a hard shot on net from the right faceoff dot, and Tiger netminder Tyler Euverman deflected the rebound to the center of the slot. Kevin Coakley collected the puck there and slid it into the empty net for the goal.
Hobart hung tough for the remainder of the first period, playing even against a highly-ranked RIT team.
“The second and third periods are the kind of hockey I want my team to play,” said RIT coach Wayne Wilson. “With this game, I can hold up the first period — and the other periods — to the boys, and show them the difference of how we should and shouldn’t play.”
Hobart was unable to convert on two power plays early in the second period, and those lost opportunities would come back to haunt them.
The Statesmen then got in to some penalty trouble of their own, and RIT took advantage to score a pair of power-play goals by midway through the second stanza.
“We needed a wakeup call,” said Wilson. “Hobart’s strong play showed us that this season won’t always be easy.”
Ryan Fairbarn redirected in a pass for a power-play goal at the 7:51 mark, and Jerry Galway rifled one from the point at 11:22 for another power-play goal to get the RIT steamroller going.
Galway added another even-strength goal later in the period, and transfer phenom David Bagley chipped in a rebound in the closing seconds of the period to give RIT a 5-1 lead heading in to the second intermission.
The Tigers added two more goals in the third period, by Erol McDonald and Shawn Wilkins, to net the 7-1 final score.
