ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Austin Orszulak scored with 6.8 seconds remaining in the third period to force overtime and an eventual 3-3 tie for American International against RIT on Friday night.
The Yellow Jackets’ leading scorer managed to find the back of the net despite being singled out in RIT’s gameplan.
“We knew 17 was a shooter,” said RIT coach Wayne Wilson. “Obviously, his goals say that as well.”
It was his 14th goal of the season for Orszulak, which places him in a tie with RIT’s Matt Garbowsky and three others for the most in Division I.
RIT opened the scoring 5:03 into the first period when the Tigers forced a turnover behind the Yellow Jackets net and Caleb Cameron tipped in a shot from the point. Just a few minutes later, AIC tied the game when forward Jason Popek picked the top corner over RIT goaltender Jordan Ruby.
Early in the second period, AIC took two penalties 22 seconds apart, creating an extended 5-on-3 advantage for RIT. The Tigers scored on the two-man advantage when Brad McGowan found the rebound of a Garbowsky shot. Alex Kuqali picked up his second assist of the night on McGowan’s goal.
A few minutes after killing their second penalty of the period, the Yellow Jackets again tied the game on a goal from Matt Cassidy. AIC carried the 2-2 tie into the third period despite being outshot 14-6, thanks to the solid play of goaltender Alex Murray.
Despite an even score and a 25-16 advantage in shots, Wilson was unhappy with his team’s play the first two periods.
“I thought it was a very sloppy game on our part for the first two periods,” he said. “It’s getting to be tiring here.”
Wilson liked his team’s third period much better than the first two, though. RIT opened the scoring on a goal from Josh Mitchell and spent noticeably more time in the offensive zone, outshooting the Yellow Jackets by a margin of 16-8 for the third.
Murray turned in an impressive third period in net for AIC, making several spectacular saves to keep the deficit to just one goal. His efforts were rewarded when Orszulak scored the tying goal on the power play, following a last-minute slashing penalty to RIT’s Brandon Thompson.
RIT outshot the Yellow Jackets again in overtime, but were unable to put anymore shots past Murray.
