The new year saw a six-team logjam in the middle of the Atlantic Hockey standings. Two of those teams started 2016 with a home-and-home series.
RIT hosted and won the first game in commanding fashion on a Saturday afternoon against Mercyhurst, 4-2. The victory meant RIT, who trailed the Lakers by a point, now leads the team from Erie, Penn., by a point.
“Tonight, we were in pretty good control,” RIT coach Wayne Wilson said. “Pretty clean game for coming off the break.”
“I don’t think we played particularly well; I like RIT’s team,” Mercyhurst coach Rich Gotkin said. “I thought we got a little better as the game went on.”
RIT controlled the game from the get-go, but it took them till 17:18 before scoring their first goal. Michael Holland’s shot from down low hit the goalie in the shoulder and rebounded all the way out to the right point.
Caleb Cameron fired a one-timer over Brando Wildung’s shoulder.
It appeared RIT took a 2-0 lead in the second period when Alex Perron-Fontaine lifted it over a pile of bodies. However, upon video review, it was determined Mark Logan pushed a defender on top of the goaltender.
The Tigers did eventually get a second goal at 12:15 when Liam Kerins fired it in right off the faceoff, which was won by Gabe Valenzuela.
The teams traded power-play tallies in the third. First, Mercyhurst got some hope when Jack Riley took a rebound off the backboards and buried it into the open near side.
Then, after completely controlling their own man advantage, Brady Norrish walked it to the right circle and wristed it in.
“I told the guys we have to start worrying about the process and not the score,” Wilson said. “We have to stick with what we’re doing and the score will take care of itself. I thought we kept our composure [after letting up a power-play goal] and had some good shifts.”
“When it was 2-1 it was interesting; then, we take a real selfish penalty,” Gotkin said. “When you take a penalty like that, usually you get scored against. It took the wind out of our sails.”
A minute later, Perron-Fontaine pounced on a loose puck which slipped through the goalie’s pads to easily scoop it into the open net to make it 4-1.
RIT had another goal waved off when a shot from the red line eluded Wildung, but the Tigers were clearly offside.
Mercyhurst got the last goal in the waning minutes when Josh Lammon put in a rebound from a Riley shot.
RIT outshot Mercyhurst, 45-29, forcing Wildung to make 41 saves. Mike Rotolo “only” needed 27 saves for the win.
Coming into the day, the standings were all about pairs. Holy Cross and Robert Morris were tied for first with a comfortable seven-point lead. Mercyhurst and Bentley were tied for third. One point behind were RIT and Canisius. One point behind them were Air Force and Army West Point.
Thus, every point is ultra important, and RIT nabbed the first two of the calendar year.
“We’ve played well,” Wilson said. “There’s a logjam. The important part is getting the bye, getting home ice, and then make it to the week of the final four. But we are so far from that and there will be so many twists and turns I think are going to happen in our league. It’s going to be an exciting finish for everyone.”
“For us just having one senior and two juniors and the rest sophomores and freshmen playing, we’re not going to worry about the standings now,” Gotkin said. “We’re just trying to get some experience and figure out who we are.”
The teams head west on I-90 for a Sunday evening matchup.
