The American International College ice hockey team fell to the Rochester Institute of Technology on Friday, November 3 in Atlantic Hockey play.


FAST FACTS:
Final score: AIC 3, RIT 5
Records: AIC is now 1-6-2 and 0-3-2 in conference play, while RIT improves to 3-2-1 and 3-0-0 in the league.
Location: Gene Polisseni Center (Rochester, New York)

STATS LEADERS:
AIC:
Brennan Kapcheck (one goal)
Joel Kocur (one goal)
Jared Pike (one goal)
Stefano Durante (one goal allowed, 22 saves)

RIT:
Logan Drackett (27 saves)
Gabe Valenzuela (one goal, one assist)
Abbott Girduckis (two assists)
Myles Powell (two assists)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Tigers chased AIC senior goaltender Alex Murray early, getting out to a 3-0 advantage by 13:06 of the first with goals from Matt Abt, Gabe Valenzeula and Alden Dupuis. After Dupuis's goal, freshman goaltender Stefano Durante took over in net.
• Freshman defenseman Brennan Kapcheck got the Yellow Jackets on the board with 1:10 to go in the first period, off assists from senior forward Johno May and sophomore alternate captain Hugo Reinhardt.
• RIT added another goal in the second period to push the score to 4-1 in the Tigers' favor, but sophomore center Joel Kocur notched his first goal of the year with 1.7 seconds left in the second period to bring the Yellow Jackets within 4-2.
• Sophomore forward Jared Pike cut AIC's deficit to one at 10:35 of the third with his first goal of the year, off assists from senior captain Bryant Christian and senior assistant captain Andrew DeBrincat.
• However, the Tigers scored an empty netter with 53 seconds remaining to secure the 5-3 win.

BUZZWORTHY:

• With his second-period goal, Kocur has already matched his point total (five points) from a year ago - just nine games into the season.
• Kapcheck's goal gave him the team lead in points with seven on the year. He now has seven points in the past seven games, with just one game where he has not scored any points.

COACH'S CORNER:

• "It was kind of a funky game," said AIC hockey coach Eric Lang. "I actually thought we got off to a pretty good startthe one thing I know about RIT, especially in this building, when they get one, they can get two and they can get three, and that's exactly what happened. They're like sharks. A little blood in the water and they can amp it up."
• "I'm very encouraged," Lang added about Durante's play. "He came into a hostile environment and had to make some saves - I thought he did a great job and was pretty calm in there. Very encouraged for Stef."

NEXT UP:

• AIC and RIT conclude the weekend series on Saturday, November 4. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

STAY CONNECTED:

• For more updates about the AIC ice hockey team, follow @AIC_Hockey on Twitter and Instagram, and like AIC Hockey on Facebook. For updates on all AIC Yellow Jackets teams, follow @AICAthletics on Twitter and Instagram, and like AIC Yellow Jackets on Facebook.