ROCHESTER, New York - The American International College ice hockey team play a back-and-forth affair with RIT, as each team held and surrendered the lead in a 3-3 tie on Saturday, February 15. RIT earned the extra Atlantic Hockey America standings point by winning the shootout 2-1.
AIC is now 10-18-2 overall and 8-13-1-0-0-2 in the AHA.
After the previous game needed nearly two full periods to see a goal, the Tigers jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 29 seconds in on a Matthew Wilde tally.
However, AIC bounced back thanks to an early power play. AIC moved the puck around the zone from John Lundy on the right-wing wall to Noah Serdachny at the mid-point to Brett Bamber at the left-wing faceoff dot. Bamber hammered a one-timer on goal that was saved, but the rebound kicked out to Dario Beljo in the slot, and he flicked it over the RIT goalkeeper Ethan David for his ninth of the season at 4:33.
Two minutes later, Beljo struck again; off of a faceoff, Serdachny tied up a Tigers player along the left-wing wall and the puck kicked to Beljo at the top of the faceoff circle. He took two strides in and snapped a shot from the hash mark that beat David high on the blocker side for his second of the game and 10th of the season at 6:33.
The Tigers now needed to come back, and it was Wilde again who made it happen, tying the game at 12:05.
Both teams had second-period chances, with AIC generating two consecutive power plays and then taking two concurrent penalties. While the Yellow Jackets did not strike on their two advantages, they also did not concede a goal in the two minutes of 3-on-5.
In the third, RIT took the lead early, with Ty White snapping the deadlock just 2:39 in.
That lead only survived one shift, however, as AIC scored 40 seconds later. The sequence started with a Chase Clark save, and the rebound came to Jordan Biro on the right wing. He turned it up the wall to Timofei Khokhlachev, who was able to then protect the puck in the neutral zone. Josh Barnes cut through the middle, and Khokhlachev was able to time a pass that allowed Barnes to split the defense and drive in on David. Barnes did not miss his shot, wiring it past David's blocker for his team-best 13th of the season at 3:19.
The Tigers pounded on AIC's net for much of the rest of regulation, but Clark stopped 15 shots in the period to help AIC force overtime. Neither team scored in the extra session, despite two shots on goal for both sides.
In the shootout, Beljo scored again, countering a Christian Catalano tally, but Tanner Andrew's fifth-round finish was the difference to garner RIT the shootout victory.
AIC returns to the MassMutual Center on Tuesday, February 18 at 7:05 p.m. against Sacred Heart University.
