RIT defeats Air Force, 5-2

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – RIT scored three third-period goals for a 5-2 win over Air Force in an Atlantic Hockey game Saturday, Feb. 25, at the Gene Polisseni Center in Rochester, N.Y. Air Force closed out its season with an overall record of 12-22-2 and 8-17-1 in the AHA.

Air Force's first shot of the game beat RIT goalie Kolby Matthews at 2:37 of the first period. Brandon Koch found Willie Reim on the right wing and Reim gained the zone. Reim's pass through the slot was right on the tape of Andrew DeCarlo and the sophomore netted his fifth of the season. Late in the period, RIT tied the game as Colton Trumbla scored with a wrister from the top of the left circle on the rush at 17:04.

RIT (22-11-1, 18-7-1 AHA) scored the only goal of the second period when Gianfranco Cassaro scored his second of the series with a wrister from the right circle at 3: 28.

Air Force tied the game midway through the third period. Holt Oliphant forced a turnover in the Falcon end and sprung Austin Schwartz for a breakaway. Schwartz went five-hole and the puck trickled through the pads of goalie Kolby Matthews at 7:00. The Tigers answered as Ryan Nicholson scored with a wrister from the high slot at 11:28. Trialing 3-2, Air Force pulled the goalie with 2:50 remaining and RIT's Tanner Andrew scored two empty-netters to make up the final margin. Andrew, who had two goals in Friday's game, scored with 2:31 and 1:50 remaining.

"I thought this was a winnable game, but we have had a lot of winnable games. We just didn't find a way to get it done. That's the bottom line," head coach Frank Serratore said. "This game was a microcosm of our season. Teams either find a way to win close games or lose them. Unfortunately, we found ways to lose a lot of close games. We need a major reset. We will come back,"

RIT, the AHA regular season champions, outshot Air Force, 34-27, in the game. Maiszon Balboa made 29 saves for the Falcons while Matthews made 25 for the Tigers. Senior Austin Park played the final 1:50 in goal for the Falcons. RIT was 0-for-3 on the power play while Air Force was 0-for-2.

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Team Stats

Austin Schwartz

Andrew DeCarlo

Willie Reim

Holt Oliphant

Players Mentioned

Maiszon Balboa

Andrew DeCarlo

Brandon Koch

Holt Oliphant

Austin Park

Willie Reim

Austin Schwartz

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