Hockey Suffers 4-1 Defeat at RIT

Saturday, October 8

Rochester, NY

5:00 PM

Army West Point

0-2-1, 0-2-0

RIT

2-1-0, 2-0-0

Army

RIT

Photo by: Rebecca Villagracia / RIT Athlet

Hockey Suffers 4-1 Defeat at RIT

October 08, 2022 | Hockey

Box Score

ROCHESTER,N.Y. - Army West Point hockey (0-2-1, 0-2-0 AHA) fell 4-1 to RIT (2-1-0, 2-0-0 AHA) on Saturday evening as the Tigers completed the two-game sweep. Neither team could stay out of the penalty box throughout the contest, combining for 23 penalties and 84 penalty minutes.

John Keranen scored the lone goal for the Black Knights to make it a 2-1 game late in the first period while Gavin Abric made 31 saves in goal for Army.

The Tigers were able to avenge last season's series at Gene Polisseni Center, where it was Army who took all six points.

After a scoreless first period last night, RIT struck first just 3:17 into the game when Gianfranco Cassaro found space in front of net for a clean look. On a night that would feature a plethora of penalties and power plays, RIT was able to capitalize on its first chance of the night with a power play goal at the 12:18 mark to go ahead 2-0 very early on.

Facing the same deficit on Friday night, Army battled back with a power play goal from John Keranen with 2:35 remaining in the first period. Anthony Firriolo collected a pass at the point from Joey Baez, before wristing one in front of net that Keranen would get a stick to and put past Kolby Matthews in the RIT goal. Three players would see 10-minute misconduct penalties in the final minute of the period.

Army would have its best chance of the night at the 6:32 mark in the second period, receiving a 5-on-3 opportunity with one of the penalties being a major. Army was unable to capitalize, with Firriolo seeing a pair of shots saved by Matthews. The teams would go on to trade penalties multiple times in the period, producing a lengthy stretch of play that would not feature five-on-five hockey. The eventful second period was ultimately a scoreless one.

After the Black Knights opened the final frame on the five-on-four, RIT quickly scored their third goal of the game after killing off the penalty to make it 3-1. RIT would then have a breakaway chance while shorthanded, with Abric standing tall for one of his 31 saves on the night. Abric would go on to save a penalty shot from Tanner Andrew with just under three minutes to play, with RTI adding an empty net goal with five seconds left on the clock to make the final score 4-1.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Anthony Firriolo tabbed his first point of the season with his first period assist. Firriolo led all Army returners with 21 points last season.
Joey Baez has collected a point in each game this season, picking up an assist on the Keranen goal while firing seven shots on goal.
John Keranen scored his first goal of the season while tying Baez and Brett Abdelnour with a team-high three points.
Gavin Abric made 31 saves in net and holds a .908 save percentage and 2.64 GAA through three games this season.
Joey Dosan made his collegiate debut for Army, the eighth Black Knight to do so through three contests.
Noah Wilson blocked four shots and ties Michael Sacco for the team lead with seven.