ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The RIT Men's Hockey team fell, 6-1, to visiting Sacred Heart in Atlantic Hockey America play, Saturday.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Sacred Heart got on the board at 6:58 of the first after Mikey Adamson collected his own rebound in the slot and scored behind Tiger first-year goaltender Collin Mackenzie.
• RIT tied the score at 10:11 after first-year Zach Wigle sent a cross-ice feed to sophomore Mason Croucher at the top of left faceoff circle for a wrist shot the scored through Pioneer goaltender Ajeet Gundarah's pads.
• Sacred Heart retook the lead less than three minutes later after Felix Trudeau evaded a defender at the top right corner of the Tiger zone to set up a two-on-one chance. Trudeau sent a short feed to Stephane Huard, who tipped a puck behind Mackenzie inside the left post at 13:52.   
• Sacred Heart scored twice in the second period for a 4-1 lead. Vitaly Levyy finished a counterattack down the right wing with a shot under Mackenzie's pads at 3:37 before Noah Ellis scored on a shot from the point that scored past a screened Mackenzie with 1:34 remaining.
• Sacred Heart scored twice in a 1:05 span for a 6-1 lead early in the third. Huard finished a possession following a Tiger neutral zone turnover at 4:23 before Ray Fust cleaned up a rebound on the crease at 5:28. 

COACH THOMAS SAID
"It was one of those games where I thought we were playing well, but the score wasn't in your favor. We had to start chasing the scoreboard, which is never an easy game to play.
 
"I thought our breakouts were tremendous and our play through neutral ice was great. I thought our line rush for was great and we generated a lot of chances. At the end of the day, their goaltender was tough to beat and they blocked a lot of shots. We generated a lot of chances, but needed to create more be more gritty around the net. We weren't there enough.
 
"I think there are some things we can grab on to that we can improve on, but for me, I'm excited for us because we are building. I could care less that we are 0-2 because we got better this weekend."
 
GAME NOTES

• Croucher notched his first career goal in a Tiger uniform while Wigle and first-year Evan Konyen logged their first collegiate points assisting Croucher's tally.
• RIT finished with a 28-21 advantage in shots.
• RIT was 0-for-4 on the power play but killed all three Pioneer power plays.
• Mackenzie made his first collegiate start, stopping 12 shots in 44 minutes of work before senior Trent Burnham logged three saves over the final 13:20 of the third period.
• Sacred Heart completed the AHA weekend sweep, also earning a 1-0 win on Friday in both teams' season opener. Gundarah followed up Friday's 22-save shutout stopping 27 shots, Saturday. 

WHAT'S NEXT
RIT hosts Clarkson next Saturday (Oct. 18) at 7:05 p.m. in the annual Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend game, to be played in downtown Rochester at the Blue Cross Arena.