BUFFALO, N.Y. – RIT first-year forward Matthew Wilde notched goal and an assist in the No. 20 Tigers' 3-2 Atlantic Hockey victory at Canisius in the regular season finale, Saturday.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Canisius opened the scoring at 13:54 of the first, taking advantage of a five-minute major on the Tigers. David Melaragni cleaned up a loose puck in front of junior goaltender Tommy Scarfone for a power play goal.
- RIT evened the score with 18.5 left on the first-period clock after first-year forward Tyler Fukakusa battled a puck off the end line to Wilde in the slot for a short finish.
- The teams were scoreless into the third period before fifth-year defenseman Gianfranco Cassaro took a cross-ice feed from senior defenseman Aiden Hansen-Bukata and scored on a power-play shot from the right faceoff circle at 14:57.
- RIT took a two-goal lead less than three minutes later. Wilde chased down a loose puck on the left half boards in the Golden Griffin zone and found Catalano in the slot trailing the play for a finish over goaltender Ethan Robertson's glove at 17:23.
- Canisius got one back with 1:39 left in regulation, but the Tigers held on for the victory.
GAME NOTES
- Wilde notched his 15th goal of the season – tied for the team lead with graduate student forward Elijah Gonsalves – while his assist was his 27th point.
- Cassaro scored his 14th goal of the season as well as his team-leading eighth power play tally this winter. He ranks first nationally in goals among defensemen and tied the D1-era single-season program record he tallied a year ago.
- Scarfone totaled 34 saves for his 34th career game with at least 30 saves. He also improved to 20-8-2 this season to become the first D1-era Tiger with multiple 20-win seasons after winning 22 last year. The victory was also the 50th of his career.
- Catalano tallied what proved to be the game-winning goal after scoring three points on two goals and an assist in Friday's 9-2 victory over the Golden Griffins in Rochester.
- Laskosky notched 38th point and 25th assist of the season – both team highs.
- Hansen-Bukata logged his 24th assist of the campaign.
WHAT'S NEXT
RIT had already clinched the top seed for the Atlantic Hockey Tournament. Following a bye next week, RIT will host a best-of-three quarterfinal series on March 8-10 against the lowest remaining seed following next weekend's first round. Stay tuned to RITathletics.com and @RITMHKY for the latest updates.
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