No. 20 Men's Hockey earns 7-6 OT comeback win at Mercyhurst

ERIE, Pa. – RIT sophomore forward Simon Isabelle scored the game-winning goal with 12.7 seconds left in overtime to lead the No. 20 Tigers to a 7-6 comeback victory at Mercyhurst, Friday, in Atlantic Hockey action.
 
Trailing, 5-3, with under five minutes left in the second period and later, 6-4, with 12:25 left in the third, RIT finished the game with three unanswered goals, including the game-tying goal by senior defenseman Aiden Hansen-Bukata with 36.2 seconds left in regulation, to improve to 6-0-1 in its last seven games. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• RIT took a 1-0 first-period lead following a Mercyhurst tripping penalty. Fifth-year defenseman Gianfranco Cassaro took a long cross from graduate student forward Elijah Gonsalves in the right faceoff circle and took a shot on goal that deflected of Laker goaltender Simon Bucheler's pads in front of the crease. First-year forward Christian Catalano jumped on the loose puck and scored inside the left post at 11:45.
• Mercyhurst answered with a power play goal of its own at 17:36 of the first when Adrien Bisson scored on a shot that deflected through a crowd in front of the crease past Tiger junior goalkeeper Tommy Scarfone.
• Less than a minute later, Isabelle won a faceoff to the left of Bucheler to junior forward Grady Hobbs, who slid a pass to Cassaro along the left boards. Cassaro skated into the left corner and cut toward the net along the goal line to score on a shot behind Bucheler with 1:36 remaining in the first.
• Mercyhurst retied the score, 2-2, with a short-handed tally off a Tiger turnover at 4:22 of the second, but RIT retook a 3-2 lead 1:02 later after graduate student Ryan Nicholson took a shot from the left point that deflected to the right corner. Sophomore defenseman Gustav Blom grabbed the loose puck and scored on a shot from a steep angle that went into the net off Bucheler's pads.  
• Mercyhurst later responded with three goals during a 4:09 span, including another short-handed goal, for a 5-3 lead at 15:20 of the second.
• The Tigers got one back at 4:25 of the third after Nicholson slid a pass from the left boards to Blom at the point for a long shot on goal. Sophomore forward Philippe Jacques tipped Blom's shot inside the right post.
• Mercyhurst retook a two-goal lead three minutes later after Garrett Dahm chased a puck down in the Tiger zone and flipped a puck from the left corner to Boris Skalos in the slot for a tip past Scarfone.
• Midway through the third, junior forward Carter Wilkie jumped on a loose puck along the left boards in the Tiger zone and flipped a pass forward to senior forward Cody Laskosky, who skated a puck all the way down the left wing and scored over Bucheler, near post, at 10:15.  
• RIT tied the game with 37.1 left in regulation, skating with an empty net. Laskosky had a puck deflected low in the slot over the Laker net to Wilkie, who found Hansen-Bukata open in the left faceoff circle for a one-timer inside the left post.  
• In the final seconds of overtime, Cassaro took a shot from the high slot which had initially been smothered by Bucheler, but came out into the low slot. Gonsalves was there to slide a quick pass to Isabelle for the deciding one-timer inside an open left post.  

GAME NOTES

• RIT came back to win after trailing by three goals in the third period for the first time since making up a 4-1 deficit in a 5-4 win over visiting Canisius (Jan. 25, 2020) four seasons ago.
• Hansen-Bukata scored his fourth goal of the season and third in the Tigers' last four games. He also notched the game-tying goal with 41.6 seconds left in regulation of the Tigers' 2-1 OT win opposite Bentley (Jan. 27) and netted what proved to be the game-winner in last Saturday's 4-2 comeback win over Niagara.
• Cassaro ended the game with three points, including his 13th goal of the season – the most nationally among defensemen. He is one short of the single-season D1-era program record 14 he tallied a season ago.
• Laskosky finished the game with a goal and an assist for a career-high 30-points while moving into a tie for 25th on RIT's D1-era scoring list with 73 points, including his 30th career goal.
• Wilkie's two assist night pushed him one short of 100 career points with 38 goals and 61 assists to date – tied for 14th in D1-era history.
• With two assists, Gonsalves moved into a tie for 18th on the Tigers' D1-era scoring list with 92 points (39 goals/53 assists).
• Isabelle logged his second career game-winning goal and his first in overtime.
• Nicholson finished with two assists while making his 150th career appearance in a Tiger sweater – only the eighth RIT player to hit the milestone.
• Hobbs played his 100th career game.
• RIT out-shot Mercyhurst, 47-29
• Scarfone made his 80th career appearance in goal, stopping 23 shots for his 17th victory of the season.
• RIT tied its season-high goal total, also scoring seven in a 7-1 victory over visiting Robert Morris (Jan. 20)
• The Tigers allowed the most goals since a 6-1 setback to Penn State (Dec. 30, 2022) last season. 

WHAT'S NEXT
RIT takes on the host Lakers in a rematch on Saturday (Feb. 10) at 4:00 p.m.