Men's Hockey defeats Mercyhurst, 4-2, for first AHA win of the season

ERIE, Pa. – RIT junior forward Simon Isabelle scored two goals in a 4-2 victory over host Mercyhurst in Atlantic Hockey action, Saturday.
 
First-year goaltender Jakub Krbecek totaled 31 saves to preserve his second victory of the season while the Tigers earned the conference spilt after the Lakers took Friday night's opener by a 4-2 margin.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• RIT opened the scoring at 9:42 of the second after Krbecek snuffed a Mercyhurst rush with a save. Graduate student forward Nick Cafarelli collected the loose puck in the slot and skated around the Tiger net before sending a long outlet pass from below the goal line to Isabelle just outside the opposite blue line. Isabelle skated in alone on Laker goaltender Simon Bucheler and deked a backhanded shot inside the left post.
• Mercyhurst answered just over a minute later with a power-play goal following a Tiger cross-checking penalty. Will Margel redirected a shot from the point by Dustin Geregach past Krbececk to knot the score at 10:53.
• RIT retook the lead on a goal by junior forward Philippe Jacques 1:23 later. Junior forward Tyler Mahan caused a turnover in the Mercyhurst zone before first-year defenseman Tristan Allen collected the loose puck and dumped it to empty space on the left boards. Senior forward Douglas Scott got to the puck and spun for a one-timer from the left faceoff circle that was blocked in traffic, but Jacques buried the rebound past Bucheler's stick.
• RIT scored the lone goal of the second period for a 3-1 lead. Cafarelli skated the puck down the left boards on a counter attack, putting on the brakes at the top of the face-off circle to hit a streaking Allen at the right point. Allen sent a pass low in the zone outside the left post to Isabelle, who snapped a one-timer behind Bucheler at 15:34.
• Mercyhurst got one back with 1:26 left in regulation following a Tiger Holding penalty. Skating six-on-four after also pulling Bucheler, Mickey Burns scored on a shot through traffic to make it a one-goal game.
• Mercyhurst pulled Bucheler shortly after the ensuing faceoff, but sophomore forward Tyler Fukakusa tacked on an empty-net goal with 53 seconds remaining to seal the victory.   

GAME NOTES

• Isabelle logged his first-career two-goal game with his first two tallies of the season. Jacques' goal was also his first of the season.
• Allen's two assists were his first career points in a Tiger sweater while Douglas' assist was also his first career point. Allen also blocked two shots.
• Cafarelli notched a career-high two assists for the second time in his career and for the first time since logging two in a 6-3 setback at Maine (Feb. 18, 2022) during his sophomore campaign at New Hampshire.
• RIT out-shot Mercyhurst, 41-33, as Bucheler finished with 37 saves in the losing effort. 
• Saturday's game was RIT's 700th at the NCAA Division I level. Since making the jump from Division III in 2005-06, the Tigers have compiled a 347-285-68 (.544 W%) record the last 20 seasons. 

WHAT'S NEXT
RIT hosts Bowling Green next Saturday (Oct. 19) in the annual Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend game at Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester. Faceoff is set for 7:05 p.m.