By Warren Kozireski
Tied 1-1 after the first period, RIT scored three of the next four goals—one shorthanded and one empty-netter—to defeat Niagara 4-2 in the Tigers home opener.
Freshman Julian DeMiglio scored his first collegiate goal at 22:55 in the second and Will Moore scored shorthanded a little less than four minutes later to make it 3-1 RIT.
After Niagara freshman Adam Gionta (Clarence)(Pictured above last year) netted his first collegiate goal early in the third period to close the gap to one, Moore scored the empty-netter in the final minute after the Tigers weathered over two minutes of six-on-five with the Purple Eagles goaltender pulled.
“I thought yesterday as a team we had a tough game up and down (a 4-1 loss at Niagara) and tonight…it turned into fortunate bounces for myself,” Moore said.
“Our depth found a way; I didn’t necessarily like our discipline tonight (10 penalties and seven power play chances against), but I loved our penalty kill,” RIT head coach Matt Thomas said.
RIT next travels to tenth ranked UMass for two games before returning home Oct. 17 for their Brick City Homecoming contest at the Blue Cross Arena against third-ranked Michigan State. Niagara is at Notre Dame and Bowling Green over the next two weekends for two games each.
