SACRED HEART 2, AIR FORCE 1
Friday was a big day for the Knowltons of Colorado Springs. Chris Knowlton, a freshman at the University of Denver, scored a shorthanded goal in the Pioneers’ 4-3 loss to North Dakota in the semifinals of the WCHA Final Five.
Patrick Knowlton, a junior at Sacred Heart University, scored a goal with 42 second left in regulation to propel college hockey’s other Pioneers to a 2-1 Atlantic Hockey tournament semifinal win over three-time league playoff champion Air Force in Rochester, N.Y.
Knowlton’s goal, his 13th of the season, came just 47 seconds after the Falcons’ Jacques Lamoureux scored with goaltender Andrew Volkening pulled in favor of an extra attacker to tie the game at 1-1. Sacred Heart took a 1-0 lead on David Jarman’s goal midway through the second period.
Both goaltenders were outstanding — Volkening and Sacred Heart’s Steven Legatto each stopped 32 shots.
RIT 4, CANISIUS 0
RIT, the top seed in the Atlantic Hockey playoffs, moved one step closer to the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament berth with a 4-0 win against Cansius Friday in Rochester, N.Y.
The Tigers have won nine in a row and 16 of their last 19. During the nine-game winning streak, RIT has outscored its opponents by a 39-12 margin.
“It was complete team effort for all 60 minutes,” said RIT coach Wayne Wilson. “This was the first time in three seasons I thought we completely ready for this game. We were very focused.”
Tyler Brenner and Mike Janda scored less than a minute apart late in the first period to give RIT a 2-0 edge after 20 minutes of play. Andrew Favot extended that lead to 3-0 a little more than eight minutes into the second period with a goal during an RIT two-man advantage. Al Mazur provided the final margin of victory with a power-play goal with six minutes left in regulation.
RIT goaltender Jared DeMichiel stopped all 20 shots he faced en route ot his sixth shutout of the season. Canisius goalie Dan Morrison made 26 saves.
