Third Period Surge Sends Men’s Ice Hockey Past Morrisville, 5-2

RUTLAND, Vt. – After trailing 2-1 following forty minutes of play, the Rivier men's ice hockey team used a four-goal third period to down Morrisville 5-2 on Friday evening at Spartan Arena in the first game of the Terry Moran Invitational Tournament hosted by Castleton.

The Raiders now sit at 3-4-1 on the season while the Mustangs now hold a record of 1-8-0 (1-5-0 SUNYAC).

With a Raider in the penalty box, Morrisville's Jacob Black tipped in the first goal of the evening with assists credited to Curtis Abbott and Stevie Gerbis at 1:36 in the second.

To tie the score at 1-1, Cormac Hayes of Rivier flicked in a goal into the upper left corner with an assist generated by Jon Tavella with 5:08 left in the period.

To wrap up the second period, a Rivier defender turnover resulted in Trevor Grasby picking up the puck and sliding it to Cameron Clark who recorded a Mustang goal, taking back the lead at 2-1.

Rivier would go on to put away four unanswered goals in the third period to earn a spot in Saturday's championship game.

Tavella was the first to score in the third with a slapshot from the left side of the ice with an assist from Hayes.

Off a faceoff, Damon Kiyawasew was able to nudge the puck towards Tyler Sitnikov who quickly shoved in a goal in the seventh minute, which would serve as the eventual game-winning goal for the Raiders.  

With under five minutes to play, Alfred Rotiroti raced up the ice, finding Jack Tos who lit the lamp, increasing Riv's lead to 4-2.  

Sitnikov scored his second goal of the game by sneaking around the Mustangs' goaltender for the final tally of the contest.

It was a penalty-heavy contest with the Raiders receiving 20 minutes on six infractions and the Mustangs receiving 16 minutes on eight infractions. Rivier went 0-for-7 on the man advantage, while Morrisville was scoreless on its solo try.

Rivier outshot Morrisville 38-21 in the contest. Luke Newell was an asset to the Raiders squad tonight, making 19 saves in net to collect his second victory of the campaign.

With the win, Rivier evened the all-time series against the Mustangs at 2-2-1.

The Raiders will compete again tomorrow in the championship against the host Spartans with a puck drop of 4:00 p.m.