WALTHAM, Mass. – Freshman
Saxton Tess scored 1:58 into overtime to give the Falcons a 4-3 victory over RIT on Friday night at Bentley Arena.
It was the first NCAA goal for Tess, who slammed home the puck on the far post after taking a cross-ice pass on the right wing from
James Duerr. Duerr entered the offensive zone along the boards after receiving the puck from
Alec Leonard, who then found Tess with a sharp pass for the winning goal.
The Falcons bounced back in overtime after RIT tied the game with 31 seconds left in regulation. With an extra attacker on the ice, Matthew Wilde scored from the right faceoff circle to knot the game 3-3. That was Wilde's third goal of the night for a hat trick.
Bentley improved to 4-1 in Atlantic Hockey games and 5-4 overall.
In the early goings, the Falcons took a 1-0 lead on a goal by senior
Peter Kramer.
Dylan Cook gained control of the puck in the neutral zone and fed Kramer, who skated into the offensive zone and ripped a shot to light the lamp at 8:34.
RIT tied the game on a power play goal by Wilde four minutes later.
Bentley then outscored the Tigers 2-0 in the second period.
Josh Giuliani notched his first as a Falcon at 5:07 with a beautiful move around an RIT defender and a backhanded finish for the goal.
At the 10:40 mark, Duerr scored his third of the season off a rebound in front for a 3-1 Bentley lead.
Wilde scored his second of the night, on the power play, at 5:41 of the third period to cut Bentley's lead to 3-2.
The Falcons will look for the series sweep on Saturday night at 6:05 pm.
