Senior Corey Boulio netted a team-high three goals and classmate Travis Wright stopped 18 shots, but host RIT rallied with seven straight goals to close out the first half, as the Tigers earned a 20-6 victory over Utica College in Empire 8 Conference play Wednesday. Senior Michael Bulger added two goals and one assist as the Pioneers dropped to 5-9 overall and 3-4 in conference play and weakened their chances of the programs first conference tournament berth.
RIT, which outshot Utica 57-23 on the day, improved to 10-5 overall and 5-2 in the highly competitive Empire 8 Conference.
After ten minutes of 0-0 play, the Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead behind two goals from Sean Gillies before Utica answered with its first goal of the contest, from the stick of Boulio, to cut the lead to 2-1 with 1:51 to go in the first quarter. Senior Reed Reynolds was credited with an assist on Boulio's first goal of the day. RIT added one more before the first quarter horn and took a 3-1 advantage into the first intermission.
Boulio opened the second quarter with his second goal of the day to cut the RIT lead to 3-2 before the Tigers exploded for seven straight to take a commanding 10-2 lead into halftime.
The Pioneers were only able to gather four goals in the second half and RIT continued to pour on the offense as they earned the 14 goal victory. Bulger netted the Pioneers first two goals of the second half, while Boulio added his third of the day with 6:48 to go in the game. Michael Brodhead assisted on Bulger's second goal of the game. Freshman Ben Winkler netted his ninth goal of the season with less than five minutes to go to wrap up the scoring on the evening.
Senior Robert Schloop totaled four ground balls and added a team-high three caused turnovers for Utica. Matthew Crouse and Andrew Waite each scooped up four ground balls for UC.
Gillies led the way for RIT with four goals and one assist, while Iric Bressler, Tyler Russell and Tanner King each netted three goals.
Bulger is the Pioneers leading scorer this season with 55 points on 37 goals and 18 assists.
UC returns to action on Saturday when it travels to St. John Fisher to take on the Cardinals at Growney Stadium. The contest is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
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