The Rockets took on another pair of TSCHL opponents this past weekend as they faced off against Wright State on Friday and then the University of Pittsburgh on Saturday.  Both games would be critical to the Rockets quest for a TSCHL championship.

With Wright State’s goalie playing well, goals were hard to come by in the first period of play.  Freshman Zach Born managed to finally break a zero-zero tie with only 1:51 left in the first.  He had help from Brent Bain and Zach Kinney on the marker.

The Rocket’s lead didn’t last long as Wright State managed to put one past tender Zach Cherney very early in the 2^nd period.  The Rockets came right back though and reeled off three unanswered goals to take a commanding 4-1 lead.  Scoring during this stretch were Bain with help from Scott Girardi, Justin Phillips on a great tip off a nice pass from Justin Saunders and Henrick Kenjfl, and Sven Weisser on a hustle play with the help of Nate Connolly and Dan Lopez.

The Rockets continued the high scoring attack with three more goals in the third.  The combination of Bain, Born, and Kinney came together again to add the first goal of the period.  This time Bain finished it with Born and Kinney helping out.  Freshman Logan Myers earned his first collegiate goal on an assist from Cody Goldstein.  Goldstein then took one for himself with a slap shot set up by passes from Connolly and Garryt Kujawa.

The team didn’t have long to enjoy its 7-1 victory though.  They quickly had to reset and regroup for a 12:30 pm game against the University of Pittsburgh on Saturday.  The growing rivalry with Pitt was on full display from the get-go in this contest.  Less then a minute into the game, Connolly and a Pitt Panther took matching roughing penalties and the parade to the penalty box was underway.  Ryan Sell did manage to put the Rockets on top to start the game with help from Knejfl and Bain but the lead wouldn’t last as Pitt was able to tie the score late in the period.

As the Rockets continued to have trouble staying out of the penalty box, Pitt was able to capitalize adding two power play goals early in the second period.  Born was finally able to get the team back on track with a tally late in the period.  Connolly added the assist.

Down 3-2 going into the third, the Rockets knew they would have to press hard to put at least two past Pitt’s all-conference goalie.  Unfortunately, penalties derailed any chance of that and Pitt was able to shut the door.  To add insult to injury, Pitt managed to add two more insurance goals before the final buzzer to make the score 5-2.

The Rockets look to get back to their winning ways during the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend as they take on perennial ACHA power Michigan State and have the opportunity to see Grand Valley State, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, Michigan-Dearborn, Saginaw Valley, and Wayne State.  All of these teams along with the Rockets, will be participating in the first-ever Great Lakes Showcase hosted by the University of Michigan-Dearborn.  Keep up with the Rocket’s in-game updates by following them on either Twitter or Facebook.