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ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men’s hockey team staved off elimination on Saturday with a 6-4 win over Holy Cross in game two of the best-of-three quarterfinal series of the 2009 Atlantic Hockey Association Tournament. The win gives RIT their 22nd win of the season, a Division I school record. The Tigers have not been swept in a weekend series this season.
These same two teams will face off on Sunday evening at 7:05 in game three of the best-of-three series. The winner advances to the semifinals next weekend at Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Tickets are on sale Sunday at the Gordon Field House from 12-5 p.m.
“We played with much more emotion tonight,” said RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson. “It was a must win, and we won it, to set up what should be a great game tomorrow night.”
Brennan Sarazin (Nepean, ON) and
Tyler Brenner (Linwood, ON) led RIT with a goal and two assists apiece.
Dan Ringwald (Oakville, ON) had a goal and an assist and
Chris Haltigin (Oakville, ON) and
Bobby Raymond (Lucknow, ON) each had a goal.
RIT took a 1-0 lead with an even strength goal at 16:43 of the first period.
Sean Murphy (Owatonna, MN) ripped a slap shot from the slot. Holy Cross goalie Ian Dams made the save but lost sight of the puck as it crept between his legs. Bobby Raymond sped in from his defensive position and poked home the loose puck for his sixth of the season and first of the post season.
Louis Menard (Chicoutimi, PQ) was sharp for RIT in the first period. None more so than with 12:50 remaining he made two big saves. Jay Silvia fired a shot that Menard saved the rebound came to Brodie Sheahan who one-timed a shot. Menard slid across his crease and made the pad save keeping the game scoreless.
Chris Haltigin made it 2-0 RIT 1:55 into the second period. He fired a wrist shot through a screen that Dams never saw. Tyler Brenner kept the puck in the zone for RIT and
Alan Mazur (Burnaby, BC) had the other assist on the play as he fed it to Haltigin.
J.P. Martignetti ripped a perfectly placed slap shot that cut RIT’s lead to 2-1. Brodie Sheahan and Matt Davis had the assists on the play.
Dan Ringwald gave the Tigers a two-goal lead at 8:11 of the second.
Stevan Matic (Burnaby, BC) won the face-off inside the Holy Cross zone.
Brent Alexin (West Seneca, NY) gathered the puck, skated around the back of the net and found a wide open Ringwald in the slot. His wrist shot beat Dams cleanly.
Jordan Cyr poked home a loose puck in front of Louis Menard who was pushed into the net by a Crusaders forward.
Brennan Sarazin gave the Tigers a 4-2 lead with a short-handed goal at 16:54 of the second. Matt Davis tried to dump the puck in. The puck was deflected into the neutral zone by Sarazin who out-raced two Holy Cross defenders and beat Dams for RIT’s eleventh short handed goal of the season.
Brodie Sheahan scored 5-on-3 power play goal at 18:02 of the second to make it 4-3. Kyle Atkins and Mark Znutas had the assists.
Tyler Brenner gave RIT a 5-3 lead at 5:08 of the third period with a power play tally. Brennen Sarazin fed Brenner who back-handed a shot for his twelfth of the season. It was RIT’s first power play goal in nine chances so far in the quarterfinals.
Peter Lorinser tallied a short-handed goal at 7:48 of the third period to make it a 5-4 score. He intercepted an attempted breakout pass by Cameron Burt and broke in on Menard, beating him with a wrist shot.
Cameron Burt (Detroit, MI) gave RIT its fifth two-goal lead of the night with a power play goal at 16:19 of the third. He ripped a slap shot from the face-off circle on assists from Tyler Brenner.
RIT out shot Holy Cross 36-32. The Tigers were 2-for-8 with the man advantage, while Holy Cross is 1-for-6. Each team scored a short-handed goal.
Louis Menard picked up the win, allowing four goals and making 28 saves. Ian Dams took the loss allowing six goals making 30 saves.