| 1/13/2004 10:09:20 PM

CORTLAND, NY -- The 11th-ranked RIT men's hockey team scored five first-period goals and the first eight goals of the game en route to a 9-2 win over Cortland in men’s non-conference ice hockey action Tuesday night at Alumni Arena. The win is the third in a row for the Tigers and they have won four of their last five. With the win, the Tigers improved to 8-4-2 overall, while the Red Dragons fell to 8-7-1 on the season.

After tight play for the first five minutes of the game, RIT grabbed the lead on a short-handed goal by senior Mike Tarantino (Oakville, Ont./Oakville Blades) (Oakville, ON/Oakville Blades) at 5:52. The Tigers added four goals in a four-minute, 39-second span toward the end of the period to take a commanding 5-0 lead. Tarantino netted his second goal of the game, this time on the power play, at 15:07. Freshman Rob Tarantino (Oakville, Ont./Oakville Blades) (Toronto, ON/Oakville Blades) made it 3-0 at 17:15. Sophomore Darren Doherty (Duoro, Ont./Cobourg Cougars) (Duoro, ON/Cobourg Cougars), who also registered three assists in the game, gave the Tigers a 4-0 lead at 19:15, and junior Roberto Orofiamma (Woodbridge, Ont./Vaughn Vipers) (Woodbridge, ON/Vaughn Vipers) finished the scoring in the period just 31 seconds later on the power play.

The Tigers struck quickly in the second on Tristan Fairbarn (Innisfill, Ont./Newmarket Hurricanes)’s (Innisfill, ON/Newmarket Hurricanes) score just 54 seconds into the period to make it a 6-0 game. Orofiamma netted his second goal of the game at 10:31, and senior Mike Walling (Oxford, Mich./Chatham Maroons) (Oxford, MI/Chatham Maroons) scored on a slap shot from just inside the blue line at 12:49 to give RIT an 8-0 lead and chase Cortland freshman goalie Shawn Gray (Slingerlands/Capital District Selects).

The Red Dragons got on the scoreboard at 16:05 of the second period when junior Joe Alfieri (Syracuse/Monroe CC) poked in a loose, cutting RIT's lead to 8-1. Forty-six seconds later, Cortland sophomore Jason Wilson (Johnston, RI/Northfield Mount Hermon), who entered the game tied for the lead nationally in Division III with 16 goals, knocked in junior Tim Earl’s (Troy/Capital District Selects) rebound to make it 8-2.

The Tigers added an unassisted goal from junior Michael Tucciarone (Richmond Hill, Ont./Stouffville Spirit) (Richmond Hill, ON/Stouffville Spirit) at 6:58 of the third period to close out the scoring. Sophomore George Eliopoulos (Markham, Ont./St. Michaels Buzzers) (Markham, ON/St. Michaels Buzzers) made 21 saves in two periods of action, while sophomore David Wrisley (Ithaca, NY/Northwood Prep) (Ithaca/Northwood Prep) stopped all 10 shots he faced in the third period.Gray made 12 saves in 32:49 for the Red Dragons, before giving way to junior Chris Loiacono (Commack/Commack H.S.), who stopped 11 shots in 27:11.

RIT will travel to Fredonia State on Friday evening for a 7 p.m. face-off.