| 10/29/2004 10:50:20 PM

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GREEN BAY, WI -- The #7 RIT men's hockey team officially kicked off the 2004-05 campaign on Friday night against #1 St. Norbert College at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Tigers took a 1-0 lead early in the second period but allowed four straight goals, losing to the Knights 4-1.

Just before time expired in the first RIT had a great chance to take the lead on an odd-man rush. Ricky Walton (Hamilton, Ont./Hamilton Kilty Bees) (Hamilton, Ontario) drove the puck deep in the zone. His shot was saved by Van Den Busch and the rebound came to Brad Harris (Portage La Prairie, Man./Leamington Flyers) (Portage La Prairie, Manitoba) but his shot was turned aside by the St. Norbert goalie.

The Tigers drew first blood early in the second period, taking advantage of a 5-on-3 power play. Marc Hyman (Thornhill, Ont./Thornhill Rattlers) (Tornhill, Ontario) ripped a shot from the point for his first tally of the season. The play started when Roberto Orofiamma (Woodbridge, Ont./Vaughn Vipers) (Woodbridge, Ontario) fed Hyman who one-timed it past St. Norbert goalie Eric Van Den Busch for a 1-0 RIT lead. Orofiamma had a golden opportunity later on a 5-on-4 power play that hit off the post.

RIT's lead lasted just 3:34. Troy Boisjoli took a pass from Lonny Forrester on the back side, firing a shot past a spralling RIT goalie George Eliopoulos (Markham, Ont./St. Michaels Buzzers) (Markham, Ontario).

St. Norbert took a 2-1 lead early in the third period when Connor Hughes scored on a backhand. Hughes gathered the puck inside RIT's zone and skated in front of the net. He roofed his backhanded shot over Eliopoulos' shoulder.

RIT grabbed the momentum after that and put a lot of pressure on St. Norbert. Rob Tarantino (Oakville, Ont./Oakville Blades) (Oakville, Ontario) snuck around the defense deep in St. Norbert's zone. He fed a pass across the goal mouth that Ricky Walton (Hamilton, Ont./Hamilton Kilty Bees) just missed.

The Tigers generated several scoring chances on the power play in the third but were unable to get the puck past Van Den Busch.

With 5:52 to play the Knights made it 3-1 when Jason Dietsch took a pass from Spencer Carbery. St. Norbert's Jordan Forslund scored with 3:15 to play on a screened shot that Eliopoulos never saw, making it 4-1.

RIT was outshot by St. Norbert 41-20 and were 1-for-10 on the power play. RIT's penalty kill unit held the Knights scoreless on 10 power play chances.

George Eliopoulos (Markham, Ont./St. Michaels Buzzers) kept RIT in the game for the Tigers as he stopped 37 of 41 shots he faced including 15 and 21 saves in the first and second periods respectively.

RIT and St. Norbert will face-off on Saturday night at the Resch Center beginning at 8 p.m.