| 10/22/2005 10:02:00 PM

ROCHESTER, NY - The RIT (2-2-0) men's hockey team, who beat Canisius (2-2-0) on Friday, lost their regular season home opener to Canisius College, 2-1 on Saturday night. Canisius' Jaymie Harrington (W. Boylston, MA) scored the game-winner at 5:12 of the third.

Canisius came out the aggressor in the first period, which paid off with an early goal. Joel Kitchen (Orillia, ON) gave the Golden Griffins a 1-0 lead at 7:03 of the first period. Fred Coccimiglio (Sault Ste. Marie, ON) fed Kitchen who deked in front of the net and beat Jocelyn Guimond (St.-Edouard-de-Lotbiniere, PQ/Williams Lake) (St.-Edouard-de-Lotbiniere) for the early advantage.

Late in the first Guimond came up big for RIT. Michael Cohen (Williamsville, NY) centered a pass that Billy Irish-Baker (Clarenece, NY) one-timed. Guimond read the play, sprawled out and made a tremendous toe save, keeping the score at 1-0.

Late in the first RIT had a two-on-one break. Tristan Fairbarn (Innisfill, ON/Newmarket Hurricanes) (Innisfill, ON) took a breakout pass at the blue line and broke in with Darrell Draper (Tigard, OR/Cowichon Capitals) (Tigard, OR). The puck never settled properly for Draper and he never got the shot off.

RIT tied the score midway through the second on a fabulous individual effort by Matt Smith (Toronto, ON/Kitchener Dutchmen) (Toronto, ON). He took a feed from Ricky Walton (Hamilton, ON/Hamilton Red Wings) (Hamilton, ON) and deked his way down the center of the Golden Griffins zone, past two Canisius defenders. He beat Ryan Hatch (Medway, MA) between his legs for his second goal of the year.

With 9:50 to play in the second period David Ovcjak (Mississauga, ON) broke in on Guimond. He tried to roof a shot over Guimond's shoulder but the sophomore netminder got his pad on it and sent it high over the net, keeping the score 1-1.

Canisius took the lead early in the third period at 5:12. Ryan Klusendorf (Peoria, IL) gathered in a rebound and took a shot that Guimond saved. The puck snuck under Guimond's legs and Jaymie Harrington was Johnny on the spot, poking home the loose puck, giving the Golden Griffins a 2-1 lead.

RIT appeared to score the game-tying goal later in the third on a scrum in front of the net. It looked as if the Tigers had poked home the loose puck, however the referee determined that the puck failed to cross the goal line.

Ricky Walton (Hamilton, ON/Hamilton Red Wings) had a golden opportunity with 11:15 to play. He found himself one-on-one with Hatch. He deked a couple of times but Hatch held his ground and made the save, preserving the lead.

RIT will host #20 St. Lawrence University on Friday, October 28 at 7 pm.