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Ann Arbor, MI- The RIT Men’s hockey team fell to the USA Under-18 Team 9-6, in game that featured an 11-goal second period.

 

Senior netminder George Eliopoulos (Markham, ON/St. Michael's Buzzers) (Markham, ON) robbed Greg Squires on a 2-1 midway through the 1^st. Both teams had several golden opportunities to get on the board first but neither could capitalize, resulting in a scoreless first period.

 

USA got on the board twice in the first two minutes of the second period, both power play goals. RIT answered back quickly as Co-Captain Darren Doherty (Douro, ON/Cobourg Cougars) (Duoro, ON) poked in the rebound off a quick shot by Steve Pinizzotto (Mississauga, ON/Oakville Blades) (Missisauga, ON).

 

RIT knotted the score at two apiece as Co-Captain Marc Myman’s (Thornhill, ON) blast from the point on the power play beat USA goalie Joe Wilson. The second assist went to Pinizzotto. The score wouldn’t stay tied for long as Mike Ratchuk flipped the puck over Eliopoulos’ shoulder has he was falling down to give the US a 3-2 lead.

 

The Tigers tied the score at 3-3 on the power play as Darrell Draper (Tigard, OR/Cowichon Capitals) (Tigard, ON) tipped a shot from Brent Patry (Ottawa, ON/Cumberland Grads) (Nepean, ON) through the five hole of the USA net minder. The under-18 squad answered quickly, scoring two goals in twenty-three seconds to take a 5-3 lead.

 

Once again, the Tigers fought back to tie the score. On RIT’s fourth goal, Pinizzotto slammed home the rebound after Hyman took a huge shot on a tic-tac-toe play with Brennan Sarazin (Nepean, ON/Nepean) (Nepean, ON). Pinizzotto scored again as he batted the puck out of the air during a scramble in front of Palmer. Hyman and Doherty got the assists.

 

Team USA finished the second period on top as Mike Carman scored with 4.2 seconds left to play.

 

RIT and Team USA traded goals to open the third as Patrick Kane beat Jocelyn Guimond (St.-Edouard-de-Lotbiniere, PQ/Williams Lake) (Quebec City, PQ) for his 5^th goal of the weekend. Darren Doherty (Douro, ON/Cobourg Cougars) scored his second goal of the game less than a minute later, with Hyman and Simon Lambert (St. Therese, PQ) getting the assists.

 

The US squad pulled away from RIT as they scored two goals in thirty seconds to make the lead 9-6.

 

RIT held a 44-34 edge in shots for the game. Eliopoulos made 10 saves on approximately 30 minutes of action. Jocelyn Guimond (St.-Edouard-de-Lotbiniere, PQ/Williams Lake) added 15 saves for the Tigers.

 

The Tigers are back in action on Saturday, Feb. 4^th when they travel to Bowling Green University. Game time is 7 p.m.