| 10/28/2006 10:23:43 PM
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ITHACA, NY – The RIT men’s hockey team (3-3-1, 3-0-0 Atlantic Hockey) made a valiant effort, but had its four-game unbeaten streak snapped by #13 Cornell University by a score of 5-3 on Saturday evening in front of a sell-out crowd of 4,267 at Lynah Rink.
RIT held a 12-8 edge in shots and the advantage in play over the first 20 minutes, but a few breaks went Cornell’s way and the Tigers trailed 3-1 after one.
The Tigers had several good chances over the first few minutes but were unable to convert.
Darrell Draper (Tigard, OR/Cowichon Capitals) (Tigard, OR) had a great chance in front about a minute in, but Cornell netminder Troy Davenport was able to smother the shot from point blank range.
Cornell got on the board 4:03 in, as on a power-play, Byron Bitz came down the left wing and rifled a shot off the crossbar that bounced right to Mitch Carefoot. Carefoot slammed the rebound past Tiger netminder Louie Menard (Chicoutimi, PQ) to give the Big Red a 1-0 lead.
The Big Red upped their lead to two at the 10:49 mark, as Blake Gallagher directed a centering pass toward the RIT net that deflected off a Tiger defenseman and past Menard for Cornell’s second power-play goal of the frame.
RIT came right back, however, as
Justin Hofstetter (Bright, ON/Cambridge Winterhawks) (Bright, ON) threw a shot towards the net that went through a screen and eluded Davenport at the 11:31 mark to cut the Cornell lead to 2-1.
Stevan Matic (Burnaby, BC/Langley Hornets) (Burnaby, BC) and
Brennan Sarazin (Nepean, ON/Nepean Raiders) (Nepean, ON) assisted on the goal.
Cornell got its two goal back with 6:57 left in the frame, as Topher Scott wristed home a shot from the top of the face-off circle that eluded Menard.
Doug Krantz gave Cornell a 4-1 lead 5:09 into the second period, as he collected a blocked shot in the slot and put it home.
Brent Patry (Ottawa, ON/Cumberland Grads) (Ottawa, ON) got RIT to within 4-2 just past the midway point of the period, as he ripped a shot from the point that got past Davenport. The goal capped a furious rally that saw RIT keep the puck in the Cornell zone for nearly a minute and fire three shots.
Anton Kharin (Moscow, Russia/Bay State Breakers) (Twin Lake, MI) assisted on the tally.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, Cornell regained its three goal lead with 6:24 left in the period, as Mark McCutcheon tallied on the power-play.
Cornell out-shot RIT 12-5 in the second period.
Steve Pinizzotto (Mississauga, ON/Oakville Blades) (Mississauga, ON) scored the game’s final goal on a 5-on-3 power-play with 14 seconds left as he one-timed a pass from Patry into the top corner of the net.
Simon Lambert (Ste.-Therese, PQ/Cumberland Grads) (Ste. Therese, PQ) also assisted on the goal.
Cornell out-shot RIT 35-23. Menard made 15 saves in the loss for the Tigers.
Jocelyn Guimond (Quebec City, PQ/Williams Lake) (Quebec City, PQ) relieved Menard to start the third period and made 15 saves. Davenport stopped 20 shots to pick up his second win of the year.
RIT Head Coach
Wayne Wilson thought his team played a very solid game, especially 5-on-5.
“I thought we controlled the start of the game and had a great first period, even though we were down two goals’” said Wilson. “They caught a few breaks early on and we took too many penalties, which turned out to be the difference. I was extremely happy with our play, 5-on-5.”
This was only the second meeting between the two schools that are about 100 miles apart. Last year, Cornell defeated RIT 3-1 at Lynah on Jan. 7, 2006.
RIT is back action on Friday and Saturday, as they venture out west to Colorado Springs, Colo. to play the Air Force Academy for a two-game series. Both games begin at 9:05 ET.
