ROCHESTER, NY -- Sophomore goaltender Jocelyn Guimond (St.-Edouard-de-Lotbiniere, PQ/Williams Lake) (Quebec City, PQ) made 34 saves and Bobby Raymond (Lucknow, ON/Owen Sound Greys) (Lucknow, ON) scored with 11:53 left in the third period, giving RIT a hard-fought 2-1 win over the United States Under-18 National Team before a crowd of 1,455 fans at the Ritter Arena on Friday night.

 

Guimond was excellent in net for the Tigers, earning his seventh win of the season.  He was huge when counted upon late in the third period, especially after the U.S. closed to within 2-1 on a power-play goal by Jamie McBain with 4:22 left.

 

Play was physical throughout, as both teams freely played the body and delivered plenty of punishing body checks throughout the evening.

 

RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson thought his team played better as the game went on.

 

"We turned up our intensity as the game progressed," said Wilson.  "Defensively, we did a good job identifying who we had and it helped to have a week off."

 

Although the United States carried the play throughout most of the first period, RIT opened the scoring at the 9:36 mark, as Darren Doherty (Douro, ON/Cobourg Cougars) (Douro, ON) converted a feed from Steve Pinizzotto (Mississauga, ON/Oakville Blades) (Mississauga, ON) on a 2-on-1 break and ripped a shot inside the left goal post for his 12th tally of the season.  Brent Patry (Ottawa, ON/Cumberland Grads) (Ottawa, ON) also assisted on the tally.

 

RIT nearly made it 2-0 late in the period, as Doherty found Tony Bifulco (Falmouh, ME/Tulsa Crude) (Falmouth, ME) wide open at the left point.  Bifulco took a few strides toward the net and ripped a snap-shot from the high slot that U.S. goaltender Joe Palmer snared out of mid-air with a nifty glove save.

 

Guimond was excellent in the first period, stopping all 17 shots he faced.  He made two excellent stops in the period, robbing Bill Sweatt on a tip attempt in front of the net with 10:34 left.  Sweatt tipped a shot from the blue-line that Guimond stuck his right pad out to stop.  The puck then bounced off the crossbar and back to Guimond, who covered.  Guimond then robbed Patrick Kane with a sensational glove save from a shot from the slot on a U.S. power-play with just under seven minutes remaining in the opening period.

 

The United States out-shot RIT 17-6 over the first 20 minutes of play.

 

RIT played a much tighter defensive period over the second 20 minutes of play, with a plethora of good body checks and solid play in their own end.  Although RIT was out-shot 8-7 in the second, the United States had most of their shots come from the perimeter.

 

The Tigers thought they had their second goal later in the period on the power-play, as Matt Smith (Toronto, ON/Kitchener Dutchmen) (Toronto, ON) crashed the net and appeared to put a loose puck past Palmer, but it was ruled that the net was off its moorings and the goal was disallowed. 

 

The U.S. Under-18 team held at 25-13 shot advantage after two periods.

 

Raymond scored his fourth goal of the year on the power-play with just over 10 minutes left to put RIT up 2-0.  Raymond took a pass from Smith and wristed a shot from the left point through traffic in front that eluded Palmer. Patry also assisted on the goal.

 

Wilson was pleased with his team's effort.

 

"We did a good job on our part," said Wilson.  "Most importantly, it is a good win at home that we needed to have."

The U.S. out-shot RIT 35-22.  Palmer stopped 20 shots for the Americans.

 

Both teams scored a power-play goal. 

 

RIT will honor its six seniors tomorrow night before the game.  The seniors are Doherty, Marc Hyman (Thornhill, ON/Thornhill Rattlers) (Thornhill, ON), Steve Farrer (Belle River, ON/Chatham Jr. Maroons) (Belle River, ON), Bifulco, Bryan Payant (Antioch, IL) and George Eliopoulous (Markham, ON).

These same two teams will face-off again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Ritter Arena.  It is the final contest of the season for the Tigers.