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ROCHESTER, NY – Dan Ringwald (Oakville, ON/Oakville Blades)’s (Oakville, ON) power-play goal with 1.5 seconds left in regulation capped a wild rally, as the RIT men’s hockey team erased a 4-1 deficit and went on to a 6-5 win over Mercyhurst on Friday night before 1,753 fans at the Ritter Arena.

 

Ringwald’s goal was RIT’s third goal of the period, all on the power-play.  Pat Henk was whistled for high-sticking with seven seconds left in regulation.  On the ensuing face-off, Matt Smith (Toronto, ON/Kitchener Dutchmen) (Toronto, ON) won the draw back to Al Mazur (Burnaby, BC/Langley Hornets) (Burnaby, BC).  Mazur dished the puck to Ringwald, who danced around a defenseman at the blue-line and wristed a shot through traffic, past Mercyhurst goaltender Jordan Wakefield for the game-winner.

 

With the win, RIT improves to 20-9-2 overall and 19-5-1 in Atlantic Hockey play.  It is RIT's fourth straight win.  The Tigers need one more win in their final three games to clinch the Atlantic Hockey regular season championship.

 

RIT fired a season-high 55 shots on net, out-shooting Mercyhurst 55-32.  The Tiger power-play finished 4-for-7 on the evening.  Mercyhurst was 2-for-7 with the man advantage.

 

Mercyhurst led 4-1 after Chris Risi’s goal 2:38 in the second period. 

 

RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson pulled goaltender Louis Menard (Chicoutimi, PQ/Ottawa Jr. Senators) (Chicoutimi, PQ) for Jocelyn Guimond (Quebec City, PQ/Williams Lake) (Quebec City, PQ) right after and the Tigers responded, scoring twice and generating several great chances to cut the Lakers lead to 4-3 after two periods.

 

Matt Smith (Toronto, ON/Kitchener Dutchmen) scored his team-leading 17^th goal of the season, and 11^th power-play tally at the 6:36 mark, ripping a slap shot past Wakefield on the far side.

 

Lambert cut the Lakers lead to 4-3 with 8:07 left in the frame on a shot from a bad angle that eluded Wakefield.  Ricky Walton (Hamilton, ON/Hamilton Red Wings) (Hamilton, ON) dumped the puck into the zone on a line change.  Lambert out-skated a pair of Mercyhurst defenders for the puck, circled the net and wristed a low shot under Wakefield’s leg for his second of the night.

 

RIT came out in the third period and kept the pressure up, finally tying the game on a power-play goal by Brent Patry (Ottawa, ON/Cumberland Grads) (Ottawa, ON) 2:51 into the final period.  Simon Lambert (Ste.-Therese, PQ/Cumberland Grads) (Ste. Therese, PQ) and Mazur assisted on the goal.

 

Risi tallied next for the Lakers a few minutes later slamming home a rebound of a scramble in front to give the Lakers a 5-4 lead.

 

Steve Pinizzotto (Mississauga, ON/Oakville Blades) (Mississauga, ON) who had three golden chances earlier in the game, finally converted with 8:30 left to the tie the game for the Tigers.  He picked up a loose puck in front of the Lakers net and ripped a shot just under the crossbar for his 13^th goal and 40^th point of the year.

 

Head Coach Wayne Wilson was happy with the final outcome.

 

“Offensively, we were tremendous," said Wilson.  "Our play from the top of the circles to down low was dominant.  Even though we were down earlier, we continued to play hard and got the effort we needed.”

 

The Tigers jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead just 13 seconds into the game, as Lambert ripped a shot that was deflected past Wakefield.  The goal was Lambert’s 14^th of the season.

 

Mercyhurst responded with three unanswered goals to take a 3-1 lead at the end of one period.

 

Matt Warren ripped a shot past Menard on a power-play at the 3:41 mark.  Neil Graham tallied just over three minutes later when his attempted shot from the slot was blocked, but slid past Menard, as the Tiger netminder was taken out of the play by his own man.  Nick Vandenbold made it 3-1 on a tip-in in front of the net on a great passing play.

 

RIT fired a season-high 22 shots on goal in the first period, but only had the lone goal to show for it.

 

Tiger sophomore Matt Crowell (Kelowna, BC/Williams Lake Timberwolves) (Kelowna, BC) was awarded a penalty shot five minutes into the contest, after he was tripped on a breakaway attempt.  He came in on Wakefield and deked left, but was stopped.

 

Lambert, Ringwald, Smith and Mazur each had three points apiece for RIT.  Graham had a goal and two assists for Mercyhurst, who falls to 8-19-5 overall and 8-15-3 in Atlantic Hockey.

 

RIT is now 19-10-3 against Mercyhurst all-time, including 3-0 this season.  The upended the Lakers 5-2 and 6-4 in early December. 

 

Mercyhurst’s last victory over RIT at the Ritter Arena was on December 4, 1992.

 

Buffalo Sabre center Derek Roy was in attendance and signed autographs before the game.

 

The same two teams meet again on Saturday evening at 7 p.m., once again at Ritter Arena.  RIT will be celebrating senior night.