| 1/12/2008 9:47:44 PM
Click here for game stats
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - Matt Smith (Toronto, ON/Kitchener Dutchmen)'s (Toronto, ON) turnaround goal, his second of the contest, with 3:12 left in overtime gave RIT (10-8-3, 8-5-3 Atlantic Hockey) a dramatic 4-3 victory over conference leader Air Force (11-7-4, 9-6-3 Atlantic Hockey) in a crucial Atlantic Hockey Association contest in front of 2,312 fans at the Cadet Ice Arena on Saturday night.
After RIT killed off over a minute of a 5-on-3 Air Force power-play in regulation and a minute of power-play time in overtime, the Tigers rushed up ice. Sean Murphy (Rochester, MN/Green Bay Gamblers) (Owatonna, MN) dumped the puck deep in to the Falcons zone, where Falcons goaltender Andrew Volkening gave the puck away to Brent Alexin (West Seneca, NY/Buffalo Jr. Sabres) (West Seneca, NY). Alexin fed Murphy behind the net. Murphy fed the puck in the slot to Smith, who has getting held in front. Smith spun around and slipped a shot past Volkening off the right post and in. The goal was Smith's 13th of the year.
The Tigers were out-shot 29-19, but killed off a season high 10-of-12 Air Force power-plays. The Tigers were 2-for-5 with the man advantage.
RIT goaltender Louis Menard (Chicoutimi, PQ/Ottawa Jr. Senators) (Chicoutimi, PQ) was superb, stopping 26, high pressure shots.
Tiger Head Coach Wayne Wilson was ecstatic with the win.
"That was a good, good, character win on the road for us," said Wilson. We found a way to fight through the advarsity, wen we easily could have laid down and quit and win a tough road win.
Air Force scored the lone goal of the third period, as Mike Phillipich ripped a shot over Menard's shoulder on a 5-on-3 power-play 3:21 into the frame.
RIT moved back into a tie for second place in the Atlantic Hockey standings with Sacred Heart. The Tigers host the Pioneers this weekend at Ritter Arena.
The Tigers wasted no time getting on the board, as freshman Andrew Favot (King City, ON/Aurora Tigers) (King City, ON) slipped a shot from behind the goal line off a Falcons defender and past Andrew Volkening for his second tally of the season at the 3:14 mark. Simon Lambert (Ste.-Therese, PQ/Cumberland Grads) (Ste. Therese, PQ) fed Matt Crowell (Kelowna, BC/Williams Lake Timberwolves) (Kelowna, BC) with a breakout pass that turned into a breakaway. Crowell deked to the backhand, but missed the net. Favot picked up the loose puck and threw it toward the net.
RIT went up 2-0 on the power-play 6:29 into the frame on a tremendous passing play. Al Mazur (Burnaby, BC/Merritt Centennials) (Burnaby, BC) faked a shot from the right point and fed Dan Ringwald (Oakville, ON/Oakville Blades) (Oakville, ON) at the left point. Ringwald then fired a perfect cross-ice pass to Matt Smith (Toronto, ON/Kitchener Dutchmen) (Toronto, ON), who was left all alone to the right of the goal. Smith buried the shot into the open net for his 12th goal of the season.
Smith nearly had his second of the period minutes later after Volekning mishandled the puck behind the net. Smith came from behind the net and tried a wrap-around, but his attempt went through the goal crease.
The Falcons got on the board with 8:05 left in the frame while the teams were skating 4-on-4. Derrick Burnett tipped a point shot from Brad Sellers between the legs of Louis Menard (Chicoutimi, PQ/Ottawa Jr. Senators) (Chicoutimi, PQ) to cut the RIT lead in half.
RIT out-shot Air Force 10-8 over the first 20 minutes of play.
Play became chippy in the second period, and the referees became whistle-happy, calling 13 penalties, including eight on the Tigers. RIT's penalty-killing in the period was great, killing off 6-of-7 Air Force power-plays.
Menard made a fantastic save on Josh Frider early in the frame, sliding across the crease to rob what looked to be a sure goal, smothering the puck with his left goalie pad.
The Falcons did tie the game on the power-play with 9:14 left in the period, as Greg Flynn found Burnett on the left half boards for a one-timer that eluded Menard, who could not get over in time. It was Burnett's second goal of the contest and third in the past two games.
RIT kept pushing however, and re-took the lead with 4:24 in the period on a 4-on-3 power-play, as Lambert won the draw cleanly back to Ringwald. Ringwald crossed over to left side and fed a pass over to Mazur, who rocketed a shot from the high slot past Volkening. It was Mazur's third goal of the season and second in the past two games.
Air Force held a 20-13 edge in shots after two periods of play, bouyed mainly by the seven power-play attempts. RIT had several attempts in the period blocked or go wide.
This was the fourth and final meeting between the two clubs this season. The two teams split two games at the Ritter Arena on Nov. 9-10. Kozlak's goal with 3:40 left in overtime lifted the Falcons to a 2-1 win in the first meeting. The following night, RIT scored four first period goals and hung on for a 4-3 victory. Smith had two goals for the Tigers in the win. Last night, Air Force scored four second period goals en route to a 5-2 victory.
RIT leads the all-time series between the two teams, 8-7-2. The Tigers have now played Air Force 12 times since moving to Division I in 2005. RIT is 5-5-2 in those 12 contests.
Tonight's contest marks the tenth and final game of a 10-game, 54-day road swing for the Tigers. After tonight's win, they move to 6-3-1 during this span.
The Tigers return home and host Sacred Heart in a two-game series on Friday and Saturday. Opening face-off at the Ritter Arena is at 7:05 p.m.
