Men's Hockey | 10/10/2008 10:30:33 PM
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BOWLING GREEN, OH – The RIT men's hockey team dropped its opening contest of the 2008-09 season on Friday evening, falling to Bowling Green 4-2 before 1,148 fans at the Bowling Green State Ice Arena on Friday night. The Tigers led 2-0 after one period of play, but the Falcons scored four unanswered goals to earn the win.
Bowling Green potted three second period goals to erase RIT's lead. Although Louis Menard (Chicoutimi, Quebec/Ottawa Senators) (Chicoutimi, Quebec) was tremendous over the final 20 minutes and the Tigers had their chances, RIT could not get the equalizer. Brandon Svendsen scored an empty net goal with three seconds left for the final score.
Kai Kantola also scored twice for Bowling Green (1-0-0). # Dan Ringwald (Oakville, Ontario/Oakville Blades)# (Oakville, Ontario) and #Bobby Raymond (Lucknow, Ontario/Owen Sound)# (Lucknow, Ontario) scored for RIT.
Bowling Green out-shot RIT 31-28, including 11-4 in the the third period. Menard made 28 saves, while Jimmy Spratt stopped 26 shots for Bowling Green.
RIT had a golden chance to tie the game at 3 in the first minute of the third period, once again shorthanded, as Sarazin and Justin Hofstetter (Bright, Ontario/Cambridge Winterhawks) (Bright, Ontario) came in on a 2-on-1 break. Sarazin tried to feed Hofstetter in front, but a diving Bowling Green defender swept the puck away at the last second.
After Menard made a handful of good stops to keep it 3-2 Bowling Green, Murphy came streaking in on a 2-on-1, ripped a shot that beat Spratt, but clanged off the right goal post.
At the 8:40 mark of the period, Burt came in after a loose puck and was slammed from behind by Bowling Green's Russ Sinkewich. Burt was helped off the ice and Bowling Green was awarded a five-minute major for hitting from behind. Unfortunately for RIT, they could not capitalize and took a penalty of their own a minute into the advantage.
Bowling Green went 2-for-9 with the man advantage, while RIT was 1-for-4.
RIT Head Coach and Bowling Green alumnus
Wayne Wilson was pleased with how his team played, although they did not get the win.
"I thought we played well, but don't think we competed as hard as we could as far as the little battles," said Wilson. "Otherwise, I am very happy with how we played, on the road for our first game of the season. The loss is disappointing."
The Tigers special teams stole the show in the first period, tallying a power-play goal, killing off three Bowling Green power-play attempts and scoring a shorthanded goal to take a 2-0 lead after one period of play.
RIT jumped on the board just 3:53 on the power-play, as Ringwald ripped a shot from the high slot under the crossbar. #Alan Mazur (Burnaby, British Columbia/Merritt Centennials)# (Burnaby, British Columbia) ripped a shot off the boards wide that Sean Murphy (Owatonna, Minn./Green Bay Gamblers) (Owatonna, MN) collected and flipped to the slot, where Ringwald one-timed the puck past Bowling Green net-minder Spratt.
The Tigers ran into penalty problems later in the period, taking three straight. RIT's defense stiffened, blocking countless Falcons shots towards the net.
The senior captain duo of
Brennan Sarazin (Nepean, Ontario/Nepean Raiders) (Nepean, Ontario) and Raymond combined on a gorgeous shorthanded goal later in the opening frame to give RIT a 2-0 lead. Sarazin blocked a shot at the Tiger blueline and sped in with #
Tyler Mazzei (Kelowna, British Columbia/Nanaimo Clippers)# (Kelowna, British Columbia) on a 2-on-1 break. Sarazin, the puck carrier stopped at the right face-off circle and founded a streaking Raymond, who was able to re-direct the pass into the open net past Spratt, who had committed to the shooter.
The Tigers out-shot Bowling Green 9-5 over the opening 20 minutes of play.
Although both teams fired 15 shots on goal and RIT appeared to grab the edge, 5-on-5, in the second period, Bowling Green tallied three times to take a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes of play.
The Falcons tallied two power-play goals to tie the game, as Svendsen and Kantola tallied. Kantola's goal was a breakaway that Menard almost made a sensational glove save on, but the high shot bounced off his glove and in.
Kantola struck again with 4:24 left in the period, redirecting a point shot by Tim Maxwell past Menard to make it 3-2 Falcons.
RIT came roaring back after, with several good chances before the period ended, but could not net the tying goal. Anton Kharin (Twin Lake, Mich./Bay State Breakers) (Moscow, Russia) ripped a shot off the right post from the slot, while Murphy was robbed by Spratt on a partial breakaway.
Earlier in the period, freshman #Cameron Burt (Detroit, Mich./Green Bay Gamblers)# (Detroit, MI) had two golden chances, but was stopped by Spratt on both occasions.
Tiger first-year standouts #Taylor McReynolds (Sherwood Park, Alberta/Green Bay Gamblers)# (Sherwood Park, Alberta), #Mark Cornacchia (Unionville, Ontario/Markham Waxers)# (Unionville, Ontario), Scott Knowles (Riverside, Ontario/Surrey Eagles) (Riverside, Ontario), Burt, Tyler Brenner (Linwood, Ontario/Elmira Sugar Kings) (Linwood, Ontario), Trevor Eckenswiller (Lions Head, Ontario/Oakville Blades) (Lions Head, Ontario) and #Chris Haltigin (Oakville, Ontario/Oakville Blades)# (Oakville, Ontario) all made their collegiate debuts.
Bowling Green leads the all-time series, 4-0-0.
The two teams last met in Rochester on Oct. 19, 2007, with Bowling Green pulling out a 5-3 win. Bowling Green's Derek Whitmore, a Rochester native now playing in the Buffalo Sabres organization, recorded the hat-trick. Mazur led the Tigers with a goal and an assist.
Tonight's game marked the first appearance of the four official system (two referees, two linesmen). The Atlantic Hockey Association will use the same format in 2008-09 as well.
Twice, the game was halted for video replay on a pair of Tiger attempts that looked close to going in the net, but were called no goal. Both times, the video review upheld the call on the rink.
The Tigers are back in action on Saturday, as they travel to Kalamazoo, Mich., to play Western Michigan University. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
