Men's Hockey | 11/1/2008 10:47:47 PM

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ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT (3-4-1, 2-1-1 AHA) men's hockey team scored two short-handed goals en route to a 5-2 win over Holy Cross (1-3-1, 1-2-1 AHA) on Saturday night. The Tigers added a pair of power play goals sweeping the weekend series with the Crusaders.

The Tigers weathered an early flurry by the Crusaders to dominate physically, tallying two power play goals.

That's the type of hockey we're accustomed to,” stated RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson. “It's the first weekend I've felt like we were finally in a groove.”

RIT took a 1-0 lead at 15:44 of the first period on a power play goal by Brennan Sarazin (Nepean, Ontario/Nepean Raiders) (Nepean, ON). Justin Hofstetter (Bright, Ontario/Cambridge Winterhawks) (BRight, ON) started the play with a pass down to Scott Knowles (Riverside, Ontario/Surrey Eagles) (Riverside, ON) in the corner. Knowles fed a streaking Sarazin who tipped a shot home over Ian Dams' shoulder.

Holy Cross had the advantage early in the period, out-shooting the Tigers 6-1. The momentum switched to RIT on the strength of four straight power plays for the Tigers. The Crusaders killed off one 5-on-3 advantage but could not overcome the penalties.

Jared DeMichiel (Avon, Conn./Chicago Steel) (Avon, CT) was sharp in the first period for RIT. He faced eight shots and turned them all aside.

Stevan Matic (Burnaby, British Columbia/Langley Hornets) (Burnaby, BC) made it 2-0 RIT 2:20 into the second period. Scott Knowles (Riverside, Ontario/Surrey Eagles) dumped the puck into Matic. He grabbed the puck, dropped it down and dribbled a back-handed shot that beat Dams through the five-hole.

Sean Murphy (Owatonna, Minn./Green Bay Gamblers) (Owatonna, MN) drilled a slap shot home from the left face-off dot on a 5-on-3 power play for RIT, making it 3-0 Tigers at 16:48 of the second. #Dan Ringwald (Oakville, Ontario/Oakville Blades)# (Oakville, ON) and #Alan Mazur (Burnaby, British Columbia/Merritt Centennials)# (Burnaby, BC) had the assists on the play.

Mike Daly scored on a slap shot from the point with Holy Cross enjoying a two-man advantage cutting RIT's lead to 3-1.

The Tigers answered right back with a short-handed goal from Brennan Sarazin (Nepean, Ontario/Nepean Raiders). Jesse Newman (Kelowna, British Columbia/Trail Smokeeaters) (Kelowna, BC) broke up an attempted breakout by the Crusaders and found a streaking Sarazin, who flipped a backhanded shot passed Dams for his second tally of the game.

Jesse Newman (Kelowna, British Columbia/Trail Smokeeaters) made it 5-1 at 3:13 of the third period on another short-handed goal by the Tigers. He intercepted the attempted breakout by Holy Cross. Got the puck behind the net and stick handled his passed the Crusaders defender and stuffed the puck into the net.

Brodie Sheahan jammed home a puck from a scrum in front of DeMichiel to cut the Lead to 5-2.

Sarazin tied a career-high with two goals on the night. Scott Knowles (Riverside, Ontario/Surrey Eagles) added a pair of assists and Jesse Newman (Kelowna, British Columbia/Trail Smokeeaters) had a goal and an assist.

Jared DeMichiel (Avon, Conn./Chicago Steel) was solid in net, making 21 saves, allowing two goals and picking up the win.

RIT out shot the Crusaders 36-23 and went 2-for-7 on the power play. RIT's penalty kill stopped Holy Cross on 9-of-11 chances.

RIT will face Niagara University next Friday night at 7:05 in Niagara Falls, New York.