Men's Hockey | 12/12/2008 11:09:16 PM
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ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men's hockey team (7-9-1, 6-4-1 Atlantic Hockey Association) scored two shorthanded goals en route to tying a season-high with six tallies, as they snapped Mercyhurst's (7-9-1, 5-3-1 Atlantic Hockey Association) seven-game unbeaten streak, 6-2 in front of 1,791 fans at Ritter Arena on Friday.
RIT's special teams were dominant, holding Mercyhurst to one power-play goal in seven attempts, while scoring a power-play goal of their own and netting two shorthanded goals. RIT scored two shorthanded goals for the second time this season and now lead the nation with seven.
"We've been struggling with the penalty kill all season long," said RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson. Maybe the breaks are gonna start going are way now after that big kill of the 5-on-3."
The Tigers killed off 1:22 of a 5-on-3 Mercyhurst two-man advantage in the third period, not allowing a single shot on net.
Jesse Newman (Kelowna, British Columbia/Trail Smokeeaters) (Kelowna, British Columbia) scored two goals and was named the game's second star. He now has 14 points on the season, tying him for the team lead. #
Justin Hofstetter (Bright, Ontario/Cambridge Winterhawks)# (Bright, Ontario) scored a power-play goal and added a shorthanded assist. He was named the game's first star.
Andrew Favot (King City, Ontario/Aurora Tigers) (King City, Ontario) and #Matt Crowell (Kelowna, British Columbia/Williams Lake Timberwolves)# (Kelowna, British Columbia) dished out two assists apiece for RIT, who have now won two straight and climb into sole possession of second place in Atlantic Hockey.
Both teams fired 39 shots on goal in a fast paced, up-tempo contest. RIT goaltender Jared DeMichiel (Avon, Conn./Chicago Steel) (Avon, CT) was excellent in net for RIT, stopping 37 shots, earning third star honors. DeMichiel made several point-blank saves and stopped two breakaways.
RIT played a very strong, physical first period, out-shooting Mercyhurst, 13-7, and scoring the lone goal of the period.
Junior forward Brent Alexin (West Seneca, N.Y./Buffalo Jr. Sabres) (West Seneca, NY) tallied his third goal of the season, shorthanded at the 13:55 mark for the only goal of the frame. Hofstetterstripped a Mercyhurst player of the puck at the RIT blue-line and tipped a pass to Alexin at center ice. Alexin went around a Laker defenseman and slipped a shot under a sliding Zapolski.
RIT came out flying in the second period and owned the first 14 minutes of the frame, tallying three in a row to go up 4-0. Mercyhurst dominated play over the final six minutes, firing a bevy of shots on goal, while tallying twice to cut the RIT lead in half, 4-2 after 40 minutes of play.
Freshman forward
Taylor McReynolds (Sherwood Park, Alberta/Green Bay Gamblers) (Sherwood Park, Alberta) tallied his first collegiate goal 4:05 into the frame, as he beat his man to the net and converted on a rebound off a hard shot by
Anton Kharin (Twin Lake, Mich./Bay State Breakers) (Moscow, Russia).
Trevor Eckenswiller (Lions Head, Ontario/Oakville Blades) (Lions Head, Ontario) also assisted on the tally.
Just 46 seconds later, Tyler Brenner (Linwood, Ontario/Elmira Sugar Kings) (Linwood, Ontario) netted his seventh goal of the season, the beneficiary of a fortunate play, as a Mercyhurst defenseman fell inside the blue-line while trying to breakout of the zone. Brenner scooped up the loose puck and made a nice deke to beat Zapolski from in tight.
Newman recorded RIT's second shorthanded goal of the contest at the 13:49 mark, on a nearly identical situation, as a Mercyhurst defenseman lost the puck at his own line. Newman raced in alone on Zapolski and fired a shot to the short side for his fifth tally of the season.
Mercyhurst got on the board less than a minute later, as Rochester native Mike Gurtler scooped a loose puck off a scrum in front of the RIT net and scored his fifth of the year.
Phil Ginaud pulled the Lakers to within, two, at 4-2 with a power-play goal off a tic-tac-toe passing play with 2:50 left in the frame. Gurtler fed Brandon Coccimiglio at the right side of the net, who fired a perfect pass to the left side to set up Ginaud.
RIT secured the victory with two third period goals.
Hofstetter banked in a shot off a Mercyhurst defenseman on the power-play at the 4:23 mark of the period with assists going to Favot and Crowell.
Crowell and Favot made a nifty passing play to set up Newman with 1:22 left to cap off the scoring. The line broke in on a 3-on-1 break, with Favot finding Newman all alone in front for the tap in goal.
The Tigers faced a top-three offense for the second straight weekend, as Mercyhurst entered play third in the nation in goals per game (3.81). RIT held top-scoring Air Force to just two goals in each game last weekend, and did the same to the Lakers tonight.
RIT leads the all-time series between the two teams, 22-12-4. The Tigers are 6-3-1 against Mercyhurst since RIT moved to Division I in 2005.
RIT also scored six goals in a 6-3 win over Army on Nov. 15.
The two teams resume their weekend series on Saturday at Ritter Arena, starting at 7:05 p.m. It is the final game of the calendar year for RIT.
