| 2/1/2008 9:26:42 PM
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ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men's hockey team (12-10-4, 10-7-4, Atlantic Hockey) out-shot American International College (6-15-4, 6-11-2 Atlantic Hockey) 44-18 but could not get the bounces, falling 3-1 before 1,701 fans on a snowy Friday night at the Ritter Arena on Friday evening.
American International goaltender and Rochester native Dan Ramirez stopped 43-of-44 saves to pick up the win. He was named the game's first star.
Chad Richardson scored twice, while Frankie DeAngelis scored the other American International goal.
SImon Lambert (Ste. Therese, PQ) broke Ramirez's shut-out bid with 55.6 seconds left in regulation on a power-play, while goalie Louis Menard (Chicoutimi, PQ/Ottawa Jr. Senators) (Chicoutimi, PQ) was pulled for the extra attacker. Dan Ringwald (Oakville, ON/Oakville Blades) (Oakville, ON) assisted on the goal.
Lambert grabbed a loose puck at the side boards and flipped a shot towards the net that went through a maze of bodies in front and found the back of the net. It was Lambert's 13th tally of the season.
RIT took just two penalties in the contest. The Tigers killed off both AIC power-plays and were 1-for-4 with the man-advantage.
The Tiger offense generated several outstanding chances, but could not get the timely goals for the third consecutive contest,. RIT has two goals in the last 185 minutes of play, despite out-shooting its foes 115-59.
RIT out-shot AIC 12-3 in the final period.
RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson thought his team played great, despite struggling to find the back of the net.
"We did everything we could do tonight, but score goals," said Wilson. "There were a lot of positives except for the scoreboard. Anything can happen over the final eight games and beyond. If we keep getting shots to the net and limiting our opponents like we have been doing, we will make our own breaks and win a lot of games."
The Tigers out-shot AIC 14-8 in the first period, but trailed 2-0 going into the first intermission.
RIT dominated the first five minutes of play, hitting everything in sight.
DeAngelis gave the Yellowjackets a 1-0 lead 5:10, as his shot from the left period surprised Menard, who looked like he didn't see the shot until it was by him.
The Tigers continued to press after that goal, but could not find the back of the net. The Yellowjackets played a neutral zone trap, where four and sometimes all five players were back in the neutral zone, trying to slow down the Tiger attack.
The Yellowjackets took a 2-0 lead, as Chad Richardson put home a rebound off a harmless shot from Mark Pavli. Menard made the initial save, but could not handle the rebound. Richardson came to front of the net and was allowed to poke at the rebound, sliding it home.
Brennan Sarazin (Nepean, ON/Nepean Raiders) (Nepean, ON) had RIT's best chance of the period, as he took a feed on a 2-on-1 on the left wins and ripped a shot that was stopped by Ramirez.
The Tigers were even more dominant in the second period, out-shooting AIC 18-7 to hold a 32-15 edge after 40 minutes, but could still not find the back of the net.
Lambert hit the right goal post on a power-play, as he had Ramirez leaning the other way.
Right before the end of the period, Stevan Matic (Burnaby, BC/Langley Hornets) (Burnaby, BC) took a perfect feed in the slot, had Ramirez way out of position, with the wide open net to shoot at, but hit the right post as well.
RIT had several other chances in the period, but seemed like the timing was just a split second off.
RIT leads all-time series between the two teams, 9-2-1 The Tigers are 6-2-0 against AIC since the move to Division I in 2005.
Earlier in the season, the two teams played to a split in West Springfield. The Yellowjackets defeated the Tigers, 4-1 on Dec. 7, while RIT came back the next night to record their only shut-out of the season to date, 5-0.
Last season, RIT won all four meetings between the two schools, out-scoring AIC 25-7. The Tigers won 8-3 and 8-0 in Rochester in October, then traveled to Springfield and picked up 6-2 and 3-2 wins in late January.
The two teams meet for the final time in the 2007-08 regular season on Saturday at 7:05 p.m.
