| 2/9/2008 10:56:11 PM
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ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men's hockey team (14-10-4, 12-7-4 AHA) defeated AHA rival Canisius (8-15-5, 7-10-4 AHA) 4-1 in a penalty-filled contest on Saturday evening at Frank Ritter Memorial Arena.
The contest was marred by a fight with 7:27 left in the third period. In all, 225 penalty minutes and six game disqualifications were assessed in the melee.
Overall, Canisius took 29 penalties totaling 139 minutes in penalties, while RIT was assessed 25 penalties for 112 minutes.
The Tigers maintained their lead for first in the league standings, one point over Sacred Heart and Army.
The third-period melee overshadowed one of RIT's finest performances of the season. RIT out-shot Canisius 48-19 and had several stretches of play, where the puck was in the Canisius zone for extended periods of time.
Louis Menard (Chicoutimi, PQ/Ottawa Jr. Senators) (Chicoutimi, PQ) stopped 17 shots to record his 13th win of the season. Sophomore Jared DeMichiel (Avon, CT/Chicago Steel) (Avon, CT) stepped in late in the third period to stop one shot. Taylor Anderson stopped 39 shots for the Golden Griffins. Bryce Luker made five saves in relief duty.
RIT was 2-for-6 with the man-advantage, while Canisius was 1-for-4.
Simon Lambert (Ste.-Therese, PQ/Cumberland Grads) (Ste. Therese, PQ) recorded two assists in the win for RIT, giving him 35 points on the season. Dan Ringwald (Oakville, ON/Oakville Blades) (Oakville, ON) added a goal and an assist as RIT scored two power play goals.
The Tigers jumped out to a 1-0 lead after one period of play, out-shooting the Golden Griffins 14-5.
Matt Smith (Toronto, ON/Kitchener Dutchmen) (Toronto, ON) opened the scoring on a power-play 4:22 into the contest. Smith received a feed from Sean Murphy (Rochester, MN/Green Bay Gamblers) (Owatonna, MN) at the right face-off circle. Smith faked a shot, went around a fallen defenseman and ripped a shot over the shoulder of Anderson for his 17th goal of the season. Lambert also assisted on the goal. Smith is one point shy of 100 for his career.
RIT held a large territorial advantage during the opening 20 minutes and had several other good chances, but could not find the back of the cage.
The Tigers continued their strong play in the second period, scoring twice and out-shooting Canisius 17-9 to take a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes of play.
Ricky Walton (Hamilton, ON/Hamilton Red Wings) (Hamilton, ON) scored his sixth goal of the season 6:42 into the period, as he took a feed from Bobby Raymond (Lucknow, ON/Owen Sound Greys) (Lucknow, ON) who was behind the net. Walton ripped a point blank shot past Anderson, who was out of position.
Canisius cut the Tiger lead in half on a power-play at the 10:59 mark, as Kyle Bushee converted a rebound off a shot from Derek Danowski. David Kach found Danowski in the slot. His shot was stopped by Menard, but the rebound went right to Bushee who had the entire open left side to convert.
Just 1:03 later, Brent Alexin (West Seneca, NY/Buffalo Jr. Sabres) (West Seneca, NY) scored his third goal of the season, ripping a 30-foot slap-shot past Anderson. Stevan Matic (Burnaby, BC/Langley Hornets) (Burnaby. BC) fed Justin Hofstetter (Bright, ON/Cambridge Winterhawks) (Bright, ON), who perfected a give-and-go with Alexin. Alexin's shot went through a slight screen.
RIT leads all-time series between the two teams, 46-13-1. The Tigers are 6-3-0 against Canisius since the move to Division I in 2005.
Earlier in the season, the two teams played to a split in a home and home series. Walton's penalty shot goal with 8:25 left in regulation broke a 3-3 tie and gave RIT a 4-3 win on Nov. 2. The following night, David Kasch scored twice, while four other players had two points in a 6-2 Canisius win.
Last season, RIT won all three-of-four meetings between the two schools.
The two teams meet again on Sunday, this time at the Buffalo State Sports Arena at 4:05 p.m.
