Men's Hockey | 10/16/2009 10:20:10 PM

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CANTON, NY – Goaltender Robby Moss stopped 42 shots, as St. Lawrence (2-1-0) defeated the RIT men's hockey team (0-2-0), 3-1 at Appleton Arena on Friday. RIT out-shot St. Lawrence 23-5 in the third period, and 43-20 overall, but could not solve Moss. The loss snapped a nine-game road unbeaten streak for the Tigers dating back to Dec. 6, 2008.

The Tigers dominated in every facet for most of the contest, but Moss was the story. He made several excellent saves, including a diving save on Andrew Favot (King City, Ontario/) early in the final frame with the game tied.

Travis Vermeulen scored the first of his two third period goals, slipping home a rebound on a Saints power-play with 10:05 left in regulation. Vermeulen added an empty-netter with one second left.

RIT netminder Jared DeMichiel (Avon, CT/) made a big save on a point-blank shot by Pete Child, but Vermeulen was there to scoop a backhander over the sprawling goaltender on the power-play to give the Saints a 2-1 lead.

The Tigers peppered the Saints net not long after, firing seven shots on a 4-on-3 power-play, but Moss was there to preserve the lead.  Moss made big saves on point blank chances by Chris Haltigin (Oakville, Ontario/), Dan Ringwald (Oakville, Ontario/), and Cameron Burt (Detroit, MI/).

Freshman Adam Hartley (West Vancouver, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) scored his first collegiate goal for the Tigers.

St. Lawrence was 1-for-3 with the man-advantage, while RIT was 0-for-3. DeMichiel made 17 saves for RIT.

RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson was pleased with the effort, despite the unfavorable result.

“We took another positive step forward from last season,” said Wilson, who remains at 188 wins, tied for the all-time lead at RIT. “We picked up our play in the third period, did plenty of good things, but we have to put the puck in the net. We played really well, ran into a hot goaltender, and did not win the game.”

RIT played a tremendous road first period, limiting St. Lawrence's chances, while going to the locker room with a 1-0 lead.

Hartley opened the scoring 11:37 into the contest, slamming a loose puck off the back boards in the net from the right side of the net.  Sean Murphy (Owatonna, MN/) flipped a cross ice pass to Haltigin at the left point. Haltigin's slap-shot went wide, but caromed off the active Appleton Arena back boards right to Hartley, who was all alone at the side of the net to score his first collegiate goal.

RIT was stout defensively, allowing just four St. Lawrence shots over the first 20 minutes of play. The Tigers held a 10-4 advantage in shots.

The Tigers dominated the first 15 minutes of the second period, creating several good scoring chances, but were unable to get the two-goal lead.

Favot and Chris Saracino (St. Louis, MO/Green Bay Gamblers) had nearly identical rushes up the right side, getting around the defenseman on the outside and coming in on Moss. Both times, Moss was up to the task.

Burt had a glorious chance later in the period, off a tip by Tyler Brenner (Linwood, Ontario/), but Moss was able to get back in time and keep it 1-0.

The Saints were able to tally the equalizer at the 15:35 mark of the second period, as Burt won a draw cleanly for RIT, but Jared Keller stole the puck from a Tiger defenseman at the right side of the net and fed Mark Armstrong, who was wide open in front of the net. Armstrong made no mistake, putting the puck past DeMichiel to tie the game.

From there, St. Lawrence was able to generate some good chances, including a handful on a late power-play, but DeMichiel was up to the task.

St. Lawrence leads the all-time series between the two schools, 7-1-0. The Saints are 4-1-0 since RIT moved to Division I in 2005. Last season, St. Lawrence defeated RIT, 2-1 at Blue Cross Arena. The Saints defeated RIT the last time the two teams played at Appleton Arena, 4-3 on Oct. 6, 2006.

RIT has never won at Appleton Arena, with five defeats.

The Tigers return to action on Saturday, as they stay in northern New York to play Clarkson University. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.