Men's Hockey | 11/14/2009 9:48:05 PM

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ROCHESTER, NY – Freshman forward Adam Hartley (West Vancouver, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) scored the game-winning power-play goal with 12:26 to play in regulation, leading the RIT men's hockey team (6-5-0, 6-2-0 AHA) to its sixth straight win, 3-2 over Mercyhurst (2-9-1, 2-5-1 AHA) on Friday evening at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. With the win, RIT moved into a tie for first place in the AHA standings.

RIT is above .500 for the first time this season.  The six-game winning streak is the second longest since RIT moved to Division I.  RIT won 11 straight games last season.

Senior defenseman Alan Mazur (Burnaby, British Columbia/) ripped a low slap-shot from the right point through a screen that went off Hartley's skate and eluded Mercyhurst goaltender Ryan Zapolski.  Andrew Favot (King City, Ontario/) also assisted on the goal. The goal was Hartley's second of the season.

Favot recorded a goal and two assists, while freshman defenseman Chris Saracino (St. Louis, MO/Green Bay Gamblers) tallied his first collegiate goal and added an assist.

RIT's defense held on the rest of the way for the win.  The Tigers out-shot Mercyhurst 43-25. # Jared DeMichiel (Avon, CT/)# notched his sixth straight win, stopping 23 shots. Zapolski made 40 saves in defeat for the Lakers.

The game was tied at 1 entering the third period, before Saracino ripped a shot past Zapolski 1:38 into the frame. Trevor Eckenswiller (Lions Head, Ontario/) dumped the puck into the Lakers zone, and Favot beat a Mercyhurst defender to the corner. Favot found Saracino in the high slot, and the freshman defenseman made no mistake, roofing a shot off the crossbar and in.

Mercyhurst came right back, three minutes later to tie the game at 2. Saracino's shot from the left point was blocked by Cody Collins. The puck deflected to center ice where Collins came in on a 2-on-1 break. Collins was looking to shoot all the way and put a wrist shot past DeMichiel from point blank range.

Favot extended his point-scoring streak to nine games. Senior defenseman Dan Ringwald (Oakville, Ontario/) and sophomore forward Cameron Burt (Detroit, MI/) had their point-streaks snapped at eight games.

RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson was extremely happy to pick up two tough road wins against a tough opponent.

“We are glad to have taken four points on the road this weekend,” said Wilson. “We have a very good rivalry with Mercyhurst, two good teams who are close in proximity. We knew it was a matter of time before we scored a power-play goal, with the pressure we generated throughout. It was a great road effort by everyone, not only tonight, but both games.”

RIT was 1-for-7 with the man-advantage, while Mercyhurst was 0-for-5.

RIT peppered the Mercyhurst net, out-shooting the Lakers 18-10 over the first 20 minutes of play, but trailed 1-0.

Nick Vandenbeld opened the scoring 3:25 into the contest, flipping a backhander over a surprised DeMichiel from the right face-off circle on a 1-on-1 rush. RIT turned the puck over in the neutral zone, and Vandenbeld took a pass from Cullen Eddy, with a Tiger defenseman back. Vandenbeld seemed to lose the puck, but recovered and put the backhander over DeMichiel and under the crossbar.

RIT responded, dominating play the rest of the period. The Tigers fired seven shots on their first power-play, but Zapolski stood tall, stopping everything RIT fired.  Scott Knowles (Riverside, Ontario/) had three real good chances in front of the Laker net that Zapolski smothered.

Once again, RIT dominated play in the second period, despite having to kill off three Mercyhurst power-plays, and netted the equalizer late in the period.

Favot backhanded a perfect pass from Tyler Mazzei (Kelowna, British Columbia/) over Zapolski from in tight to tie the game at 1, with 5:10 left in the frame. Saracino tipped a Mercyhurst clearing attempt into the left corner. Mazzei beat his defender to the puck behind the net and quickly backhanded a pass to Favot, who tallied his fourth goal of the season.

RIT had some great chances shorthanded early in the period.  Taylor McReynolds (Sherwood Park, Alberta/) came in on a partial breakaway and had Zapolski beat to the far post, but the puck rang off the right goal post and out, after the goal judge mistakenly flipped on the red light.

Mark Cornacchia (Unionville, Ontario/) came in on a partial breakaway of his own, but was thwarted by Zapolski, as he tried to go high blocker side.

The Tiger defense limited Mercyhurst to just six second period shots, while firing 14 on goal. RIT led in shots, 32-16 after two periods of play.

DeMichiel and the Tiger defense has played superbly over the last six games, allowing just seven goals over that stretch. The five goals allowed is the fewest over a five-game stretch since the team moved to Division I in 2005, and fewest overall since Feb. 2 to March 2, 2002.

RIT is 25-13-4 all-time against the Lakers. RIT went 2-1-0 against Mercyhurst last season, with all three games being played in Rochester. RIT won 6-2 and 5-3 at Ritter Arena on Dec. 12-13, 2008. The Tigers are 8-4-1 against Mercyhurst since moving to Division I in 2005.

Last night, Mazur tallied a pair of power-play goals, while Ringwald recorded his 100th collegiate point in RIT's 2-1 win. DeMichiel made 26 saves to earn the win.

The Tigers are unbeaten (5-0-1) in their last five contests at Mercyhurst Ice Center. Mercyhurst last defeated RIT at home, 4-3, on Feb. 5, 2006, the Tigers first season at the Division I level.

RIT returns to Ritter Arena to face AHA rival Sacred Heart on Friday and Saturday. Friday's contest starts at 7:05 p.m., while Saturday's will begin at 4:05 p.m.