Men's Hockey | 11/7/2009 9:49:10 PM
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ROCHESTER, NY – Andrew Favot (King City, Ontario/) scored the game-winning goal with 2:46 left in the third period, breaking a 1-1 tie and lifting the RIT men's hockey team (4-5-0, 4-2-0 AHA) to its fourth consecutive win, 2-1 over Army (1-6-2, 0-3-1 AHA) in front of 1,956 fans at Ritter Arena on Saturday.
Favot intercepted an errant pass at the Army blue-line while the teams were skating 4-on-4 and found
Sean Murphy (Owatonna, MN/) on the left side, Murphy dropped a pass back to Favot and crashed the net. Favot's shot deflected off Army goaltender Joe Spracklen, but the puck went in just before the net came off its moorings.
The Tigers were down 1-0 until
Dan Ringwald (Oakville, Ontario/) scored his fifth goal in three games with 8:18 left to tie the game.
Scott Knowles (Riverside, Ontario/) fed
Cameron Burt (Detroit, MI/), whose shot was blocked. The rebound caromed to Ringwald, who was crashing the net on the right side. Ringwald's low shot evaded a diving Spracklen.
RIT goaltender
Jared DeMichiel (Avon, CT/) was excellent for the Tigers in net, stopping 23 shots. He saved his best for the third period, making two huge saves to keep the game 1-0. He robbed Eric Sefchik with a right pad save in close on a 2-on-1, then made his best save of the night, flashing a quick glove hand to deny Kyle Maggard of what looked to be a sure goal from the slot off a Tiger giveaway. DeMichiel was named the game's first star.
RIT out-shot Army 33-24. Spracklen played well in defeat for the Black Knights, stopping 31 shots. Neither team tallied on the power-play. Army was scoreless in four chances, while the Tigers did not score on six attempts. The Tigers did not score on the power-play for the first time in six games.
Favot, Ringwald, and Burt all extended their point streaks to seven straight games.
RIT Head Coach
Wayne Wilson thought both teams battled hard tonight.
“This was more typical of the battles between the two teams, very hard-fought,” said Wilson. “The goalies were the show tonight. Jared (DeMichiel) came up with two or three big saves when we were down 1-0 early in the third and that proved to be the difference.”
Neither team scored in the first period. DeMichiel was excellent in the frame, stopping all 10 shots he faced, including five during 1:22 of a 5-on-3 Army power-play. His best save came seven minutes in, as he robbed Mike Hull of a sure goal, sticking his arm out to smother a glorious chance right in front of the goal line.
It was the first time that RIT did not score in a period at home this season. The Tigers had scored in nine straight periods at home entering tonight's game.
Despite being down two men, Army took the 1-0 lead 1:09 into the second period, as Cody Omilusik blocked a shot at the RIT blueline, skated in with Eric Sefchik on a 2-on-1, and worked the perfect give and go for the goal. It was Omilusik's fifth tally of the season, and RIT's fourth shorthanded goal allowed in nine games.
RIT out-shot Army 15-5 in the second period and dominated the final 10 minutes, putting great pressure on Spracklen. Spracklen made a handful of good saves to keep Army in the lead.
Mike Janda (Glen Ellyn, IL/) had RIT's best chance of the period with 3:20 left, as he took a goalmouth feed from Burt and had an open net to shoot at. Unfortunately, the pass caromed off Janda's stick. Favot found the rebound, by Spracklen made the stop.
RIT enjoys the friendly confines of Ritter Arena, as they scored 91 goals in 18 games last season (5.1 per game), and has 21 in four games this season. RIT scored less than four goals at Ritter Arena for the first time in seven tries dating back to last season.
The Tigers lead the all-time series between the two schools, 5-2-3. RIT won the season series 2-1-1 last season, and are now 3-1-2 against the Black Knights at Ritter Arena. The two teams will play at Army on Feb. 12-13.
The Tigers go on the road next weekend, as they travel to Mercyhurst to play the Lakers on Friday and Saturday. Both games will start at 7:05 p.m.
