Men's Hockey | 10/20/2011 9:45:00 PM

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BUFFALO, NY – The RIT men's hockey team (1-1-1, 0-1-1 Atlantic Hockey Association) had its eight game winning streak snapped against I-90 rival Canisius, falling to the Golden Griffins, 3-1 in front of 1,110 fans at Buffalo State Ice Arena on Thursday. 

Scott Moser broke a 1-1 tie for the Golden Griffins with 5:27 left, ripping a shot off the rush from the right face-off circle over the shoulder of RIT goaltender Josh Watson (Lititz, PA/Powell River Kings).  Kyle Gibbons added an empty net goal with 45 seconds left.

The Tigers thought they had taken the 2-1 lead with about seven minutes left, as a shot by Chris Haltigin (Oakville, Ontario/) was deflected in by Ben Lynch (Blaine, MN/Lincoln Stars) from the slot.  The referees conferred and ruled that Lynch tipped the shot with a high-stick and waved off the goal.

Moments earlier, Mark Cornacchia (Unionville, Ontario/) had Canisius goaltender Dan Morrison beat to the far side from the right face-off circle, but the puck glanced off the left post and out.

The Tigers out-shot Canisius, 34-24.  RIT was 1-for-5 with the man-advantage, while Canisius was 1-for-3.

Morrison was brilliant in net for the Golden Griffins, turning aside 33 shots for his first win of the season.  Watson, making his first start of the year for RIT, was solid, stopping 21 shots.

RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson was not only unhappy with the result, but with his team's lack of effort.

“We had a half-decent first period, and a sloppy second period,” said Wilson.  “We had chances in the third, but didn't bury them.  We got what we deserved, our effort was poor.  Our power-play was poor in the second period, and our skilled players didn't work.  Overall, it was a really poor effort.”

Canisius last beat RIT on Feb. 10, 2008.  The Tigers had won the last eight meetings between the two schools by a combined score of 39-10.

RIT out-shot Canisius 12-8 and scored the lone goal of the frame.

Descoteaux got RIT on the board 4:19 into the game on the power-play, as he snuck in from the left point, took a feed from Chris Haltigin (Oakville, Ontario/) and slipped a shot past Morrison for his first tally of the year.  Lynch drew the second assist.

Lynch nearly gave RIT a 2-0 lead moments later, as he rushed into the zone, got by a defenseman and whistled a shot from the slot just over the cage.

Burt had a great chance as well, going around a defenseman on the right side, cutting towards the net.  He tried to go high short side on Morrison, but rang it off the crossbar.

Watson was sharp in the first period, making a handful of big saves, while keeping rebounds to a minimum.  His best save came on Preston Shupe, who cut in from in close, but Watson held his ground and made the nice save.

The Tigers had three power-plays in the second period, but could not take advantage, as Canisius scored the only goal of the frame to tie the game at 1-1 after 40 minutes of play.

Shupe was left wide open in front on a power-play just 1:22 into the period and one-timed a pass from Kyle Gibbons past Watson in close to tie the game.

The Tigers had a golden chance midway through the period, as Mike Colavecchia (Maple, Ontario/Lindsay Muskies) came in on a breakaway.  He deked Morrison to the forehand, and had him beat, but could lift the puck over the goaltender's outstretched pad.

Adam Mitchell (Crofton, MD/Baystate Breakers) had three great chances in the period, but was denied by Morrison each time.

RIT sported brand new black third jerseys for tonight's conference.

RIT is now 53-15-1 all-time against Canisius and 14-5-0 since moving to Division I in 2005-06. 

The Tigers are right back in action on Saturday, as they host No. 12 Union at 7:05 p.m. at Ritter Arena.