Men's Hockey | 11/4/2011 10:02:00 PM

Click here for game stats

ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men's hockey team (1-3-2, 0-2-2) let a two-goal third period lead slip away, as visiting Army (0-3-2, 0-1-1 AHA) came back to tie the Tigers 2-2 in front of 1,851 fans at Ritter Arena on Friday evening.

Mark Dube and Mike Hull scored third period goals for the Black Knights, who out-shot RIT 17-8 in the final stanza after RIT dominated and out-shot Army, 33-11 after 40 minutes of play.  The Tigers out-shot Army, 43-28 overall.

Brad McGowan (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) scored his first collegiate goal for the Tigers late in the second period to break a scoreless tie.  Mark Cornacchia (Unionville, Ontario/) also scored for RIT, 21 seconds later. 

Sophomore goaltender Josh Watson (Lititz, PA/Powell River Kings) made 26 saves for the Tigers, including a handful of big stops after Army tied the game late in the third period.

Army goaltender Ryan Leets was excellent in defeat, stopping the first 28 shots he faced en route to making 41 saves.  He was named the game's first star.

RIT held the Black Knights scoreless in seven power-play attempts, but did not score on the power-play in four chances.

The Tigers had to kill off 1:12 of an Army power-play in overtime, and had a shorthanded 2-on-1, when Cameron Burt (Detroit, MI/) and #Matt Garbowsky came in on the break.  Burt faked a shot and tried to feed Garbowsky, but the pass missed wide.

In the final minute, Burt had a golden chance from the slot but fired over the net.  Chris Haltigin (Oakville, Ontario/) then ripped a shot wide that caromed past out to the neutral zone, where Andy Starczewski picked up the puck and looked to have a breakaway.  The Army forward skated in and tried to make a move, but out of nowehere, Haltigin swooped in, dove, and knocked the puck to the corner, preserving the tie.  

RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson thought his team played hard and the effort was there, and knows the scoring will come.

"We played very well tonight and generated lots of shots throughout," said Wilson.  "I was very happy with our effort and I wouldn't change much.  We held the momentum for most of the game and created many opportunities.  We have to stick with what we are doing and the goals will come."

The Tigers came out and dominated the first period, out-shooting Army, 13-4, but Leets was brilliant keeping the game scoreless.

The Tigers fired the first seven shots of the game, but found themselves shorthanded four consecutive minutes midway throughout the period.  Late on the second power-play, Starczewski fired a shot from the slot that Watson stopped, but the rebound came to  Hull at the side of the net.  Fortunately for RIT, Trevor Eckenswiller (Lions Head, Ontario/) was there to smother the shot with his shin pad and keep the puck out.

From there, it was all RIT, as they peppered the Army net the rest of the period.  On the power-play, Ben Lynch (Blaine, MN/Lincoln Stars) created a 2-on-1 with Greg Noyes (Lucan, Ontario/Salmon Arm Silverbacks) down low and fed a perfect pass to the defenseman, who looked to have an open net, but fired the puck off the left post from in tight.

In the final seconds of the period, Nolan Descoteaux (Dallas, TX/South Shore Kings) fired a shot off a clean face-off win from Hartley that Leets stopped, but the rebound came out with three Tigers lurking in close, but the puck bounced over a pair of sticks and out of harms way.

The Tigers continued their strong surge in the second period, firing a season-high 20 shots, but Leets continued to stymie them, stopping the first 28 shots overall he faced until RIT scored twice in a 21 second span late in the period to go up 2-0 after 40 minutes of play.

Garbowsky intercepted an errant clearing attempt with 2:32 left in the period in the slot and dropped a perfect pass behind him to McGowan who whistled a shot past Leets to the far right side from the slot for RIT's first goal at home this season.

That goal broke a scoreless streak of 162:28 at Ritter Arena to start the season.

Just 21 seconds later, Cornacchia scored his first of the season after a face-off scrum in the Army zone.  Brandon Thompson (Vancouver, British Columbia/Handsworth) and Lynch worked hard to get the puck to Cornacchia off the draw and the fourth-year forward fired a shot from the right circle short side on Leets for his first goal of the season.

Before those two goals, Leets was excellent earlier in the period, making several huge stops, none better than on Garbowsky on a shorthanded breakaway midway through the period.  The freshman center flew around an Army defenseman came in wide and looked to have Leets beet to the far post, as he came across the net, but the goaltender somehow got his pad on the puck and kept it out.

Dube cut the RIT lead in half 26 seconds into the third, slamming home a rebound after Hull won a face-off to Bryant Skarda, who fired a shot that Watson stopped.

Hull tied the game at the 11:42 mark, after Dube intercepted a clearing attempt at the right boards.  Dube fed Hull who perfectly placed a shot over the shoulder of Watson from the right face-off circle.

Watson was then called upon to make several big saves during an Army power-play right after, and he stood firm, including one chance, where he reached behind him and grabbed the puck with his blocker hand before it went over the line.

RIT is 8-2-5 all-time against Army and now have a 10-game unbeaten streak against the Black Knights, dating back to Nov. 15, 2008.  Last season, the Tigers went 1-0-1 against Army, tying 1-1 and winning 5-2.

Tonight's game was the first regular season game with students in session that did not sell out since Jan. 29, 2010, snapping a streak of 15 straight.

The two teams conclude their season series on Saturday evening, once again at 7:05 p.m. at Ritter Arena.