Men's Hockey | 12/8/2012 9:49:00 PM

Box Score

ROCHESTER, NY - The RIT men's hockey team (4-8-3, 3-5-2 AHA) completed the weekend sweep, defeating Sacred Heart (0-14-2, 0-11-2 AHA) 5-2 in front of 1,805 fans at Ritter Arena on Saturday evening. RIT scored a season-high three power-play goals in the win.

The Tigers scored three straight times over a 5:44 stretch spanning the second and third periods to snap a 1-1 tie and draw away. For the second straight game, Mike Colavecchia (Maple, Ontario/Lindsay Muskies) recorded three points on a goal and two assists to be named the game's second star. He now has 11 points on seven goals and four assists in his last four games against Sacred Heart.

Senior captain Chris Saracino (St. Louis, MO/Green Bay Gamblers) tied a career-high with three points on a goal and two assists to be named the game's first star. Adam Hartley (West Vancouver, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles), Ben Lynch (Blaine, MN/Lincoln Stars) and Alexander Kuqali (Pittsburgh, PA/Sioux City Musketeers)# also scored for RIT, who out-shot Sacred Heart, 40-27. Greg Noyes (Lucan, Ontario/Salmon Arm Silverbacks) and Brad Reid (Delta, British Columbia/Coquitlam Express) dished out a pair of assists apiece in the win. Reid was named the game's third star.

In goal, junior Josh Watson (Lititz, PA/Powell River Kings) turned aside 25 shots to pick up his third win of the season.

For Sacred Heart, Eric Delong scored a goal and added an assist. Delong's third period goal was his 100th career point. Brian Sheehan also scored for the Pioneers. In goal, freshman Fredrick Melander made 35 saves.

RIT was 3-for-6 with the power-play, scoring a goal in each period, while Sacred Heart was 1-for-4. RIT's power-play is now clicking at 23.7 percent on the season.

RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson was happy with his team's performance tonight.

"I thought we were more consistent tonight than last night, start to finish," said Wilson. "Our freshmen have really begun to step into their roles and play well for us and were great all weekend. Our power-play continues to produce for us and has been really good all season."

RIT scored the lone goal in a fairly evenly played first period. RIT dominated the first half of the period, while Sacred Heart controlled play over the final 10 minutes.

The Tigers tallied the lone goal of the period with one second left on their first power-play of the game, as Kuqali went back door and took a perfect goal mouth feed from McGowan to beat Melander for his second goal of the season and second of the weekend. Mike Colavecchia (Maple, Ontario/Lindsay Muskies) took the puck at the right point and fired a pass to McGowan down low. McGowan then fired the perfect pass to Kuqali in close.

Watson was called upon to make a few big saves later in the period, while the Pioneers were on a power-play of their own. Watson made a save on a shot by Chad Barthelmess, then robbed Eric Delong on the ensuing rebound at the doorstep.

RIT held the majority of great chances in the second period and upped its lead to 3-1 after two periods of play.

Sacred Heart drew even at the 14:28 mark, as Sheehan slid a shot past Watson on a 3-on-3 break. Ben Ketchum carried the puck into the zone and passed the puck to Eric Delong in the slot, who lost the puck, but it squirted to Sheehan who was streaking towards the goal and he beat a diving Watson for his seventh tally of the season.

RIT would score twice in a span of 1:07 to take a 3-1 lead. At the 16:48 mark, Lynch one-timed a shot from the slot through the legs of Melander for his fourth tally of the season. Both teams though that RIT was offsides, but the linesman ruled it was a legal play. RIT cycled the puck around with a shot by Brad Reid (Delta, British Columbia/Coquitlam Express) coming to Brad Shumway (Lafayette, CO/Chicago Steel) at the right point. Shumway wheeled and found Lynch in the slot who was able to get the goal.

Colavecchia continued his mastery against Sacred Heart, scoring his third goal of the weekend and fifth of the season on the power-play at the 17:55 mark, as he swept in a loose puck from the side of the net. Chris Saracino (St. Louis, MO/Green Bay Gamblers) fired a hard shot off the crossbar with the rebound coming to Greg Noyes (Lucan, Ontario/Salmon Arm Silverbacks) at the side of the Sacred Heart net. Noyes tried to chip the puck over Melander, but the goaltender got just enough, with the rebound coming right to Colavecchia at the right side of the open goal.

Noyes almost made it 4-1 in the final minute, as he came in on a breakaway with Adam Mitchell (Crofton, MD/Baystate Breakers). Mitchell was hauled down and Noyes got the loose puck. Noyes tried to go to the back hand on Melander, but the Sacred Heart goalie slid across and made a big save.

Hartley did give RIT a 4-1 lead just 2:32 into the third period, ripping a shot from the slot just under the crossbar for his fourth goal of the year and 30th of his career. Reid fired a shot that went wide, but right to Saracino, who circled the net and found Hartley unmarked in the slot.

Delong tallied his 100th career point with a power-play goal at the 11:01 mark, snapping a shot over the glove of a partially screened Watson from the high slot to cut the RIT lead to 4-2.

Just 2:41 later, Saracino gave RIT its three-goal lead back ripping a hard slap shot through a screen and over the glove of Melander for his fourth goal of the season. Noyes and Colavecchia played catch at the point before Noyes hit Saracino for the one-timer from about 45 feet out.

Last night, the Tigers snapped a six-game winless streak by beating the Pioneers by a score of 5-3. The trio of Colavecchia, Kuqali, and Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) combined for nine points.  Colavecchia scored two goals and added an assist, while Kuqali scored his first collegiate goal, and added two assists. Mitchell recorded a career-best three assists. Hartley and McGowan also scored for the Tigers, In goal, Jordan Ruby (Tavistock, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) made 25 saves to pick up his first win of the season.

The Tigers lead the all-time series between the two schools, 14-4-2 and are riding a seven-game unbeaten streak against the Pioneers. During that streak, RIT is out-scoring Sacred Heart, 38-10. Last season, the Tigers recorded back-to-back shutouts against Sacred Heart on the road, 10-0 and 3-0.

RIT wraps up play in the 2012 calendar year with a single road contest at nationally-ranked Niagara at 7:05 p.m.

"Niagara will be a good test to see where we are (as a team)," said Wilson. "They are the best in the league, so it will be interesting to see how we matchup against them."