Men's Hockey | 2/17/2012 9:59:00 PM

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ROCHESTER, NY – Despite holding a 46-23 edge in shots on goal, the RIT men's hockey team (17-10-4, 14-6-4 AHA) skated to a 2-2 tie against Robert Morris (14-13-4, 12-8-4 AHA) in front of 2,003 fans at Ritter Arena on Friday evening. RIT extends its home unbeaten streak against AHA foes to 12 games (8-0-4).

The Tigers finish the evening tied for second with Niagara in the Atlantic Hockey Association standings with 32 points. Air Force leads the way with 34 points.

Robert Morris goaltender Brooks Ostergard was tremendous in net, stopping 44 shots. He was named the game's first star. Scott Jacklin and Ron Cramer scored for the Colonials. Cramer tied the game at 2-2 with 16:32 left in regulation.

Greg Noyes (Lucan, Ontario/Salmon Arm Silverbacks) tallied a goal and an assist for the Tigers. Mike Colavecchia (Maple, Ontario/Lindsay Muskies) dished out a pair of assists, while Cameron Burt (Detroit, MI/) also scored. Burt is now just a point shy of moving into a tie for second place all-time with Andrew Favot (King City, Ontario/) at the RIT Division I level with 130 points. He is just three away from tying Simon Lambert (Ste.-Therese, PQ/Cumberland Grads) for the Division I record at RIT.

RIT goaltender Shane Madolora (Salinas, CA/) stopped 21 shots.

Robert Morris came into the game with the nation's best penalty-killing unit, allowing just nine power-play goals all season. RIT scored two power-play goals in three attempts. Robert Morris was 1-for-4 with the man-advantage.

RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson thought his team played very well this evening.

"I thought we played very well and gave a strong effort, 5-on-5, on the power-play, and shorthanded," said Wilson. "We controlled play 5-on-5 for the majority of the game, did a good job blocking shots and our power-play generated great chances. We have to get two points tomorrow night."

The two teams traded power-play goals in an evenly played first period.

RIT got on the board first, at the 7:52 mark, as Noyes wristed a low hard shot past a screened Ostergard, off a clean face-off win by Burt. Burt won the draw to Colavecchia, who tipped the puck straight back to Chris Haltigin (Oakville, Ontario/) at the left point. Haltigin quickly passed to Noyes at the right point and the sophomore defenseman was able to take a few strides in and beat Ostergard from the high slot.

RIT took three straight penalties later in the period and the Colonials made them pay on the second one, as Jacklin tipped in a shot from Josh Jones in tight to tie the game at 1-1. Colin South fed Jones at the right point, who then fired a pass to the front of the net, where Jacklin redirected the shot past Madolora for his eighth goal of the year.

Madolora's best save of the period came six minutes in, when he smothered an attempted from Cody Wydo in front off a giveaway behind the RIT net.

RIT dominated the second period, out-shooting the Colonials 19-6, while scoring the lone goal of the frame. Ostergard made several big saves to keep it just a two-goal lead.

Burt gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead at the 11:32 mark, as he blasted a hard slap shot from the right face-off circle past Ostergard. Mike Colavecchia (Maple, Ontario/Lindsay Muskies) dug out a loose puck of the corner and fed Noyes at the right point. Noyes circled and fed Burt, who wound up and blasted the shot just under the crossbar for his seventh goal of the year.

RIT continued to buzz, generating several good chances at even strength. Adam Hartley (West Vancouver, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) circled, spun back behind the net and attempted a wrap around that Ostergard foiled. Ben Lynch (Blaine, MN/Lincoln Stars) had a handful of great chances stopped by the Robert Morris netminder, then right before the period ended, Eliot Raibl (Vancouver, British Columbia/Quesnel Millionaires) fired a shot from the point that found its way through traffic, but Ostergard gobbled it up.

Madolora's best save of the period came when he foiled Trevor Lewis on a partial breakaway while the Colonials were shorthanded.

Cramer tied the game at 2-2 just 3:28 into the third period, as he jammed away at a loose puck in close and was able to jam it between the pads of Madolora for his first goal in nearly a calendar year.

From there, RIT dominated play the rest of regulation and overtime, generating several great chances, but Ostergard and the Robert Morris defense shut the door and earned the tie. Neither team mustered a shot on goal in the overtime, although RIT did fire a handful of shots that were blocked by the defense.

Tonight's game was the second of three meetings between the two schools this season. On Dec. 17, the Colonials shutout RIT, 4-0 at the RMU Island Center, as Ostergard stopped 32 shots. Adam Brace scored a pair of goals, while Cody Crichton recorded three assists.

RIT is 2-3-2 all-time against the Colonials.

The two teams conclude their regular season series on Saturday evening at 7:05 p.m.