Men's Hockey | 1/5/2013 9:17:00 PM

Box Score

CANTON, NY - The RIT men's hockey team (5-9-4) fell by a final score of 4-3 to St. Lawrence (8-9-2) at Appleton Arena on Saturday night. The Tigers went into the third period facing a 2-1 deficit but Mike Colavecchia (Maple, Ontario/Lindsay Muskies) scored twice in 38 seconds to give the Tigers the lead. The Saints would score the final two goals of the contest to win the game.

Kyle Essery scored the game-winner at the 6:05 mark in the third period as the Saints claimed the programs 1,000th win.

Josh Watson (Lititz, PA/Powell River Kings) made 35 saves in net in a losing effort, while Matt Weninger stopped 25 shots to snap the Tigers four game unbeaten streak.

Brad McGowan (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) also scored for the Tigers, his fourth goal of the season.

For the second consecutive game, St. Lawrence jumped out to a 2-0 lead. The first goal came exactly eight minutes into the period, a power play goal from Patrick Doherty off a good feed from George Hughes.

Just over four minutes later, Brad Shumway (Lafayette, CO/Chicago Steel) commited a turnover in the Tigers defensive zone and Gunnar Hughes beat Watson with a wrist shot. RIT would answer at the 14:05 mark as Greg Noyes (Lucan, Ontario/Salmon Arm Silverbacks) controlled the puck at the blue line and fired a shot that McGowan deflected past the Saints goalie. At the end of the first period, St. Lawrence held a 17-8 lead in shots with Watson making 15 saves.

The Tigers best chance to tie the game in the second period came off the stick of Nolan Descoteaux (Dallas, TX/South Shore Kings) with six minutes remaining. He broke away from the defense and fired a shot on Weninger but was denied. The rebound sat in front of the net, but was eventually scooped up by a St. Lawrence defender. Each team fired 10 shots on goal in the period but both goalies were up to the task. Each team also had a power play chance but were unable to convert and St. Lawrence went into the third period with a one goal lead for the second time in as many nights.

Colaveccia single handedly erased the Saints lead early in the third period. At the 1:47 mark, Colaveccia took a feed from Matt Garbowsky (St. George, Ontario/Powell River Kings) and blasted a shot in the top right corner for a power play goal to even the score. Chris Sacarcino was also credited with an assist on the play. Just 38 seconds later, he struck again, this time an even strength goal with assists from Adam Hartley (West Vancouver, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) and Adam Mitchell (Crofton, MD/Baystate Breakers).

The Saints would return the favor with two goals of their own in a 3:08 stretch. Jeremy Wick tied the game at 3, and at the 6:05 mark, Kyle Essery scored the game winner. The Tigers pulled Watson with just over a minute left in regulation and put some pressure on the Saints defense, but couldn't find the back of the net.  

Head Coach Wayne Wilson was pleased with his team's effort on the weekend.

"We got better as the game went on," said Wilson. "We wanted to play two non-league games to get ready for the second half of the season and we did. It's going to be a great finish to our league play."

RIT won last evening's contest 4-3 with two third period goal in the final 4:04 as Hartley scored the winner with 1:30 remaining in the game. RIT is now 3-8-0 all-time against St. Lawrence, 3-5-0 in the Division I era. Last night's win was RIT's first ever at Appleton Arena.

The Tigers return to action on Friday Jan. 11 when they host Bentley at Ritter Arena. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m. and can be seen on Time Warner Cable Channel 26 or channel 1026 in high definition.