Men's Hockey | 11/19/2013 9:38:00 PM

Box Score

BUFFALO, NY – Host Canisius (3-7-0, 2-3-0 AHA) scored five unanswered goals, including three in the third period to defeat the RIT men's hockey team (1-6-2, 1-3-0 AHA), 5-2 in front of 992 fans at Buffalo State Ice Arena on Tuesday evening.

Dan Schuler (Webster, NY/Powell River Kings) scored both RIT goals, 2:02 apart in the first period. Jordan Ruby (Tavistock, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) made a season-high 38 saves in defeat.

Special teams were the difference, as Canisius was 2-for-5 with the power-play and held RIT, who entered the game third nationally with the man-advantage (28.6 percent) scoreless in five attempts. Canisius out-shot RIT, 43-36.

Kyle Gibbons led the Golden Griffins with two goals and an assist. Ben Danford had a goal and an assist, while Cody Freeman and Ralph Cuddemi added a pair of assists apiece. Jack Hidi and Matthew Backhouse also scored. In net, Tony Capobianco made 34 saves.

RIT Head Coach# Wayne Wilson# did not travel with the team, due to illness. Associate Head Coach Brian Hills was behind the bench and thought his team did not do the little things needed to win, especially in the third period.

"We were outworked in the third period, plain, and simple," said Hills. Canisius was grittier and beat us to a ton of loose pucks. We played pretty well over the first two periods, had some great chances during some power-plays in the second period, but we needed to hit the net more. We missed a lot of good chances wide."

Both teams scored twice in the first period, combining for 25 total shots.

RIT took a quick 2-0 lead on goals 2:06 apart, both by Schuler. He scored his first of the season 6:50 into the contest on a delayed penalty, taking a feed from Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) in front. His first shot was stopped by Capobianco, but he was able to garner his own rebound and put it over the Canisius goaltender.

Immediately after RIT's power-play ended, Schuler was there to slam home a rebound for his second of the game at the 8:56 mark. Greg Noyes (Lucan, Ontario/Salmon Arm Silverbacks) walked in from the left side after great work by Alexander Kuqali (Pittsburgh, PA/Sioux City Musketeers) to keep the puck in at the right point. Noyes fired a shot that Todd Skirving (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Sioux Falls Stampede) tipped on goal. The rebound came right to Schuler in front and he gave RIT a 2-0 lead.

Canisius would come roaring back, scoring goals 2:02 apart later in the frame to tie the game, both from the point through traffic. At the 12:40 mark, Matthew Grazen won a face-off back to Backhouse, who wristed a shot from the left point through a screen and over the glove of Ruby.

At the 14:22 mark, Canisius would work the puck on the power-play back to Danford, who fired a shot that caromed off a body in front past Ruby to knot the game at 2-2.

Both teams had excellent chances in the middle stanza, but could not convert. Canisius once again held a 13-12 edge in shots.

Mike Colavecchia (Maple, Ontario/Lindsay Muskies) rocketed a shot off the post early in the frame. Ruby had to make a few big saves moments later and was able to do a good job containing his rebounds in the period.

The Tigers had 1:04 of a 5-on-3 power-play midway through the period, but were unable to convert, mustering just one shot. RIT had the Canisius defense on the ropes during the advantage, but could not get a clean pass through on three separate cross-ice attempts down low.

RIT seized the momentum 5-on-5 late in the period, with three consecutive strong shifts. Ben Lynch (Blaine, MN/Lincoln Stars) had two good chances in the slot that were stopped by Capobianco and the Golden Griffins defense. Andrew Miller (Chicago, IL/Chicago Steel) had a golden opportunity in the final moments denied in close.

Canisius seized momentum with three goals in a 5:08 span in the third period to put the game away.

At the 4:35 mark, Gibbons took a feed from Cuddemi and one-timed a pass past Ruby on the power-play for the game-winning goal. Just 48 seconds later, Hidi took a feed from Carl Larsson on a 2-on-1 and converted to make it 4-2. At the 9:43 mark, Gibbons fired in a shot from the slot for the final tally.

RIT is 56-18-1 all-time against the Golden Griffins and 16-9-0 since the start of the 2005-06 season. Canisius has won four straight contests against the Tigers dating back to last season.

Earlier today, RIT held its beam signing for the Gene Polisseni Center. RIT will move into the Polisseni Center in time for the 2014-15 season.

RIT is right back in action this weekend at home with a two-game series against St. Lawrence University of the ECAC. The two non-conference games get underway at 7:05 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.