Men's Hockey | 11/8/2013 9:32:00 PM

Box Score

ERIE, PA – The RIT men's hockey team (0-5-2, 0-2-0 AHA) had its chances, but fell to league rival Mercyhurst University (3-5-1, 2-0-0 AHA) by a score of 3-2 from the Mercyhurst Ice Center on Friday evening.

The Tigers have now started 0-2 in AHA play for the second straight season. Down 3-2 in the third period, RIT had several good chances during essentially a four-minute power-play, but were unable to solve Lakers goaltender jimmy Sarjeant, who made 37 saves on 39 shots. Adam Mitchell (Crofton, MD/Baystate Breakers) had RIT's best chance from point blank range, but was stymied by the Mercyhurst goaltender.

With just under three minutes left, Mike Colavecchia (Maple, Ontario/Lindsay Muskies) and Ben Lynch (Blaine, MN/Lincoln Stars) had great chances from the slot go just wide.

RIT out-shot Mercyhurst 39-33. The Tigers were 1-for-5 with the man-advantage, while Mercyhurst was 1-for-6. Both teams scored on a 5-on-3 power-play.

Sarjeant was tremendous for the Lakers, stopping 37 shots to be named the game's first star. Chris Bodo, Zac Frischmon, and Kyle Dutra scored for the Lakers. Nardo Nagtzaam had two assists.

Matt Garbowsky (St. George, Ontario/Powell River Kings) and Mike Colavecchia (Maple, Ontario/Lindsay Muskies) scored the RIT goals. Dan Schuler (Webster, NY/Powell River Kings) assisted on both goals and drew a pair of penalties on the evening. Schuler was named the game's third star.

RIT goaltender Jordan Ruby (Tavistock, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) made 30 saves on 33 shots in the losing effort.

RIT head coach Wayne Wilson knows his players have to step up and find ways to win.

"I thought our whole game was pretty good and I thought we outplayed them for the most part," said Wilson. "We had a sloppy sequence in the second period, where we easily could have gotten a puck deep, it is turned over, we take a penalty, the puck ends up in the back of our net, and then they score on the ensuing power-play. It's a broken record, we played well, but did not get the job done. We need to have guys step up and want to get the job done, scoring goals, and killing penalties."

RIT played a strong period, out-shooting Mercyhurst 15-8 and holding a 2-1 lead.

The Tigers got on the board at the 6:21 mark, as great forechecking from Garbowsky and Schuler led to the RIT captain's second goal of the season. Schuler batted down a clearing attempt at the right wing board and fired a shot to the net that Garbowsky gloved down. Garbowsky sent a pass back to Schuler, who fired a shot that Sarjeant stopped. The rebound came to Garbowsky at the side of the net and he slid the puck past Sarjeant, who had lost sight of the puck.

Colavecchia nearly made it 2-0 two minutes later, when his rocket from the slot off a feed from Lynch whistled off the crossbar and out.

Mercyhurst would tie the game on the next shift, as Bodo came down the left wing on a 2-on-2 rush and fired what seemed to be a harmless shot that would elude Ruby over his glove and off the right post and in. Daniel Bahntge would assist on the tally.

Schuler nearly gave RIT its lead right back on the next shift, coming in on a breakaway, but getting denied by Sarjeant. Lynch would have a great chance on the rush on a Tiger power-play but get stopped.

Colavecchia would give RIT its lead back right before a 5-on-3 power-play expired, firing a hard shot from the slot past Sarjeant for his team-best fifth goal of the year. Greg Noyes (Lucan, Ontario/Salmon Arm Silverbacks) fed Schuler down low, who gave the puck right back to Noyes. Noyes found Colavecchia all alone in the high slot and the senior forward made no mistake.

Mercyhurst scored the lone two goals in a span of 1:14 in a wild second period to take a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes of play.

Ruby made a great diving save on Ryan Misiak with 11:20 left to play in the period to preserve RIT's 2-1 lead. Moments later, the Lakers would tie the game, as Frischmon would bang home a loose puck from in front of the net on a delayed penalty at the 9:58 mark. Nagtzaam went hard to the net, forcing Ruby to make the save. RIT thought the whistle would blow for the penalty, but Frischmon followed up and slid the puck past Ruby, whose momentum carried himself into the net.

The Lakers would go up 1:14 later on a 5-on-3 power-play, as Dutra tipped in a blast from Nick Jones for his first collegiate goal. Nagtzaam also assisted on the goal.

From there, play opened up considerably, which team generating great scoring chances before the buzzer sounded.

Ruby had to come up with a huge save on Bahntge in tight,and robbed Steve Hrehoriak in close with 4:21 left in the frame to keep it 3-2.

The line of Andrew Miller (Chicago, IL/Chicago Steel), Brad Reid (Delta, British Columbia/Coquitlam Express), and Anthony Hamburg (Phoenix, AZ/Omaha Lancers) generated several good chances by cycling down low. Miller was stoned by Sarjeant in tight with just under four minutes left.

Schuler and Garbowsky nearly teamed up for a shorthanded goal in the final minute to tie the game. Schuler came in with one defender back and fed Garbowsky, who was all alone in the slot. Garbowsky skated in and tried to beat Sarjeant with a backhand move, but the Mercyhurst goaltender came across and made a brilliant save.

RIT is now 30-16-6 all-time against the Lakers, including a 14-7-3 mark since 2005. The two teams were also long time Division III rivals as part of the ECAC West conference. RIT was 9-1-1 at the Mercyhurst Ice Center in its previous nine meetings. It is the first time RIT has ever lost on Nov. 8, as they had won eight previous on this date.

Last season, RIT went 2-1-0 against the Lakers. Mercyhurst won 5-3 at Ritter Arena in the first meeting of the season, while RIT swept a weekend series at the Mercyhurst Ice Center late in the season, 3-2 in overtime and 5-3.

The Tigers are right back in action on Saturday evening, as they continue their tour of Pennsylvania with a contest against AHA foe Robert Morris. Opening face-off from 84 Lumber Arena is at 7:05 p.m.