Men's Hockey | 2/15/2013 9:29:00 PM

Box Score

ERIE, PA - Adam Hartley (West Vancouver, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) scored 1:07 into overtime to give the RIT men's hockey team (11-13-5, 9-9-4 AHA) a big 3-2 road victory at Mercyhurst (14-12-3, 12-8-2 AHA) on Friday evening at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. The win was the Tigers second come-from-behind victory in a row and their third win in their last four games.

Jeff Smith (Spokane, WA/Tri-City Storm) and Matt Garbowsky (St. George, Ontario/Powell River Kings) scored the other Tiger goals and Garbowsky added an assist on the game-winner. In net, Jordan Ruby (Tavistock, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) made 34 saves in net for the Tigers and recorded his fourth victory.  

The win was RIT's 150th since joining Division I in 2005. RIT is 150-109-32 in eight seasons of Division I play and 141-85-30 since joining the AHA in 2006-07.

Max Strang made 29 saves in a losing effort for the Lakers who entered play second in the AHA standings.

Mercyhurst kicked off the scoring at the 10:58 of the first period, converting on a 2-on-1. Nolan Descoteaux (Dallas, TX/South Shore Kings) stopped the initial Laker attack at center ice. However, the puck bounced right to Kyle Just who fed Chris Bodo who beat Ruby with a nifty move in front of the net.

The Tigers managed only seven first period shots, but with 44 seconds left, Smith was rewarded for his effort in front of the goal with his 11th goal of the season and his first since a two-goal performance at Army on Jan. 19.

RIT wasted little time in taking the lead to start the second period. 18 seconds in, as Dan Schuler (Webster, NY/Powell River Kings) deflected a pass in Mercyhurst's zone that Garbowsky corralled and wristed a shot past Strang.

The Tigers dominated most of the play and held a 10-3 lead in shots midway through the period, but the Lakers turned up their play. At the 11:33 mark, Daniel O'Donoghue deflected Nick Jones' shot from the point that just snuck in the top right corner of the net.

Mercyhurst outshot RIT 9-4 the rest of the period and could have extended the lead but Ruby made two terrific saves even though his stick was knocked out of his hand with just over seven minutes left in the period.

RIT had consecutive power play opportunities in the third period, but the nation's leading unit was denied. The Lakers also had a power play chance with 3:58 in regulation but the Tigers penalty kill was superb.

The third period ended with RIT on the power play, holding 58 seconds worth of the man-advantage heading into overtime.

Just after the penalty expired, Hartley secured a loose puck on the left wing and skated in front of the net, beating Strang with a backhand shot. Garbowsky and Chris Saracino (St. Louis, MO/Green Bay Gamblers) were credited with assists.

Head Coach Wayne Wilson was pleased with the outcome.

“I didn't think we played well in the first period but our penalty kill was very good,” said Wilson. “Adam gave a great individual effort on the winner and now we really need to get after it tomorrow.”

This contest marks the second meeting between the two schools this season. On Nov. 9, Mercyhurst defeated RIT at Ritter Arena, 5-3. Greg Noyes (Lucan, Ontario/Salmon Arm Silverbacks) and Garbowsky recorded two points apiece in the loss for the Tigers.
 
RIT is 29-15-6 all-time against the Lakers. The Tigers are 13-6-3 against Mercyhurst at the Division I level, including an 8-2-1 mark at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.

The two teams will return to action tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. as they wrap up their regular season series.