Men's Hockey | 2/22/2013 9:43:00 PM

Box Score

ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men's hockey team (12-14-5, 10-10-4 AHA) allowed four third period goals, letting a 2-1 lead slip away in a 5-3 loss to visiting Air Force (15-10-7, 13-6-5 AHA) in front of 1,917 fans at Ritter Arena on Friday evening. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Tigers, who fall to seventh in the AHA standings, just two points out of third place.

RIT led 2-1 heading into the third period before the Kyle DeLaurell and Casey Klesinger scored two goals in a span of 31 seconds early in the period to give Air Force the 3-2 lead. With RIT goaltender Jordan Ruby (Tavistock, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) pulled for the extra attacker in the final 1:30, RIT lost the puck at the Air Force line and Tony Thomas was able to come in and score an empty-net goal. RIT pulled Ruby again with just over a minute left and it worked, as Matt Garbowsky (St. George, Ontario/Powell River Kings) scored his second goal of the game with 53 seconds left to make it a one-goal game once again. DeLaurell ended things with Ruby pulled for a third time, scoring his second of the period with 27 seconds left into the open cage.

DeLaurell scored twice and added an assist for the Falcons to be named the game's first star. Thomas had a goal and an assist, while Klesinger and Adam McKenzie also scored. Chad Demers added two assists.

In goal, Jason Torf made 21 saves to pick up his 15th win of the season.

Garbowsky scored two goals for the second straight game to lead RIT. Anthony Hamburg (Phoenix, AZ/Omaha Lancers) also scored, while Brad McGowan (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) added two assists. Ruby made 30 saves on 33 shots in defeat for the Tigers, falling to 5-7-1.

RIT was 0-for-4 with the man-advantage, while Air Force was 1-for-2. Air Force out-shot RIT, 35-24. It was the first time this season that RIT lost when leaving after two periods, and first time overall since Feb. 4, 2012, also vs. Air Force.

RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson thought his team was solid, but not for the entire 60 minutes.

“We had two bad shifts in a row, two minutes in the third period that were the difference,” said Wilson. “I was happy with our play for the other 58 minutes. We need to play a full 60 minutes tomorrow night, shoot the puck, get the puck to the net.”

RIT scored the lone goal in a physical first period of play, in which Air Force held a 13-8 edge in shots.

Ruby had to come up big in the opening minute, stopping Stephen Carew on a rebound. He then came up big on a point blank attempt by Max Hartner moments later.

Hamburg tallied his fourth goal of the season at the 9:38 mark, converting a perfect feed from Noyes on a 3-on-2 break. Brad Reid (Delta, British Columbia/Coquitlam Express) came over the Air Force line and fed a pass that went off Hamburg's stick right to Noyes on the left side. Noyes fed a perfect pass to a wide open Hamburg, who was crashing the net and redirected a shot past Torf.

RIT nearly made it 2-0 moments later, as Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) came in alone on a partial breakaway. With a Air Force defenseman closing in, Mitchell tried to deke to the forehand, but Torf stayed right with him, making a big pad save.

Ruby robbed Carew for the second time in the period with a few minutes left with a big glove save as the Air Force center was able to walk in from the slot.

Tempers flared late in the period after a penalty to Adam Hartley (West Vancouver, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles). With Air Force on the ensuing power-play seconds later, a Tiger defenseman was able to pin the puck along the boards, getting a whistle. A scrum ensued and Air Force's Cole Gunner cross -checked RIT's Jeff Smith (Spokane, WA/Tri-City Storm) in the face. Gunner was given a five-minute major and game misconduct.

The physical play went up another level in the second, as the two teams traded goals.

Air Force tied the game at 1-1 on a 4-on-3 power-play just 56 seconds into the period, as McKenzie rocketed a hard-slap shot from the slot just under the crossbar and past Ruby. Chad Demers threaded a pass off the stick of DeLaurell right to McKenzie, who made no mistake for his fourth tally of the season.

The Tigers had an extended power-play moments later, but great work by the Air Force penalty-killing unit kept RIT off the board and null of any quality chances.

Hartley nearly gave RIT the lead with just over nine minutes left in the period, taking a feed from Mike Colavecchia (Maple, Ontario/Lindsay Muskies) on a 3-on-2 rush, and ripping a hard wrist shot off the right post.

Hard work by the Tigers resulted in a goal that gave them a 2-1 lead. With RIT in the Air Force zone for an extended period of time, Garbowsky had a great chance in front stopped by Torf. The rebound came back to the point, where Nolan Descoteaux (Dallas, TX/South Shore Kings) fed a pass to Brad McGowan (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) who found Andrew Miller (Chicago, IL/Chicago Steel) behind the net. Miller then found Garbowsky all alone in the slot and the sophomore assistant captain made no mistake, scoring his fourth goal in the last three games and sixth of the year.

In a span of 31 seconds in the third, RIT's lead evaporated. At the 3:54 mark, DeLaurell swept home a loose puck in the crease that got past Ruby after he made three saves in a flurry by the Falcons. At the 4:25 mark, Kleisinger put home his own rebound after his first shot was blocked. Max Hartner set a screen on Ruby, allowing the second shot to sneak through.

After Thomas scored the first empty-netter, Garbowsky jammed a rebound home from the side of the net after a shot by McGowan went wide. Hartley won the draw to McGowan, who then missed the net, but the carom came right to Garbowsky at the left side of the goal.

Thomas and DeLaurell out-worked the RIT defense behind the RIT net and DeLaurell was able to have the easy stuff in on the vacant RIT goal with just 27 seconds left.

Garbowsky, who scored one goal in his first 23 games, has six over his last six contests and five over his last three games.

Air Force now leads the all-time series between the two schools, 19-14-3 and have won the last five meetings dating back to last season. The teams have met in the last two AHA Championship games and have combined to win the last six league titles. Since the start of the 2005-06 season, RIT is 11-17-3 against Air Force. The Tigers have an 8-4-1 mark against the Falcons at Ritter Arena during that span.
 
Tonight's game was the second of three regular season meetings between the two schools. On Dec. 2, the Falcons defeated RIT in overtime at Cadet Ice Arena by a score of 3-2 on a goal by Carew.  Miller and Reid scored in the loss for RIT, who was whistled for 42 minutes in penalties to just four for the Falcons.

The Tigers and Falcons conclude their regular season series on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m.