Men's Hockey | 1/17/2014 10:09:00 PM

Box Score

ROCHESTER, NY – Junior goaltender Jordan Ruby (Tavistock, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) stopped all 35 shots he faced for his first collegiate shutout, as the RIT men's hockey team (7-11-3, 6-7-1 AHA) won for the first time in the 2014 calendar year, blanking Army (3-17-0, 3-13-0), 6-0 in front of 1,395 fans at Ritter Arena on Friday evening.

Ruby was excellent all evening, stopping 29 of his 35 shots over the first two periods. He made a big save on Joe Kozlak late in regulation to preserve the shutout and pick up his second win of the season.

The Tigers tied a season-high with six goals, also accomplished on Nov. 23 vs. St. Lawrence. Mike Colavecchia (Maple, Ontario/Lindsay Muskies) scored a pair of goals to lead the Tigers, while Danny Smith (Edmonton, Alberta/Sherwood Park Crusaders) and Brandon Thompson (Vancouver, British Columbia/Handsworth) both tallied a career-high three points each. Smith had a goal and two assists, while Thompson had three assists. Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs), Nolan Descoteaux (Dallas, TX/South Shore Kings), and Alexander Kuqali (Pittsburgh, PA/Sioux City Musketeers) added a goal and an assist each. Brad McGowan (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) added a pair of helpers.

Army out-shot RIT, 35-34, The Tigers were 2-for-4 with the man-advantage, while Army was 0-for-5. RIT's penalty-killing unit was especially good in the second period, killing off four Army power-plays, including a five-minute major assessed to Dan Schuler (Webster, NY/Powell River Kings).

Rob Tadazak made 28 saves in the loss for Army. Kozlak and Maurice Alvarez fired six shots on goal apiece.

The win snapped a five-game winless streak for the Tigers. It was RIT's first home game at Ritter Arena since Dec. 7, 2013, spanning 41 days. RIT now has a 14-game unbeaten streak against Army, out-scoring them 55-25 over that span.

"I thought we got off to a great start, but had bad discipline in the second period," said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. "The penalty-killing unit and Jordan (Ruby) did a great job in the second, and we did a good job putting them away in the third. I was very happy with our special teams play tonight. We have to play hard and disciplined tomorrow night."

RIT came out determined, scoring a pair of goals 31 seconds apart in the first 1:41 to get out to a fast 2-0 lead.

Just 1:10 into the contest, Colavecchia took a drop feed from Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) in the high slot and wired a perfectly placed wrist shot off the left post and past Tadazak for his eighth goal of the season. McGowan won a defensive zone faceoff and sent a pass up to Mitchell, who broke into the zone with Colavecchia.

Just 31 seconds later, Descoteaux snuck in behind the Army defense and took a perfect cross-ice feed from Smith to beat Tadazak for his fifth goal of the season. Thompson also assisted on the goal.

RIT had two golden chances to go up 3-0 later in the period on a power-play, as Ben Lynch (Blaine, MN/Lincoln Stars) walked in from the corner and had a point-blank chance deflected out of play by an Army defenseman. Moments later, McGowan had two great chances from the doorstep denied by Tadazak.

Ruby's best save of the period came in the final two minutes, as on a delayed RIT penalty, Alvarez fired a shot from the left circle that Ruby was able to get a glove on.

Ruby was excellent for the Tigers in the second period, as they had to kill off four consecutive Army power-plays, including a five-minute major later in the period. He stopped all 18 shots he faced in the frame. His best save came on a point-blank chance by Kozlak in front.

While shorthanded at the 11:46 mark of the period, Schuler was hooked down on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot. On the penalty shot, Schuler came in and tried to beat Tadazak on the forehand, but the Army goaltender was able to deflect the shot wide, keeping it 2-0.

Just 1:25 later, Schuler was given a five-minute major for charging, as he ran over Tadazak behind the Army net, while forechecking. RIT's penalty-killing unit was excellent to keep Army on the outside and draw a penalty of its own midway through to negate the major.

With 1:28 left in the period, Kuqali fired a shot from the left point that Smith redirected past Tadazk for his fourth goal of the season, giving the Tigers a 3-0 lead. Andrew Miller (Chicago, IL/Chicago Steel) came into the zone with Thompson on a rush and had a shot stopped by Tadazak. The rebound came to Thompson, who found Kuqali at the point.

RIT out the game away with three third period goals, including two with the man-advantage. At the 6:29 mark, Colavecchia slammed home a rebound in close after Descoteaux and Greg Noyes (Lucan, Ontario/Salmon Arm Silverbacks) played catch at the point. Noyes fired a shot that Tadazak stopped, but Colavecchia flipped the puck over the fallen Army goaltender for his second goal of the game and ninth of the season.

Kuqali fired in his first goal of the season at the 12:04 mark, taking a feed from Thompson in the slot after a great no look pass from Smith in the corner. Kuqali took one stride in and whistled a shot past Tadazak on the short-side for the goal.

Mitchell completed the scoring with 1:09 left on the power-play, one-timing a shot from the slot past Tadazak on the power-play. McGowan fed Todd Skirving (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Sioux Falls Stampede) down low, who made the perfect feed to Mitchell, who was all alone in the slot.

RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 12-2-5 and is 5-1-3 against the Black Knights at Ritter Arena. The Tigers are 67-20-13 all-time at Ritter Arena against AHA foes in the regular season.

Tonight, RIT began a stretch of nine of 10 games being played at Ritter Arena. RIT is 3-2-0 at home this season. The two teams conclude their regular season series on Saturday night from Ritter Arena at 7:05 p.m.