Men's Hockey | 1/25/2014 9:32:00 PM

Box Score

ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men's hockey team (8-13-3, 7-9-1 AHA) fell for the second straight evening to AHA foe Niagara University (7-14-3, 7-7-3 AHA) by a score of 5-1 on Saturday evening in front of1,680 fans at Ritter Arena.

For the second straight evening, Niagara goaltender Adrian Ignagni was the best player on the ice, stopping 40 of RIT's 41 shots to pick up the win. He was especially strong in the second period, stopping 16 RIT shots, many in spectacular fashion. Igagni stopped 69 of 70 RIT shots over the weekend.

Issac Kohls and Patrick Conte scored a pair of goals each to lead the way for the Purple Eagles. T.J. Sarcona also scored, while Sam Alfieri had two assists.

Dan Schuler (Webster, NY/Powell River Kings) scored RIT's lone goal, a power-play tally early in the second period. Jordan Ruby (Tavistock, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) played the first two periods in net for the Tigers, stopping 20-of-25 shots. Mike Rotolo (Rochester, NY/Cedar Rapids Roughriders) came in for the third period, stopping all seven shots he faced.

RIT was 1-for-8 with the man-advantage, firing 17 shots, while Niagara was 0-for-4. RIT out-shot the Purple Eagles, 41-32.

"I thought we got off to a slow start in the first, but I was happy with how we played in the final two periods, despite the score," said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. "We had a lot of missed opportunities tonight, a lot of great chances we didn't bury. Our effort level was much better tonight, but the bottom line was we didn't get the job done."

Niagara jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, scoring goals 38 seconds apart before the game was five minutes old.

The Tigers received a power play just 33 seconds into the contest, but could not convert.

Kohls made it 1-0 Purple Eagles at the 3:45 mark, as he poked home a rebound off a shot from Vince Muto in front. Hugo Turcotte played the puck down low to Muto, who had his shot stopped by Ruby. The rebound laid in the slot before Kohls scooped it up, made a quick move and beat Ruby for his ninth goal of the season.

Just 38 seconds later, Conte came in on a 2-on-1 rush and from the right face-off circle and wired a shot over the shoulder of Ruby for his third goal. Good work by Sam Alfieri and Kevin Ryan sprung Conte on the odd-man rush.

The Tigers had a couple of chances later in the period, but could not get on the board, as Niagara held a 14-10 edge in shots.

Niagara poured it on in the second period, outscoring RIT 3-1 to take a commanding 5-1 lead after 40 minutes of play, despite RIT holding a 17-11 edge in shots.

RIT came out firing in the second period and just after a 5-on-3 power-play ended, Schuler fired in his ninth goal of the season on the 5-on-4 edge, cutting the Niagara lead to 2-1 at the 2:07 mark of the period. Nolan Descoteaux (Dallas, TX/South Shore Kings) made a pass from the point to Greg Noyes (Lucan, Ontario/Salmon Arm Silverbacks) at the side boards. Noyes quickly found a wide open Schuler in the slot and the sophomore forward ripped a shot past Ignagni.

The Tigers kept coming over the next few minutes, but Ignagni was sensational making three tremendous saves to keep the lead. Ignagni robbed Ben Lynch (Blaine, MN/Lincoln Stars) who looked to have an open net after a shot from Noyes was stopped on a power-play. He also robbed Brad McGowan (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) on a rebound, who also looked to have an open cage to shoot at.

Niagara would go up 3-1 at the 6:07 mark, as Kohls beat Ruby with a long shot on the rush for his second goal of the contest.

The Purple Eagles would go up 5-1 with two goals in 3:30 late in the period. At the 16:07 mark, Conte got his second of the game, sliding a shot from the slot under the pad of Ruby for the goal. With 26 seconds left in the period, Sarcona stripped the puck from a Tiger in the neutral zone, came in on a breakaway and beat Ruby.

RIT honored members of the 1983 and 1985 NCAA Championship teams, as well as the squad that made the 2010 Frozen Four and any All-Americans as part of Ritter Arena's "Night of Champions" this evening. Niagara head coach Dave Burkholder was the goaltender on the 1983 NCAA Championship team.

Tonight was the third of three meetings between the two schools this season. On Dec. 14, the two teams skated to a 2-2 draw at Frontier Field in downtown Rochester in the first outdoor game for both teams. Last night, Ignagni stopped all 29 shots he faced for his first career shutout in Niagara's 3-0 win over RIT. The Purple Eagles are 2-0-1 against RIT this season. RIT is 3-14-9 all-time against Niagara, 1-12-7 in the Division I era.

The Tigers return to action next weekend with a pair of home games against Holy Cross at Ritter Arena, with both contests getting underway at 7:05 p.m.