ROCHESTER, NY – Senior captain Matt Garbowsky (St. George, Ontario/Powell River Kings) scored with 1:09 left in regulation to help the RIT men's hockey team (2-5-1, 1-3-1 AHC) to a 3-3 tie against visiting Holy Cross (2-4-3, 2-0-3 AHC) in front of 2,807 fans at the Gene Polisseni Center to kick off Valor Week on Friday evening.

With RIT goaltender Jordan Ruby (Tavistock, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) pulled for the extra attacker, Brad McGowan (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) fired a puck around the boards to Garbowsky inside the Crusaders zone. Garbowsky fed a pass to Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) who went behind the net and gave the puck back to Garbowsky, who was circling from the opposite side. Garbowsky was able to get to the front of the net and wrist a shot over diving Holy Cross goaltender Matt Ginn for his fourth goal of the season, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

In overtime, Garbowsky nearly had a breakaway less than a minute in, but had the puck just poked away as he was going by the defender in the neutral zone. Holy Cross countered with a few chances, but the game would end in a tie, the first for the men at the Gene Polisseni Center.

With RIT trailing 2-1 deep into the third period, Andrew Miller (Chicago, IL/Chicago Steel) picked up a loose puck at his own blue line after a wide shot by Holy Cross and came in on a 1-on-1. Miller used his speed to get to the face-off circle and fire a perfect shot over the shoulder of Ginn to the short side to knot the game at 2-2.

The tie was short lived however, as Scott Pooley would give the Crusaders their lead back just 2:19 later, taking a perfect feed from Mike Barrett and beating RIT goaltender Jordan Ruby (Tavistock, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) with a great shot just under the crossbar to the far side.

Garbowsky, Miller, and Brady Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) scored for the Tigers, while McGowan and Mitchell had two assists apiece. In goal, Ruby shook off a slow start to make 34 saves on 37 shots, several in fine fashion.

Pooley had a goal and an assist, while Barrett added two helpers. T.J. Moore and Danny Lopez also scored for Holy Cross, who is undefeated in league play. Ginn stopped 28 shots in the tie.

Holy Cross out-shot RIT, 37-31, including 16-7 in the second period. The Tigers attempted more total shots during the game, but the Crusaders defense blocked 24 shots to just nine for the Tigers. Both teams were 0-for-3 on the power-play.

Despite rallying for the tie, RIT head coach Wayne Wilson was not happy with his team's play.

"I thought we were sloppy and played our worst game of the year," said Wilson. "There was no feeling whether we could defend or not, shift by shift. The overall effort was not there tonight, as we need to be much more patient defensively tomorrow. Despite that, we found a way to come back and get a point. I expect us to be better tomorrow."

Holy Cross scored the only two goals of the first period. The Crusaders quickly quieted the crowd just 1:12 into the contest, as Lopez took advantage of a miscue behind the net by Ruby, who was trying to play the puck and stumbled. Mike Barrett tipped a pass in front to Lopez, who was all alone in front to put the puck over Ruby, who was desperately trying to get back into position.
 
At the 8:07 mark, the Crusaders once again took advantage of a miscue behind the RIT net, with Brett Mulcahy and Scott Pooley causing a turnover that went right in front to Moore, who waited out Ruby and scored off the right post and in to make it 2-0 Holy Cross.
 
Matt Abt (Leduc, Alberta/Whitecourt Wolverines ) had a great chance from the slot later in the period, taking a shot that Ginn gobbled up. Moments later, Todd Skirving (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Sioux Falls Stampede) raced past a Holy Cross defender, and went in alone on Ginn before getting hooked while getting a shot off to cause a penalty.

RIT scored the lone goal of the second period, despite getting out-shot 16-7.

Norrish scored his second goal in two games with 3:49 left in the frame to cut the Crusaders lead in half, taking a feed from McGowan at center ice and finding open ice into the Holy Cross. From the high slot, Norrish unleashed a hard slap shot that seemed to just glance off a defenseman's stick, changing direction enough to fool Ginn to make it 2-1.

Ruby was the star of the period, making several key saves. His best save came in the third period, as he somehow came across to get a piece of a shot by Jake Bolton with his glove.
 
Tonight, RIT wore special military themed game-worn jerseys that will be auctioned off online at www.rit.edu/oneteamonefight from Nov. 11 to Nov. 18. All proceeds will be distributed to a number of local agencies serving veterans of the Greater Rochester area through the all-volunteer "One Team One Fight" effort.  Each player's jersey bears a special patch remembering the men and women in the Greater Rochester area who made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan.
 
RIT is 23-10-5 all-time against Holy Cross and 19-5-5 at the Division I level. On home ice, RIT is 12-2-2 against the Crusaders since the 2006-07 season. RIT and Holy Cross will also meet on Feb. 13-14, 2015 in Worcester, Mass.
 
The Tigers and Crusaders conclude the weekend series on Saturday evening from the Gene Polisseni Center at 7:05 p.m.