Men's Hockey | 2/7/2014 10:28:00 PM

Box Score

ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men's hockey team (8-14-5, 7-10-3 AHA) skated to a 2-2 draw against Atlantic Hockey Association foe Robert Morris (10-13-4, 10-6-4 AHA) in front of 1,449 fans at Ritter Arena on Friday evening.

In a battle of former Rochester Section V goaltenders, RIT's Mike Rotolo (Rochester, NY/Cedar Rapids Roughriders) and Robert Morris' Terry Shafer stole the show, stopping 40 shots apiece. Rotolo was named the game's first star, while Shafer was named the second star, as both goalies made several excellent saves in the contest.

Both teams fired 42 shots on goal. Robert Morris was 0-for-6 with the man-advantage, while RIT was 0-for-5. The Tigers had a power-play late in regulation and one that ended overtime, but could not get the winning goal.

Mike Colavecchia (Maple, Ontario/Lindsay Muskies) and Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) scored for the Tigers, while Greg Gibson and Cody Wydo scored for Robert Morris.

"I thought it was fitting that the game ended in a tie, both teams played hard and deserved the point," said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. "I thought our penalty-killers were really good tonight."

With the game tied at 1-1 heading into the third period, Mitchell took a pass from Dustin Fostvelt (Edmonton, Alberta/Spruce Grove Saints ) at the Robert Morris line and cut to the outside, firing a shot towards the net from a bad angle. The centering attempt went off a Colonials defender, popped up in the air and over Shafer, who had lost sight of the puck. Caleb Cameron (Sunridge, Ontario/Listowel Cyclones) also assisted on the tally, Mitchell's fifth of the season.

Rotolo made a fantastic save on David Friedmann after he snuck behind the RIT defense with eight minutes left to keep it 2-1 Tigers.

The Colonials would get the equalizer with 3:05 left, as Brandon Denham outworked three RIT players for the puck along the right wing boards and centered a pass to Wydo in the slot. Wydo turned and fired a shot that deflected off a sliding RIT player and past Rotolo for his 20th goal of the season.

Just 16 seconds later, RIT would get a power-play, but could not convert. In overtime, the Colonials held the play in RIT zone for a couple long stretches, but could not generate any quality chances. With 1:16 left, Brandon Thompson (Vancouver, British Columbia/Handsworth) was hooked down on a potential scoring chance, giving RIT a power-play. Robert Morris' penalty killing unit was excellent however, keeping RIT without a shot to end the contest.

Robert Morris extended its unbeaten streak to eight games (6-0-2), while RIT failed to pick up a victory for the fifth straight contest (0-3-2).

The Tigers scored the lone goal in a loosely played first period in which the two teams combined for 31 shots.

Both goalies were on early, making key saves to keep the game scoreless early on. Rotolo made his two best saves on a backhander by Wydo in close about five minutes in and then on Jones as the Colonials were on a power-play from the doorstep later in the period.

Shafer had to come up big with a couple of saves on Schuler twice in close, and made a very good stop on Nolan Descoteaux (Dallas, TX/South Shore Kings) on the rush later in the period.

The Tigers would get on the board with 2:29 left in the period, as Colavecchia was the beneficiary of a great set up by Noyes, firing in a shot into the open net from the right side for his 12th goal of the season right after a power-play ended. Schuler had a good chance from the left circle stopped by Shafer. The rebound came behind the net, where Todd Skirving (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Sioux Falls Stampede) grabbed the loose puck and fed Noyes at the left point. Noyes took two strides in and faked a shot, drawing the defenders up, and fired the perfect pass to Colavecchia, who was all alone at the right side of the net. Shafer tried to dive across, but to no avail.

The Colonials scored the lone goal in the second period, as Gibson came in over the line, hit the faceoff circle and ripped a rocket of a slap shot past Rotolo for his seventh goal of the season. Matt Cope and Tyson Wilson assisted on the goal.

Shafer made two huge stops on Thompson and Danny Smith (Edmonton, Alberta/Sherwood Park Crusaders) after a great feed from Colavecchia right after the Robert Morris goal.He then robbed Skirving from the slot in the final seconds of the period.

RIT donned the jerseys they wore on Dec. 14 vs. Niagara in the Frozen Frontier at Frontier Field. That game also ended in a 2-2 tie.

RIT is now 4-5-4 all-time against Robert Morris and 1-1-3 all-time vs. the Colonials at Ritter Arena. They are 1-0-1 against Robert Morris this season, having recorded a 4-2 win at 84 Lumber Arena on Nov. 9. Ben Lynch (Blaine, MN/Lincoln Stars) led the way with a goal and an assist, while Matt Garbowsky (St. George, Ontario/Powell River Kings) had a pair of assists.

The two teams wrap up the regular season series on Saturday evening at 7:05 p.m.