ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men's hockey team (9-12-4, 8-7-4 AHC) fell behind 3-0 midway through the second period and could not recover, losing to Army, 4-2 in front of 3,403 fans at the Gene Polisseni Center on Friday evening. The loss snapped a 15-game unbeaten streak against Army, dating back to Nov. 14, 2008.

Joe Kozlak led the Black Knights with a goal and two assists, while Maurice Alvarez had a goal and an assist to go along with a plus-4 rating. Conor Andrle and Blake Box also scored for Army, who snapped a four-game winless streak. In goal, Cole Bruns was solid, stopping 33 shots to earn the game's first star.

Sophomore defenseman Alex Perron-Fontaine (St. Mathieu de Beloeil, Quebec/Chilliwack Chiefs), who entered the evening with one goal in 44 career games, scored both RIT goals. Andrew Miller (Chicago, IL/Chicago Steel) was plus-2. In goal, Jordan Ruby (Tavistock, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) started, stopping 11 of 14 shots in just over 30 minutes before being pulled in favor of Mike Rotolo (Rochester, NY/Cedar Rapids Roughriders). Rotolo made 11 saves on 11 shots over the second half of the game.

RIT out-shot Army, 35-26, including 28-15 over the final two periods. The Tigers were 0-for-5 on the power-play, while holding Army scoreless in four attempts with the man-advantage. RIT has now killed off 26 straight penalties over the last six games.

"We played with a lack of focus, right from the get-go," said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. "It was a disappointing effort by us, give Army credit, they played well and took advantage of our miscues. We've got to do a better job tomorrow and salvage the split."

The Black Knights scored the lone goal of the first period, 2:44 in, as Alvarez took a feed from Joe Kozlak on a 3-on-2 break and ripped a hard shot over the locker of Ruby, just under the crossbar, as it stuck in the back of the net for his fifth goal of the season.

RIT ran into penalty problems, but killed off three Army power-play attempts in the period. On RIT's lone power-play of the frame, Caleb Cameron (Sunridge, Ontario/Listowel Cyclones) had a great chance going to the net, but just redirected the pass wide. Later in the period, Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals) took a feed from Cameron out from and fired a shot off the right post and out.

The Black Knights upped their lead to 3-0 with goals 1:56 apart midway through the second period that chased Ruby. Andrle beat Ruby through the five-hole on a rush at the 8:20 mark and Box fired a blast from the right point off a scramble in front that got past the RIT goaltender at the 10:16 mark.

At that point, Wilson pulled Ruby in favor of Rotolo and that seemed to wake RIT up, as they held a distinct territorial edge for the rest of period.

Perron-Fontaine tallied his first goal of the season and second of his career at the 15:12 mark, rifling a hard wrist shot through traffic from the high slot to make it 3-1 Army. RIT used a great cycle from Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) and Brandon Thompson (Vancouver, British Columbia/Handsworth), who got a feed to Danny Smith (Edmonton, Alberta/Sherwood Park Crusaders) in the slot. Instead of shooting, Smith, dropped a pass to Perron-Fontaine, who was in a better shooting position for the goal.

The Tigers kept coming, out-shooting Army 10-3 over the final half of the period, but could not get the second one past Bruns.

Just 15 seconds into the third period, Brad McGowan (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) fired a wrist shot from the left circle off the crossbar. Bruns stepped up and made a handful of big saves, including two on Matt Garbowsky (St. George, Ontario/Powell River Kings) from in close on another power-play later in the period to keep it 3-1.

Perron-Fontaine cut the Army lead to 3-2 with 4:14 left in regulation, firing a shot from the right side from a bad angle that went off an Army stick and past Bruns. Todd Skirving (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Sioux Falls Stampede) centered a pass that glanced off Caleb Cameron (Sunridge, Ontario/Listowel Cyclones) and back to Perron-Fontaine at the right point. Perron-Fontaine came in from his point position and fired the shot in for his second of the game.

RIT kept coming over the last four minutes, but could not get the equalizer. With 16 seconds left and Rotolo pulled for the extra attacker, Kozlak took a feed in the neutral zone from Alvarez and fired a shot that fluttered off a RIT stick and bounced into the open net, sealing the win.

RIT now leads the all-time series between the two schools, 13-3-5 and is 6-2-3 against the Black Knights on home ice. RIT had out-scored Army 59-28 over the 15-game unbeaten streak.

RIT and Army wrap up their season series on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m.