CANTON, NY – The RIT men's hockey team (0-2-0) dropped its second game in as many nights to kick off the 2015-16 season, falling to No. 19 St. Lawrence University (2-0-0), 5-1 in front of 1,992 fans at Appleton Arena on Saturday evening.
Garrett McMullen (Churchville, NY/Trail Smoke Eaters) scored the Tigers lone goal, late in the second period.
Caleb Cameron (Sundridge, Ontario/Listowel Cyclones) and
Abbott Girduckis (Belleville, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) assisted on the goal. For Girduckis, it was his first collegiate point. Goaltender
Mike Rotolo (Rochester, NY/Cedar Rapids Roughriders) made 34 saves for the Tigers.
Gavin Bayruether and Christian Horn had a goal and an assist apiece to lead the Saints. Alex Hagen, Eric Sweetman, and Woody Hudson also scored for St. Lawrence, who held a 39-20 edge in shots. In goal, Kyle Hayton made 19 saves.
St. Lawrence was 0-for-5 with the man-advantage, while RIT was 0-for-3.
"We had our moments at times tonight, but St. Lawrence was quick and well coached," said RIT head coach
Wayne Wilson. "They were a better team than us tonight. We have plenty of things to work on, as we need to compete harder and work at a faster pace.
Like last night, the Tigers found themselves in a 2-0 hole after one period of play. Just like last night, RIT came out buzzing early, as
Erik Brown (Keene, Ontario/Kemptville 73's) had a great chance from the slot turned aside by Hayton a minute in.
The Saints would get on the board at the 7:02 mark, taking advantage of a turnover at the RIT blueline. Matt Purnal would feed Sean McGovern, who went to the net and centered a pass to Hagen, who was able to tap the puck in from the doorstep past Rotolo.
St. Lawrence kept coming after that goal and had the Tigers hemmed in their own zone for over a minute. Rotolo would come up huge with tremendous saves on Brian Ward and Mitch Eden down low to keep it 1-0.
Brady Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) had a golden chance to tie the game at 1-1 a few minutes later while the Tigers were shorthanded, rocketing past a pair of St. Lawrence defenders to come in all alone on Hayton. Norrish faked his shot and went to the backhand, but Hayton came across and somehow kept the puck out of the net.
The Saints would take a 2-0 lead with 4:28 left in the period, as Bayruether ripped a shot from the slot that was blocked and looked to be going wide, but caromed off a second RIT defender's skate at the side of the net and past Rotolo, who had no chance on the tip.
Rotolo continued to keep RIT in the game during the second period, as the Saints would pepper the junior goaltender with 17 shots in that frame. He made a handful of big saves 5-on-5 early in the period and a few more on a Saints power-play.
The Saints would up their lead to 3-0 with 5:55 left in the second, as a turnover in the neutral zone led to sustained pressure in the RIT end. The puck would come out to Sweetman in the high slot, who ripped a clean shot over the glove of Rotolo for his first goal of the year.
That goal seemed to energize the Tigers, as on the next shift, 33 seconds later, McMullen would sweep in a shot in front for his first goal of the season and RIT's first, cutting the St. Lawrence lead to 3-1. Girduckis and Cameron did good work cycling the puck down low, Cameron came around the net and found McMullen, who from the top of the crease, slid the puck past Hayton.
RIT just missed making it 3-2 moments later, as
Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) eluded two Saints on a rush and sent a pass to
Andrew Miller (Chicago, IL/Chicago Steel) at the right circle. Miller's hard wrist shot beat Hayton, but clanged off the crossbar.
Hudson would give St. Lawrence a 4-1 lead in the third, firing shot past Rotolo on the short side, immediately after the RIT goaltender made a great save on Michael Laidley.
Horn would complete the scoring with 6:39 left, putting a backhander past Rotolo after a giveaway in the RIT zone.
Tonight marked the collegiate debuts for Brown and Girduckis. Last night,
Liam Kerins (Caledon, Ontario/North York Rangers),
Mark Logan (Calgary, Alberta/Brooks Bandits ), and
Gabe Valenzuela (Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers) made their debuts.
The Tigers are 5-10-0 all-time against St. Lawrence, 5-7-0 in the Division I era. RIT had won four of the last six meetings between the two schools before tonight, scoring 27 goals during that stretch. A year ago tonight, RIT defeated the Saints, 5-2 in the first regular season game at the Gene Polisseni Center.
Last night, RIT opened the season by falling at Clarkson, 6-0. St. Lawrence defeated Niagara, 5-2.
RIT is back in action on Saturday, Oct. 17, as they host Bowling Green State University at Blue Cross Arena as the focal point of Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend at 7:05 p.m. Limited tickets still remain for that contest.
