ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men's hockey team (7-10-2, 7-5-1 Atlantic Hockey) had its three-game winning streak snapped, falling to league foe Canisius College (6-13-2, 6-7-2 Atlantic Hockey) by a score of 6-3 in front of 2,051 fans at the Gene Polisseni Center on Friday evening.

Canisius jumped out to a 3-0 first period lead and held RIT off when the Tigers cut the lead to 4-3 early in the second period. The Golden Griffins played a strong defensive third period, allowing little in the way of any major chances for the Tigers.

Dylan McLaughlin had a goal and two assists to lead the Golden Griffins, while Shane Conacher scored a pair of goals. Ralph Cuddemi had a goal and an assist, while Joshua Gabriel and Felix Chamberland also scored for Canisius. In net, Simon Hofley made 29 saves to pick up his second win.

Gabe Valenzuela (Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers) led the Tigers with a goal and an assist, while Brady Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) and Alex Perron-Fontaine (St. Mathieu de Beloeil, Quebec/Chilliwack Chiefs) also scored for RIT. In net, Christian Short (Vaughan, Ontario/Surrey Eagles) took the loss, stopping 20 shots.

RIT out-shot Canisius, 32-26. Canisius was 2-for-4 with the man-advantage, while RIT scored in its only power-play attempt, but did allow its first shorthanded goal of the season.

"I thought we did not compete hard, didn't play with determination, and were sloppy all evening," said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. "There were a lot of better things we could have done with the puck and spent a lot of time watching instead being active."

Canisius stunned the Gene Polisseni Center faithful by scoring three times in a span of nine minutes to take a 3-0 first period lead before RIT rallied to make it a 3-1 game heading into the intermission.

RIT had a great chance on the opening shift, but Liam Kerins (Caledon, Ontario/North York Rangers) was robbed in tight by Hofley.

The Golden Griffins would open the scoring on the power-play 5:37 into the game, as Chamberland would take a cross ice feed on a 3-on-2 rush from McLaughlin and rip a shot from inside the left face-off circle past Short to the short side for his second goal of the season.

RIT would come right back on the ensuing shift and had a golden chance, as a shot by Caleb Cameron (Sundridge, Ontario/Listowel Cyclones) was stopped by Hofley, with the rebound coming right to Valenzuela in close. Valenzuela looked to have the open right side of the net, but Hofley came across and made a dazzling glove save.

McLaughlin gave the Golden Griffins a 2-0 lead at the 9:08 mark, taking a feed from Cameron Heath inside the RIT zone, faking towards the net, then cutting around it to beat Short on a wrap around for his fourth goal of the season.

RIT would squander its first shorthanded goal of the season at the 14:36 mark, as Short misplayed a clearing attempt behind his own net, allowing Gabriel to steal the puck and beat the RIT goaltender to the net for his first collegiate goal.

The Tigers would get the goal back on the same power-play, as Mitchell found Brady Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) on the back door play for the goal, his fourth of the season just 1:03 later to make it a 3-1 game. Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) held the puck inside the Canisius zone at the left point and fed Valenzuela on the left wall, who got the puck down low to Mitchell. Mitchell made a perfect saucer feed across to a cutting Brady Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers), who beat Hofley up high for the tally.

The assist was Mitchell's 70th at RIT and his 98th career point. He is just two points shy of becoming the ninth player in RIT's Division I era to record 100 points.

Both teams scored twice in a wild second period, as Canisius took a 5-3 lead into the locker room after 40 minutes of play.

The second period started with the two teams combining to score three times in a span of 1:19. Canisius would take a 4-1 lead on the power-play just 4:16 into the period, as Cuddemi would take a pass from McLaughlin on a 3-on-1 rush with the man-advantage, have his first shot from the slot stopped by Short, but slam in the rebound that was lying in the crease for his 11th tally of the year.

RIT would come roaring back with two goals in 36 seconds to cut the Golden Griffins lead to 4-3.

Valenzuela would get his fifth of the season at the 4:59 mark, taking a feed from Brown in the slot and beating Hofley with a shot that was deflected by a Canisius defender. Liam Kerins (Caledon, Ontario/North York Rangers) and Brown worked the cycle perfectly to get Valenzuela the goal.

On the next shift, Perron-Fontaine crashed the net and tipped home a pass from Andrew Miller (Chicago, IL/Chicago Steel) on the doorstep for his third goal of the season to make it 4-3 Golden Griffins. Mark Logan (Calgary, Alberta/Brooks Bandits ) shed a defender behind the Canisius net and made the pass to Miller, who found Perron-Fontaine in close.

Canisius would regain its two-goal lead, 5-3 with 28 seconds left in the period, when Conacher took the puck off a stick of a Tiger looking to break out of the zone after a faceoff win and in one motion, whistled a shot past Short to the far side off the left post and in for his 12th goal of the year.

Canisius played an excellent road third period with the lead, keeping RIT to the perimeter, while putting the game away with an empty net tally with 1:36 left, as Conacher put in a rebound after a shot from Cuddemi was blocked by a sliding Tiger defenseman.

RIT is 59-20-2 all-time against the Golden Griffins and 20-10-1 since the start of the 2005-06 season. The loss snapped a five-game unbeaten streak against Canisius dating back to the 2013-14 season.

The Tigers are now just 2-6-0 at the Gene Polisseni Center this season, including a 2-5-0 mark in league play. RIT is 5-0-1 on the road in Atlantic Hockey.

The Tigers and Golden Griffins wrap up their regular season series on Saturday night, once again from the Gene Polisseni Center at 7:05 p.m.