MOON TOWNSHIP, PA — The RIT men's hockey team (11-17-1, 11-12-0 Atlantic Hockey) dropped a tight 3-1 contest against league foe Robert Morris (16-9-3, 12-8-2 Atlantic Hockey) at 84 Lumber Arena Saturday night. All four goals were scored in the third period.

Abbott Girduckis (Belleville, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) notched his third goal of the weekend series, early in the third period to give RIT the lead, while Danny Smith (Edmonton, Alberta/Sherwood Park Crusaders) and Caleb Cameron (Sundridge, Ontario/Listowel Cyclones) had assists. Cameron finished the weekend with three assists. Mike Rotolo (Rochester, NY/Cedar Rapids Roughriders) stood tall between the pipes, making 38 saves on 40 shots.
 
Timmy Moore, Kyle Horsman, and Brady Ferguson scored for Robert Morris, while Francis Marotte stopped 25 shots in the win.
 
The Colonials attempted 73 shots, compared to just 48 by the Tigers, and Robert Morris was able to block 20 of RIT's shot attempts. Robert Morris held a 41-26 advantage in shots on goal. Robert Morris was 1-for-3 with the man-advantage, while RIT was 1-for-4.
 
"We hung in there and it was a gritty effort, but Robert Morris really controlled the play," said head coach Wayne Wilson. "We needed to move the puck quicker in our own zone. We had some good opportunities, but both teams did a good job defensively in keeping a lot of the play to the perimeter."
 
The first period started fast and physical, but neither team could find the score sheet in the first 20 minutes. The Tigers were awarded the first power-play chance, but despite great zone time and possession, they didn't convert. Gabe Valenzuela (Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers) had two outstanding chances to break the scoreless tie. RIT's best chance of the period came off the stick of Mark Logan (Calgary, Alberta/Brooks Bandits ), as Shawn Cameron (Sherbrooke, Quebec/Cumberland Grads) fed him a no-look, backhand pass into the slot. Logan's hard shot was turned aside by Marotte.

Rotolo stood tall in the opening frame, making 18 saves, including a four on a Colonials power-play.

Robert Morris controlled most of the play in the second, but once again neither team could break the scoreless tie. The Colonials began the period on the man advantage and just 38 seconds in, Rotolo made a great sprawling save on a shot by Eric Israel. Later in the period Robert Morris had another sequence of prime scoring chances on the power-play, but Rotolo and the RIT defense came up big again.
 
RIT got on the board first, as Girduckis found the back of the net 6:21 into the frame, and with two seconds left in power-play time. Smith and Caleb Cameron (Sundridge, Ontario/Listowel Cyclones) had assists on the play.

Robert Morris came storming back, tying the game up just 2:49 later, on a power-play tally from Moore. With 6:40 left, the Colonials took their first lead of the weekend series, on Horsman's first goal of the season.

The Tigers were given a power-play with 57 seconds left on the clock, but Robert Morris sealed the game on Ferguson's shorthanded empty-netter from 150 feet away.
 
"I thought Mike (Rotolo) was good again tonight, but their power-play came up with a big goal," said Wilson. "We just didn't finish with the poise at the end that we needed."
 
Robert Morris leads the all-time series between the two schools 12-9-4, with the two teams splitting the regular season series, 2-2.  Saturday's game was the final regular season meeting between RIT and Robert Morris this year.
 
RIT will be back home for four straight games, including a two-game series against Holy Cross next weekend. The Tigers and Crusaders will face-off at 7:05 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 10 and Saturday, Feb. 11 from the Gene Polisseni Center.