LOWELL, MA – The RIT men's hockey team (0-1-0) opened the 2018-19 season by falling on the road at the University of Massachusetts Lowell (1-0-0), 2-1 in front of 5,673 fans at the Tsongas Center Friday evening.
 
RIT led 1-0 heading into the third period on the strength of a Mark Logan (Calgary, Alberta/Brooks Bandits) goal. Lowell would score a pair of power-play goals, including the game-winner from Ryan Dmowski with 5:22 left that proved to be the difference. Connor Wilson scored a power-play goal seven minutes earlier, which tied the game.
 
RIT out-shot UMass Lowell, 26-21. The Riverhawks were 2-for-6 on the power-play, while RIT was 0-for-3.
 
RIT goaltender Logan Drackett (Calgary, Alberta/Calgary Canucks) was solid in net, turning aside 19 shots. Riverhawks netminder Tyler Wall stopped 25 of 26 shots.
 
"I thought we battled hard; I really liked our effort and intensity tonight," said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. "Being in a tight game in front of a good crowd like this right away will make us a better hockey team down the road. We expect another close game tomorrow night, need to regroup and be ready to go."
 
Neither team scored in an exciting opening period that featured several good chances despite the two teams combining for just 14 shots on net.
 
Drackett had to come up big on Ryan Lohin from point blank range about four minutes and forced Wilson to shoot wide on a partial breakaway right after.
 
Senior captain Abbott Girduckis (Belleville, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) had three golden chances for RIT in the period. His first came on a RIT power-play, as he fired a shot off the left post from the slot. Moments later, Girduckis came in on a 2-on-1 odd-man rush after Drackett did a great job to clear a Lowell dump and fired a shot that Wall got a piece of. Later in the period, Girduckis took a nice feed from Brown and once again fired a hard wrister from the slot that this time Wall got a blocker on.
 
RIT would score the only goal of the second period, with 1:19 left, as Bryson Traptow (Calgary, Alberta/Camrose Kodiaks) sent a dump in to the far corner. Jordan Peacock (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Cougars) did a great job to cause a turnover, then fish out a loose puck in the corner and find a streaking Logan in the slot. Logan snapped a hard one-timer against the grain and past Wall to give RIT the 1-0 lead.
 
Lowell thought they took the lead about five minutes into the period on power-play, as a point shot was tipped past Drackett but off the right post and out. Drackett fell on the puck and covered it. About five seconds later, the goal horn went on and Lowell players celebrated. The referees went to the replay booth and quickly came out with an emphatic no goal signal.
 
Brown had two golden chances to give RIT the lead late in the second period on consecutive shifts, but was denied by Wall both times.
 
Wilson tied the game on the power-play with 12:49 in regulation, as he slid home a loose puck from the slot after Drackett made the initial save on Dmowski. A little over a minute later, the Riverhawks looked to take the lead, but had a goal called back due to goaltender interference. With 5:22 left, Dmowski wired a perfectly placed one-timer from the right circle just under the crossbar and right post for the game-winner.
 
Drackett was pulled for the extra attacker in the final minute and RIT had a handful of chances, but could not get pucks through to Wall, as the Lowell defense did a good job of getting in shooting lanes and blocking shots to preserve the win.
 
Tonight marked the collegiate debuts for freshmen forwards Will Calverley (Scarborough, Ontario/Chilliwack Chiefs) and Kobe Walker (Lloydminster, Alberta/Lloydminster Bobcats) in addition to defenseman Spencer Berry (White Rock, British Columbia/Langley Rivermen).

RIT and UMass Lowell wrap up their weekend series Saturday evening from the Tsongas Center. Opening face-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.