Complete Box Score
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – In a weekend showdown for first place in the Atlantic Hockey Association standings, it was the Tigers of RIT taking game one over the Mercyhurst men's hockey team 5-1 in front of a standing room only crowd at the Frank Ritter Memorial Arena. RIT, who had not played a home game in 48 days fed off the boisterous crowd to take over first in the standings, one point ahead of Mercyhurst. Mercyhurst dropped to 14-10-3 overall and 11-4-3 in the conference, while the Tigers improved to 15-8-2 and 12-4-2 in league play.
The Tigers struck first at the 5:49 mark of the first period. Brad McGowan was looking for Mark Cornacchia in front of senior goaltender
Max Strang. However, McGowan's centering feed hit a Mercyhurst defenseman in front of the goal and trickled right through the five-hole for a 1-0 Tiger lead. McGowan was credited with the goal with Taylor McReynolds and Chris Haltigan picking up the assists.
The Tigers extended the lead to 2-0 at the 11:22 mark of the opening twenty minutes. Jeff Smith caused a turnover in the neutral zone and went in on a 2-on-1 break. Smith elected to take the shot and he beat Strang top shelf from the left wing circle.
The Lakers picked things up late in the period, creating a number of scoring chances and getting a huge stop from Strang on a 2-on-1 with 2:30 left, when he robbed McReynolds on a one-timer with the left pad. However, the teams skated to the dressing rooms with RIT leading 2-0.
Shots favored RIT 13-10 in the opening period.
RIT took a 3-0 lead at the 3:51 mark of the middle stanza, capitalizing on its first power play opportunity of the game. Mike Colavecchia blasted a one-timer from the right wing circle past Strang giving the home team a three-goal advantage. Greg Noyes and Cameron Burt had the helpers on the power play tally.
The lead became 4-0 in favor of RIT as Adam Mitchell redirected a shot from the point by Haltigan and past Strang. Mike Colavecchia had the other assist.
Mercyhurst did not pick up its first shot on goal in the second period until the 14:41 mark when freshman
Edward DeWald was stopped by RIT netminder Shane Madolora from point-blank range. But, the Lakers got on the board with 2:37 left, when freshman
Zac Frischmon snapped a shot over the glove of Madolora, cutting the RIT lead to 4-1. Freshman
Matthew Zay found Frischmon stationed in front of the goal and he made it count for his second goal of the season. Sophomore
Trent Frey had the other assist on the goal.
Shots again favored RIT 13-5 in the second period.
Sophomore
Jordan Tibbett took over in goal for Strang to start the third period, hoping to create a spark for the Lakers. Tibbett made some huge saves early in the final period, robbing the Tigers on a couple of different occasions.
Mercyhurst had some chances in the period to cut into the deficit, but it was the Tigers who extended the lead to 5-1 with 3:39 left, again on the power play. After a couple of unfortunate bounces in the Mercyhurst zone, Burt beat Tibbett for the Tigers' third power play goal of the night. Noyes and Haltigan had the assists.
Tibbett stopped 17-of-18 shots in the third period to try to keep the Lakers within striking distance, but Mercyhurst could not generate much offense on the Tiger defense and against Madolora.
RIT outshot the Lakers 44-22 for the game, including 18-7 in the third period.
Special teams play was the difference. The Tigers converted 3-of-7 power play opportunities while the Lakers were 0-for-6. Mercyhurst was whistled for a season-high 11 penalties for 52 minutes, with 46 of those minutes coming late in the third period. RIT was whistled for seven penalties for 14 minutes.
The Lakers will look for the weekend split on Saturday night and jump back ahead of the Tigers in the conference standings. Faceoff from the Frank Ritter Memorial Arena is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
