ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men’s hockey team (3-8-2, 3-3-1 AHC) dropped its fourth straight contest, falling to Atlantic Hockey leader Robert Morris (8-2-3, 7-1-3 AHC) 4-0 in front of 2,055 fans at the Gene Polisseni Center on Friday evening.
Robert Morris goaltender Terry Shafer, a native of the Rochester suburb of Penfield, stopped all 37 shots he faced for the shutout. He was named the game’s first star. It was his fifth career shutout, tying the Robert Morris career mark.
The Tigers were shutout for the second time this season and for the first time at the Gene Polisseni Center. RIT has scored just eight goals on 189 shots over the last five contests.
Spencer Dorowicz, Brady Ferguson, Greg Gibson, and Zac Lynch scored for the Colonials, while Brandon Denham added two assists.
RIT goaltender Mike Rotolo (Rochester, NY/Cedar Rapids Roughriders) stopped 29 shots in the loss.
RIT out-shot Robert Morris, 37-33. The Colonials came into tonight’s game as the highest scoring team, averaging 4.58 goals per game and had the No. 1 ranked power-play in the Division I. They were 1-for-5 with the man-advantage, while RIT was 0-for-4.
“We need to go from being a frustrated to determined team,” said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. “We didn’t play with a lot of excitement, especially once we got down in the second period. We need to keep plugging along tomorrow and stay determined.
Robert Morris scored the lone goal in a hotly contested, physical first period in which RIT held a 19-10 edge in shots.
The Colonials got on the board first, 5:56 into the game, as Dorowicz took a perfect feed from David Friedmann on the doorstep and redirected it past Rotolo for his second goal of the season. Brandon Denham made the pass to Friedmann in the neutral zone and Dorowicz beat his defender to the net for the tap in goal.
From there, RIT kept coming, firing shot after shot at Shafer, but the Colonial netminder was up to the task. RIT had five shots on its lone power-play of the period.
RIT’s best chance came with just over five minutes left in the frame, as Caleb Cameron (Sundridge, Ontario/Listowel Cyclones) fired a pass to Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals) in the slot. Powell had Shafer beat, but the puck clanged off the left post and out. Shafer also made a big save on Mark Logan (Calgary, Alberta/Brooks Bandits ) in tight after stopping an initial shot from Andrew Miller (Chicago, IL/Chicago Steel). Late in the period, Powell got a step on a defender and cut to the goal, but could not solve Shafer.
RIT ran into penalty problems in the second period and the Colonials made them pay, scoring once in the first minute of the period on the power-play and in the final minute right after another power-play expired to take a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes.
Just 30 seconds into the period, Ferguson wired in a one-timer from prime area in the slot over the glove of Rotolo after taking a feed from Denham. Chase Golighty also assisted on the goal.
With just 16 seconds left in the period, Gibson fired a shot right under the crossbar and in for his 10th goal of the season, Tyson Wilson carried the puck down low and fired a cross-ice pass eluded a couple sets of sticks after Alex Tonge kept the puck alive in the RIT zone.
Robert Morris also had a great chance on a different power-play, as Matt Cope redirected a shot past Rotolo but off the left post. Rotolo had to make a handful of big saves in the period, as Robert Morris held a 14-7 edge in shots and several point-blank opportunities.
RIT’s best chance came later in the period, as Gabe Valenzuela (Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers) found himself alone to the left of Shafer and tried a stuff in attempt, but the puck rolled off his stick at the last second.
The Tigers tried to mount a rally in the final period, but could not get anything past Shafer or the Robert Morris defense, who did a great job blocking shots. Powell had two golden chances in front on a power-play midway through the period, but could not get the handle on the first one and missed just wide on the second attempt.
Lynch completed the scoring with 3:32 left, taking a feed from Matt Cope, coming in on a breakaway and beating Rotolo with a wrist shot for his 10th goal of the year.
Robert Morris leads the all-time series between the two schools, 10-5-4. This weekend marks the only time the two schools will meet in the 2015-16 regular season after meeting four times last year.
The two teams conclude their regular season series on Saturday from the Polisseni Center at 7:05 p.m. Tomorrow, fans are urged to bring a new stuffed animal to the game and throw on the ice after RIT’s first goal. There will be a limited number of stuffed tigers for purchase at the door. All stuffed animals will be donated to the Rochester Regional Health Pediatric Unit.
