TOLEDO, OH – The RIT men’s hockey team (8-10-1) closed out the 2016 calendar year by falling to Bowling Green State University (10-11-2), 3-0 at the Huntington Center on Friday evening. It was RIT’s final non-conference game of the 2016-17 regular season.
Mitch McLain and Brett D’Andrea scored first period goals, while Frederic Letourneau added a third period marker for Bowling Green. Chris Nell stopped all 17 shots he faced for the shutout, the eighth of his career, which is a school record.
Mike Rotolo (Rochester, NY/Cedar Rapids Roughriders) made 21 saves in the loss for RIT, with several coming from point-blank range. Todd Skirving (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Sioux Falls Stampede) fired a team-high three shots on goal,
Bowling Green out-shot RIT, 24-17. The Falcons were 1-for-4 with the man-advantage, while RIT was 0-for-2.
“I thought our slow start in first period was the difference,” said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. “We need to have a much better start than we did and have to want it more, be hungrier, and play with a sense of urgency for 60 minutes. Bowling Green showed that they wanted it more tonight.”
The Tigers struggled in the opening period, falling behind 2-0, while getting out-shot 10-4 over the first 20 minutes of play. Bowling Green had several odd-man rushes early on.
Rotolo was tested immediately and was up to the task, making a sharp glove save on McLain on a 2-on-1 rush just 1:07 into the contest. Just over five minutes in, Rotolo needed to be sharp again, smothering a point-blank shot by Tyler Spezia on the rush.
Shawn Cameron (Sherbrooke, Quebec/Cumberland Grads) had a great chance for the Tigers nearly nine minutes in, as he was sent on a partial breakaway after Matt Abt (Leduc, Alberta/Whitecourt Wolverines ) did a great job to stand up a Bowling Green player at his own blue line and get the puck into the neutral zone. Cameron corralled the loose puck and tried to beat Nell high, but the Bowling Green goaltender made a big save to keep the game scoreless.
The Falcons would get on the board first with 8:31 left in the period, as McLain was left all alone in front while the teams were skating 4-on-4, beating Rotolo from the doorstep for his 12th goal of the season.
D’Andrea would make it 2-0 in the final seconds of a power-play with 2:09 left in the period, swatting in a rebound off a shot by Kevin Dufour for his fifth goal of the year.
The Tigers would get their legs under them and play a much sounder second period, despite trailing 2-0. RIT would fire 18 total shots to just 10 for Bowling Green and hold a 7-5 edge in shots on goal in the period.
Nell had to make a big save on Abt in tight midway through the period, as he snuck in from the point to get a golden chance in front. Danny Smith (Edmonton, Alberta/Sherwood Park Crusaders) had a great chance in front late in the period, redirecting a pass from Darren Brady (Lake Orion, MI/New Jersey Titans) just wide. The puck would eventually come back to Brady in the slot, who also shot wide.
RIT would get a power-play to end the period and get three golden chances, but Nell turned them all aside. First, Abbott Girduckis (Belleville, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) would redirect a shot by Liam Kerins (Caledon, Ontario/North York Rangers) that Nell got a piece of. Ryan Kruper (Sherwood Park, Alberta/Sherwood Park Crusaders) two opportunities moments later that were turned aside, including one shot from point blank range in front.
The Tigers would have to overcome a major penalty for checking from behind just 48 seconds into the third period. RIT’s penalty-killing would be up to the task, blocking a handful of shots and allowing just one on goal in successfully killing off the major.
Right after RIT had a flurry with three good chances midway through the period, Bowling Green would score an important insurance goal with 9:56 left, as Letourneau took a feed from Stephen Baylis and fired a high shot from the slot in for his fifth goal of the year.
The Tigers would nearly break the shutout with just under three minutes left, as Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals) took a feed from Girduckis on a shorthanded rush and had Nell beat in front, but the puck clanged off the left post and out.
Bowling Green and RIT met last season, as the two teams skated to a 2-2 tie at Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester as part of RIT’s Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend. Skirving scored both RIT goals, 25 seconds apart in the first period.
Both Wilson and associate head coach Brian Hills played collegiately at Bowling Green. Wilson (1980-84) was a captain on the Falcons when they won the 1984 NCAA Division I National Championship. Hills (1979-83) was a Hobey Baker Finalist in 1983 and is the university’s second all-time leading scorer.
The Tigers finished the 2016 calendar year with a 21-16-5 record in 42 games.
The Huntington Center is the home of the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL. Tonight’s game was part of a doubleheader, as Toledo hosted the Brampton Thunder.
RIT will play its final 15 regular season games against Atlantic Hockey foes. The Tigers return to action next weekend, ringing in 2017 with a pair of home games against Atlantic Hockey foe Sacred Heart. Both games from the Gene Polisseni Center on Friday, Jan. 6 and Saturday, Jan. 7 begin at 7:05 p.m. RIT is currently second in the league standings.
