The RIT Tigers defeated the Neumann Knights, 12-2, in an ECAC West contest Sunday.
The game was close on the scoreboard for the first 30-plus minutes, until a fluke goal took the steam out of the Knight engine, and RIT took control of the game.
“We hung with them for 30 minutes,” said Neumann coach Nick Russo. “But we just didn’t have the depth to stay with them for the whole game.”
RIT (4-0-0) opened the scoring 3:11 in to the contest, when Errol McDonald tucked the puck in off a scramble in front of the net.
Neumann (1-3-0) answered right back just 10 seconds later. Phil Ditoro roofed the puck from the right faceoff circle that found the top of the Tiger net to knot the score, 1-1.
Neumann was outshot, 30-7, in the first period, and RIT controlled play in the Knight zone almost at will. But, Neumann was very opportunistic on the offensive chances it did get.
RIT scored again to regain the lead at 5:52 when David Bagley took a pass from behind the net and scored. Another Tiger goal was scored at 12:57, by Lanner Fayad, and the RIT fans thought they were off to the races.
But Neumann had something to say about that, and continued to play tough. The work paid off at 13:09 when Jeff Marinari one-timed a pass low into the net, cutting the deficit to one.
The score remained 3-2 until midway through the second period when the fluke happened. Neumann had just gone onto the power play at 9:57, when RIT’s Jerry Galway sent a blast from center ice towards the Neumann net to kill some time. However, the puck deflected off of Travis Dwyer in front of the net, and tipped over the netminder’s stick and into the net.
That took the spirit out of Neumann, which had played a competitive first half of the game. RIT rattled off eight more goals, all unanswered, to finish things off.
Chris Sherman got the start in net for RIT, giving regular netminder Tyler Euvermann a game off. Sherman was much more aggressive than normal, roaming all over his own zone playing loose pucks.
“This was a tough game for a goalie to play in,” said RIT coach Wayne Wilson. “He handles the puck well so it was a way for him to get involved in things.”
