Back in June, when the RIT Tigers (1-2) schedule was released, many fans and alumni quickly circled the game against Cornell as a ‘must attend’ game. The game, played at Rochester’s Blue Cross Arena, looked to be a barnburner.
The 5,142 raucous Cornell (0-1) and RIT fans in attendance weren’t disappointed as the two teams battled it out on the ice. Orange Tiger t-shirts were handed out, and bands from both RIT and Cornell added to the atmosphere in the venerable barn.
“The game became a more important game with the crowd,” said RIT coach Wayne Wilson. “It heightened us to make it like a playoff game.”
The Tigers scored two quick power play goals late in the first period and had to withstand a strong Cornell counterattack for the remainder of the game. However, a late third period goal by RIT’s Simone Lambert sealed the 4-1 victory for the Tigers, despite Cornell pulling its goaltender for the extra attacker for nearly a two minute span as the game wound down.
“We had to weather a lot,” said Wilson. “I was really nervous because we played an awful short bench with our penalty killing, and when you do that you don’t know if you will have enough gas at the end. I thought we really limited their chances.”
RIT controlled play from the opening faceoff of the game. Cornell didn’t even touch the puck in the Tigers’ zone until 3:30 into the game. For all the pressure though, the Big Red defense contained the RIT offense early in the period.
Despite the slow start, Cornell rallied about seven minutes into the period, gaining its game legs and generating sustained pressure.
The Tigers broke open the scoring at the 14:15 mark on their second power play of the game. After cycling the puck around the perimeter, Lambert fed Matt Smith near the bottom of the right faceoff circle and Smith whistled the puck high short side past Cornell goaltender Ben Scrivens.
RIT struck again after Cornell’s Colin Greening was sent to the showers following a major penalty for hitting from behind. Sean Murphy made a great singular effort, weaving around two defenders in the slot, beating Scrivens stick side at 16:48.
The momentum pendulumed the other way in the second period, as Cornell came out and dictated the play during the entire twenty minutes.
The Big Red got four power plays, and came oh-so-close to cashing in during the second one when Riley Nash dinged the puck off the far post at the 5:40 mark.
The RIT defense and goaltender Louis Menard held firm despite the relentless Cornell pressure and managed to keep the Big Red scoreless, preserving its 2-0 lead through two.
Cornell’s string of power plays continued in the third period with two straight Tiger penalties in the first five minutes of the period. Raymond Sawada came closest to scoring during the advantage when he one-timed a shot on net atjust the forty second mark, but Menard quickly flipped his glove out to stop the shot.
Once RIT returned to even strength, play leveled out, but Cornell continued to press to dig out of the two-goal deficit.
Cornell’s pressure paid off at 10:08 when a scramble erupted behind the RIT net. Joe Devin popped the puck away from the boards and it got twisted up in Menard’s skates and rolled into the net.
RIT rebuilt its two goal lead at the 16:28 mark, immediately following a two-on-one Cornell breakaway that the Big Red failed to convert on. Lambert caught a long pass from Dan Ringwald at the Cornell blue line, carried the puck in, and slid it past Scrivens for the score.
Tyler Mazzei added an empty net goal at 19:30 to finish the scoring.
