Men's Hockey | 10/4/2009 5:38:05 PM

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ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men's hockey team raced to a quick 3-0 lead and hung on the defeat York University, 3-2 in an exhibition contest at Ritter Arena on Sunday afternoon. RIT scored three times in the first 24 minutes.

Brent Alexin (West Seneca, NY/) and Bryan Potts (Niagara Falls, Ontario/Markham Waxers) each tallied two points for the Tigers. Alexin scored a goal and added an assist, while Potts dished out two helpers. Cameron Burt (Detroit, MI/) and Mark Cornacchia (Unionville, Ontario/) also scored for the Tigers.  Cornacchia was named the game's first star.

Jared DeMichiel (Avon, CT/) made eight saves in one period of work for the Tigers. Jan Ropponen (Espoo, Finland/) played the second period and also made eight saves to pick up the win. Freshman Shane Madolora (Salinas, CA/) stopped all six shots he faced in the third period.

David Davenport stopped 28 shots in defeat for York.

RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson was happy to get the season going, and expects his team to improve as the season progresses.

“It was good to get this game under our belt,” said Wilson, who will go for his record-setting 189th win as RIT Head Coach next weekend. “We will move forward, knowing we have plenty of work to do. It was good to get our freshmen into the lineup.”

RIT came out flying early and took the play to York, out-shooting the Lions 14-8 over the first 20 minutes, jumping out to a 2-0 lead.

Burt opened the scoring 8:45 in, as his centering pass deflected off a York defenseman and into the net just 10 seconds after the Tigers went on a power-play. Andrew Favot (King City, Ontario/) and Dan Ringwald (Oakville, Ontario/) assisted on the goal.

Alexin gave RIT a 2-0 lead with just 47 seconds left in the first period, as he redirected a point shot from freshman Chris Tanev (Toronto, Ontario/) past Davenport. Potts carried the puck into the zone, circled around and found Tanev at the left point.

Cornacchia gave RIT a 3-0 lead just 3:43 into the second frame, as he grabbed a loose puck behind the net and wrapped the puck into the open net. Potts once again used his speed to get the York defense out of position, and found Alexin, whose pass dribbled to Cornacchia.  The goal turned out to be the eventual game-winner.

RIT had a chance to put the game out of reach with three consecutive power-plays, but could not convert. York gained the momentum by scoring on a power-play of their own at the 13:13 mark, as Jesse Grespan ripped a shot past Ropponen, off the crossbar and in from in close.

Just 2:19 later, York cut the Tiger lead to one, 3-2, as Nathaniel Brooks found himself on a partial breakaway. His initial chance was stopped by Ropponen, but Brooks grabbed the rebound and scored.

The Tigers were just 1-for-11 on the power-play, while York was 1-for-6.

RIT improved to 3-0-0 all-time against York. RIT defeated York, 11-1 on Oct. 17, 1998.

The Tigers open the 2009-10 regular season on Saturday, Oct. 10, as they host Colgate University at Blue Cross Arena as part of RIT's Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend. The contest begins at 7:05 p.m.