Men's Hockey | 3/26/2010 6:16:00 PM
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ALBANY, NY – Goaltender #
Jared DeMichiel (Avon, CT)# tied a career-high with 39 saves, as the No. 4 RIT men's hockey team (27-11-1) secured a dramatic, 2-1 win over the top-seeded Denver Pioneers (27-10-4) on Friday in the NCAA Regional Semifinal at the Times Union Center. RIT won its first NCAA contest as a Division I program and tied a team record with its 11th straight win. The Tigers will play New Hampshire in the NCAA Regional Championship at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. The winner of the game advances to the NCAA Frozen Four in Detroit from April 8-10.
DeMichiel was sensational in net for the Tigers, stopping 11 shots in the first period, 15 in the second, and 13 in the final frame. Many of his saves came in sensational fashion, as he stifled one of the top offenses in the country. He also broke the RIT Division I record for wins in a career by a goaltender, with his 40th, surpassing #
Louis Menard (Chicoutimi, Quebec/Ottawa Senators)#, who played from 2005-09.
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Chris Tanev (Toronto, Ontario) and
Cameron Burt (Detroit, MI)# scored for the Tigers, who had their streak of games with at least three goals snapped at 16, but came up with their biggest win as a Division I program. The No. 2 nationally ranked Pioneers are the highest ranked team that RIT has beaten in five seasons.
Burt gave RIT the all-important 2-0 lead with 7:24 left in regulation, as he took a feed from #
Andrew Favot (King City, Ontario) in close on the power-play and slid a shot past Denver goaltender Mark Cheverie for his team-best 16th goal of the season. (Espoo, Finland)Dan Ringwald (Oakville, Ontario)# also assisted in the goal.
Burt leads the team with 46 points (16-30-46) and has 28 points (7-21-28) over his last 14 games. Ringwald eclipsed his career-high by netting his 35th point of the season. Favot now has 42 points.
Denver cut the Tiger lead to one on a power-play goal of their own, as Joe Colborne slipped home a rebound off a blocked shot with 5:26 left.
From there, the Tiger defense stiffened, allowing very little in the way of quality chances for the Pioneers. #
Adam Hartley (West Vancouver, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles)# won the last three face-offs of the game for RIT, helping secure the win.
Denver out-shot RIT, 40-24. The 40 shots allowed by RIT are the most in a game this season by opponent. Cheverie made 22 saves for the Pioneers.
The Tigers have allowed just 14 goals in their last 11 games. They have outscored their foes 47-14 during the streak. The 14 goals allowed are the fewest allowed over a 11-game stretch.
RIT's power-play scored once on two attempts. They have scored a power-play goal in 15 straight games. RIT is 26-for-94 during that stretch. The Tiger penalty-killing unit killed off two of three Denver power-plays.
RIT is now 18-3-0 since Jan. 8, and 12-1-0 since Feb. 1. The 11 straight wins tie a team record set from Dec. 6, 2008 to Feb. 6, 2009.
RIT Head Coach
Wayne Wilson was ecstatic with the way his team played and how they were able to keep the dangerous Pioneers off balance.
“I thought we played very well against a tremendous opponent (Denver), “ said Wilson. “I thought our guys were able to battle and Jared (DeMichiel) played tremendous. We just keep playing extremely well. I am very proud of what we have accomplished.”
Both teams came out in a defensive mode over the first few minutes. Tanev drew first blood for the Tigers, 5:02 in, intercepting a Denver clearing attempt at the line, walking in and snapping a shot past Cheverie to the far side, making it 1-0 Tigers.
The goal was Tanev's 10th of the season, giving RIT three defensemen with a least 10 goals this season along with Ringwald, and #
Chris Haltigin (Oakville, Ontario)#.
Denver came right back with a great chance a minute after Tanev's goal. Brian Gifford had a point-blank chance from the slot that DeMichiel denied with a nifty glove save.
RIT had two straight golden chances to go up 2-0. After DeMichiel made a big save in his end, #
Sean Murphy (Owatonna, MN) and
Stevan Matic (Burnaby, British Columbia)# came in on a 2-on-1. Murphy's shot from the right face-off circle was stopped by Cheverie, with the rebound hopping over Matic's stick.
Moments later, #
Tyler Brenner (Linwood, Ontario)# found Favot in close with a cross-ice feed. Favot tried to deke Cheverie, but the Hobey Baker Finalist held his ground and made the save.
Denver held an 11-9 advantage in shots after 20 minutes of play.
Denver applied plenty of pressure and held the distinct edge in play over the middle stanza, but DeMichiel and RIT defense held off the onslaught and maintained its one goal lead.
DeMichiel had to come up with a handful of huge saves during the period, including one on Matt Donovan late in the period. DeMichiel came out nearly 20 feet out to swallow up Donovan's drive from the point.
RIT had its fair share of chances in the period, as RIT's aggressive but patient approach forced several odd-man rushes. #
Tyler Mazzei (Kelowna, British Columbia)# was denied by Cheverie on a 2-on-1 break, while Burt had goal-mouth feed for Murphy snuffed out by a sliding Pioneers defenseman.
DeMichiel was the story in the third period, throwing aside all but one shot Denver threw at him.
In a wild turn of events midway through the frame, DeMichiel made an amazing kick save on Kyle Ostrow off a deflection in front. The rebound came to the Tigers who attempted a clear that slipped past a Pioneers defensemen. The puck came right to Matic at center ice, who had Murphy streaking, causing a 2-on-0 break. Matic fed Murphy driving to the goal, but Murphy slipped the pass wide and over the goal.
RIT reached the NCAA Tournament after winning the Atlantic Hockey Championship last weekend. RIT defeated Canisius in the AHA Semifinal, 4-0, and trounced Sacred Heart 6-1 in the AHA Championship.
Today's contest was the first meeting between the two schools. RIT did face Minnesota State, a member of the WCHA earlier in the season. RIT dropped both games on the road, 6-1 on Jan. 1 and 3-0 on Jan. 2.
RIT is now 9-3 all-time in the postseason at the Division I level. They have scored at least four goals in nine of the 12 contests.
It is the second straight season and third in the last five years that an Atlantic Hockey Association team has advanced to the NCAA Regional Championship.
No. 3 New Hampshire scored five unanswered goals en route to a 6-2 win over No. 2 Cornell in the second NCAA East Regional Semifinal.
