Men's Hockey | 12/12/2012 10:28:00 PM

Box Score

NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, NY – Junior forward Ben Lynch (Blaine, MN/Lincoln Stars) scored two goals, while junior goaltender Josh Watson (Lititz, PA/Powell River Kings) made 44 saves, as the RIT men's hockey team (4-8-4, 3-5-3 AHA) extended its unbeaten streak to three games by skating to a 2-2 draw at No. 16 Niagara (10-2-4, 9-0-1 AHA) in front of 1,200 fans at Dwyer Arena on Wednesday evening. Niagara now has a national-best 12-game unbeaten streak.

In overtime, RIT nearly won the game on a few instances, but couldn't get the puck home. Lynch came out from the corner and had a brilliant chance blocked by the Niagara defense. The rebound came to to Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs), who also had a great chance blocked in front. Matt Garbowsky (St. George, Ontario/Powell River Kings) took a shot from the left wing that was stopped by Niagara goaltender Carsen Chubak.

|RIT was awarded a power-play with 48.3 seconds left in overtime. After Niagara cleared the puck on the ensuing faceoff, RIT held the puck in the Niagara zone for the rest of the overtime session, but could not get the goal. With seven seconds left, a Niagara defender knocked the net of its moorings, but no penalty was called.

Lynch tied a career-high with two goals. Watson was brilliant in goal for the Tigers with 44 saves, one shy of his career-high, set Jan. 1, 2011 vs. Merrimack. Dan Schuler (Webster, NY/Powell River Kings) had an assist.

Niagara out-shot RIT 46-21, including 24-6 in the second period. Issac Kohls and Patrick Divjak scored for the Purple Eagles. In goal, Chubak, who came in as the national leader in goals against average, save percentage, and shutouts, stopped 19 shots.

Both teams were 0-for-3 with the man-advantage. The tie snapped Niagara's nine-game winning streak in AHA play to start the season.

RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson was happy with how his team played against a nationall-ranked opponent.

“”I thought our players gave a gritty, hard-nosed effort tonight,” said Wilson. “A lot of guys stepped up and played well. Overall, we were good, but got in trouble, especially in the second period, when we turned the puck over. We will take the tie, going on the road with a short bench. We are starting to play much better as a whole.”

Despite getting out-shot 15-7 over the opening period, the Tigers generated several excellent scoring chances and scored the only goal to lead 1-0 after 20 minutes of play.

Lynch came in on a 2-on-1 just 18 seconds in but fired the puck wide from the left wing.

About five minutes later, Watson was called on to make three big saves. He stopped Giancarlo Iuorio twice at the doorstep, then made a sprawling pad save to rob Hugo Turcotte at the side of the net moments later.

RIT got on the board at the 10:52 mark, scoring its second shorthanded goal of the season, as a Niagara played lost the puck attempting to leave his zone, losing to puck to Dan Schuler (Webster, NY/Powell River Kings) at the blue-line. Schuler circled and fed a perfect pass to a treaking Lynch, who came in all alone on Chubak. Lynch roofed a beauty of a shot over the glove of the Niagara goaltender for his fifth goal of the season.

The Tigers kept the pressure up and nearly took a 2-0 lead later in the period, as on a 2-on-1, Garbowsky fed a perfect pass to Brad McGowan (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles), who had an open goal, but McGowan wasn't able to get a stick on the puck.

RIT allowed a season-high 24 shots in the second period, as Niagara scored twice and RIT once to make the score 2-2 after 40 minutes of period. Watson was under siege all period, as Niagara shot pucks from everywhere and used screens and deflections to get shots to the net.

Lynch tallied his second goal of the game at the 6:30 mark, as he picked up a loose puck in his own zone and raced into the Niagara zone on the right wing on a 3-on-2. Lynch cut to the middle of the ice, where he fired a laser over Chubak and under the crossbar for his second goal of the game and sixth of the year, making it 2-0 Tigers.

Niagara scored twice in a span of 2:03 later in the period to tie the game at 2-2. At the 12:03 mark, Ryan Rashid blocked a shot by Chris Saracino (St. Louis, MO/Green Bay Gamblers) and while falling down, got a pass to Hugo Turcotte in the neutral zone. Turcotte faked a shot at the left circle, getting Watson to commit, then fired a perfect pass through the crease to Kohls, who tapped the puck into the open net.

At 14:06, Niagara used hard work along the boards to keep the puck in the RIT zone. The puck came to Jason Beattie at the right boards, who fired a shot towards the net that went off a Tiger, then deflected off Divjak and past Watson to tie the game at 2-2.

RIT nearly re-took the lead twice late in the period. Alexander Kuqali (Pittsburgh, PA/Sioux City Musketeers) was robbed by Chubak on a point-blank chance while the teams were skating 4-on-4. In the final minute, Garbowsky had a great chance in close turned aside.

The 24 shots on goal allowed by RIT in the period were a season-high and most since RIT allowed 29 in the third period of a 3-2 win over St. Lawrence on Oct. 28, 2005.

Brad Reid (Delta, British Columbia/Coquitlam Express) had a tremendous chance to give RIT the 3-2 lead early in the third period, as Adam Mitchell (Crofton, MD/Baystate Breakers) fed him a perfect pass on a 2-on-1, but Reid missed the open net to keep the game tied at 2-2.

The Tigers are just 3-9-7 all-time against the Purple Eagles and 1-7-5 in the Division I era, but that one win was in the previous meeting, the 2012 AHA Semifinal a 2-1 overtime decision at Blue Cross Arena. RIT has never won at Dwyer Arena, going 0-5-4. Last season, RIT went 1-1-2 against the Purple Eagles.

Five of the last six meetings between the two schools have gone to overtime.

Ironically enough, the last time RIT played on Dec. 12 was in 2009, as Niagara snapped RIT's 10-game unbeaten streak by a score of 3-2 at Ritter Arena. RIT is now 7-6-1 all-time on Dec. 12.

RIT returns to action on Jan. 4-5, 2013, with a pair of road contests at St. Lawrence University that both begin at 7 p.m. RIT returns home to host AHA foe Bentley University on Jan. 11-12, at 7:05 p.m.