February 13, 2009

Trapp sets assist record in split with RIT Tigers

Click here to read Dan Cofiniotis story on The Spectrum website.

Just one assist away from breaking the Sacred Heart University all-time record, senior Bear Trapp took that record and made it his own Friday night, as his 92nd career assist helped the Pioneers defeat the Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers 6-4 at the Ritter Arena in Rochester, N.Y.

In an exciting and emotional series which some may have called "an old-fashioned shootout," the Pioneers outlasted RIT in the first game but suffered a loss in the series finale.

"…In front of 2,500 intense RIT fans both nights, it was only us; that's all you have on the road in an environment like that and we battled hard to come out on top," said senior Eric Giosa.

The Pioneers wasted no time going on the offensive as Trapp scored on a one-timer from sophomore David Berube who won the offensive zone face-off leading to the assist with just fifty seconds in to the game.

The lead was then extended to 2-0 when junior Erick Boisvert put a hard shot on goal that beat RIT goaltender Jared DiMichiel over the shoulder. Boisvert now has nine goals on the season.

The Tigers would not go down without a fight, however, as they scored two goals in a 22 second span to tie the game at 2-2.

Bobby Raymond scored from the blue line with a hard slap-shot which put the Tigers on the board. Shortly after this goal, Sean Murphy tied the game by picking up a loose puck in front of the Pioneer net and batting it past the Pioneer goalie. Murphy would score again later in the first period giving RIT the lead going into the first intermission.

Similar to the first period, the Pioneers came out of the locker room motivated and acted quickly by scoring at the 3:42 mark to tie the game at 3-3.

Senior Kyle Tyll put a hard shot on goal which was deflected by Tiger goaltender DiMichiel. With a loose puck, junior Mike Rosata refused to be denied as he put a shot on goal which got past DiMichiel to tie the game.

Berube gave the Pioneers the lead again at the 8:16 mark when Trapp recorded his second assist of the game. The assist put Trapp at 92 assists for his career which is a new school record.

"It will probably mean a lot more to me when I am older," said Trapp. "To look back at what I have done is a nice reminder of how good of a career I have had here."

Berube's goal came on a one-timer in which Trapp carried the puck behind the net and centered a pass to him, allowing Berube to beat DiMichiel. After two periods, the Pioneers maintained a 4-3 lead.

The Tigers refused to lie down, however, as they came out of the locker room with a vengeance in the third period. They tied the game at the 9:18 mark when Al Mazur used the Tiger power play to his advantage and ripped a shot on goal from the blue-line, beating Pioneer goaltender Olivier St. Onge.

With less than five minutes to play in the third period, Berube scored his second goal of the game which proved to be the decisive one for the Pioneers. Berube scored by crashing the net on a deflected shot from freshman Anthony Yelovich, batting the puck out of mid-air and through DiMichiel's legs.

Boisvert later added an empty net goal with 20 seconds remaining to seal the win.

St. Onge shined in net with time expiring in the third period as he stopped 36 shots to earn the victory for the Pioneers.

Game two seemed to be promising for the Pioneers as the momentum was on their side after beating the first ranked Tigers at home. But the Pioneers momentum came a bit too late and could not contain the Tigers as they went on to win 5-3 despite a brief comeback effort from the Pioneers in the third period.

"We feel confident and most importantly believe in each other," said Giosa. "In this game it was penalties that killed us. With 13 penalties in the game we were short handed for about half the game."

Having an extra-man advantage was a big boost for the Tigers who increased their lead in the first and second periods as the Pioneers could not stay out of the penalty box. This allowed the potent Tiger attack to score four goals with the man advantage. Also, four different Tiger players scored goals while the Pioneers managed to score just once with the extra skater.

Cameron Burt's eighth goal of the season was the go-ahead goal in the first period that made the game 1-0 in favor of the Tigers. Burt beat Pioneer goaltender Stefan Drew on a wrist shot to the far side after teammate Brennan Sarazin assisted Burt on a well-executed the give-and-go play.

Andrew Favot and Anton Kharin both scored in the second period for RIT, increasing the Tiger lead to 3-0.

Freshman Matt Gingera scored a power play goal with 8:47 left in the second period and was assisted by junior Dave Jarman with a crease-crossing pass for the one-timer. This cut the Tiger lead to 3-1.

The Pioneers had a chance for a comeback as they were given two 5-on-3 power plays midway through the second period. The Tigers, however, killed 1:44 of power play time and the Pioneers could not get many scoring opportunities.

Tyler Brenner pushed a shot across the goal-line with just a second remaining in the period and after consulting with each other, the officials ruled that it was, in fact, a goal, making the score 4-1.

Trapp scored an even strength goal early in the third period to cut the Tiger lead to 4-2 with still plenty of time remaining in the period.

The Tigers, however, answered Trapp's goal with a goal of their own as Brennan Sarazin recovered a rebound off a shot from the point which resulted in Sarazin finding the empty side of the net giving the Tigers a 5-2 lead.

Giosa added a late goal after picking up a loose puck and finding the back of the net to make the score 5-3 which was how the game ended. Giosa's goal was his 11th goal of the year which leads the team.

The Pioneers return home Friday night to open their next series with the Army Black Knights at the Milford Ice Pavilion. Face-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.