March 28, 2010

DeMichiel, East Regional MOP, leads RIT to Detroit and the Frozen Four

Story courtesy of RIT Sports Information

ALBANY, NY – The fourth-seeded RIT men’s hockey team (28-11-1) advanced to the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four, scoring three times in a 1:34 span midway through the second period to break a 1-1 tie and defeat third-seeded New Hampshire (18-14-7) 6-2 in the NCAA East Regional Semifinal on Saturday evening. It is RIT’s first trip to the Frozen Four in just its fifth season of Division I play. Jared DeMichiel (Avon, CT) was named the East Regional Most Outstanding Player.

Tyler Brenner (Linwood, Ontario), Brent Alexin (West Seneca, NY) and Stevan Matic (Burnaby, British Columbia) scored the decisive three goals for RIT that gave them the lead for good. Chris Haltigin (Oakville, Ontario) and Tyler Mazzei (Kelowna, British Columbia) also scored for the Tigers, who have now won 12-straight games and will continue their magical run against either Wisconsin on Thursday, April 8 at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich.

RIT, ranked No. 20 in the latest USCHO.com poll, used a dominant second period to pull away from the No. 12 Huskies. In addition to the three unanswered goals, RIT out-shot New Hampshire 18-6 in that period. RIT out-shot New Hampshire, 33-26 in the game, witnessed by 3,737 fans.

Brenner scored a pair of goals for the Tigers. Andrew Favot (King City, Ontario) dished out three assists. Haltigin and Mazzei each had a goal and an assist.

DeMichiel was sensational in net for the Tigers, stopping 24-of-26 shots. He stopped 63-of-66 shots on the weekend for RIT to earn East Region MVP honors.

It is RIT’s second straight win over a national power. Yesterday, RIT knocked off top-seeded Denver, 2-1 in the NCAA East Regional Semifinal. Denver was the No. 2 overall team in the nation and in the tournament. DeMichiel stopped a career-high 39 shots.

The Tigers have allowed just 16 goals in their last 12 games. They have outscored their foes 53-16 during the streak. The 16 goals allowed are the fewest allowed over a 12-game stretch.

RIT’s power-play went 0-for-6 on the night, snapping a streak of 15 straight games with a power-play goal. The Tiger penalty-killing unit killed off all three New Hampshire power-plays.

RIT is now 19-3-0 since Jan. 8, and 12-1-0 since Feb. 1. The 12 straight wins sets a new Division I team record.

RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson was ecstatic with his team’s effort and the fact they will be representing the AHA in the Frozen Four.

“This is an accumulation of a lot of hard work from a lot of different players. We’ve set a bar of excellence,” said Wilson. It’s a little unbelievable, just the calmness of the players and the way they go about their work. It’s great to be an AHA representative and the first in the Frozen Four.”

Both teams scored once in an evenly played opening 20 minutes.

The Tigers had a great chance two minutes in, as Favot wheeled and fired a backhander from the slot that bounced off a wildcat defenseman and past Foster, but just wide of the goal.

Mazzei nearly opened the scoring for RIT later in the period, as his wraparound attempt was stopped by Foster, but the puck sat in the crease for a moment before a Wildcats defenseman and Foster were able to freeze the puck for a whistle.

Haltigin opened the scoring at the 14:10 mark, as his wrist shot from the right point went through a maze of bodies and beat Foster off the left post. Favot won the battle to the puck behind the net and fed Mazzei who wheeled to the corner. Mazzei fed the pass back to Haltigin, whose accurate shot had eyes. The goal was Haltigin’s 11th of the season.

The Wildcats evened the score at 1 with just 59 seconds left in the period, as Brett Kostolansky’s point shot hit a few bodies and deflected off the stick of Phil DeSimone and past DeMichiel. Bobby Butler started the rush with a hard shot that DeMichiel turned away. The rebound caromed around the boards and back to the point, where Kostolansky was able to fire his shot.

The Tigers dodged a huge bullet a minute into the second period, while on the power-play, as Thompson rang a shot off the crossbar with the top half of the net open after DeMichiel left a big rebound on the initial shot by Bobby Butler during the shorthanded rush.

Tanev almost gave RIT the lead a few shifts later, as he redirected Burt’s centering feed from the slot. Foster slid to make a nice save.

Brenner gave RIT the 2-1 lead 13:23 into the second, as he converted a nifty feed from Favot in tight and slid a backhander through the pads of Foster.

Just 13 seconds later, Alexin slid home a shot around Foster to make it 3-1. The two goals scored 13 seconds apart are a team record.

Matic converted is eighth goal of the season at the 14:57 mark coming out of a scramble to beat Foster.
Nearly halfway through the third period, Brenner stole a puck from a New Hampshire defenseman in close and ripped a wrist shot past Foster for his second goal of the game and 14th goal of the year.

After Blake Kessel scored for the Wildcats to cut the Tiger lead to 5-2 late the third, Mazzei put the game away with an empty-net goal in the final moments.

“I think we proved tonight we can’t be overlooked,” said Jared DeMichiel. “Our team was excited to be here, we know we’ve played strong in and out of conference. We’re just worried about ourselves and playing our game. If we play our game for sixty minutes we know our opponent will have to fight.”

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.

Tonight’s contest was the first meeting between the two schools.

RIT is now 10-3 all-time in the postseason at the Division I level. They have scored at least four goals in 10 of the 13 contests. RIT is 6-0 this season in the postseason, outscoring opponents, 26-8.

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.

The 2010 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey East All-Regional Team:
Forward, Bobby Butler – UNH
Forward, Cameron Burt – RIT
Forward, Tyler Brenner – RIT
Defenseman, Dan Ringwald – RIT
Defenseman, Chris Haltigin – RIT
Goaltender, Jared DeMichiel* – RIT
*Tournament Most Outstanding Player