Men's Hockey | 3/12/2012 2:21:00 PM

ROCHESTER, NY -- The third-seeded RIT men's hockey team has advanced to the Atlantic Hockey Association semifinals for the fifth straight year and will look to reclaim the AHA Championship this weekend at the Blue Cross Arena. The Tigers will face the second-seeded Niagara Purple Eagles at Blue Cross Arena on Friday, March 16 at 7:05 p.m. If RIT wins, they will play in the Atlantic Hockey Association Championship against Air Force or Mercyhurst on Saturday, March 17 at 7:05 p.m.

No. 1 Air Force will face No. 4 Mercyhurst in the first semifinal at 4:05 p.m. on Friday. Air Force is the defending AHA Champion and won three straight Atlantic Hockey Association Championships from 2007-09, while Mercyhurst is making its first appearance in the AHA semifinals since 2009. Niagara will be making its first appearance in the AHA semifinals, in just its second year in the conference.

The winner of the AHA Championship on Saturday will earn the automatic berth into the 2012 NCAA Tournament.

Tickets are available for this weekend's games at the Gordon Field House and Blue Cross Arena box office or ticketmaster.com. The two-day, three-game pass is $32 for adults and $22 for students, and $10 for children under 12. Single-day passes are $18, $12, and $6.75.

The Tigers (19-12-6, 14-7-6 Atlantic Hockey Association) enter this weekend's contests after surviving the three-game quarterfinal series against Bentley.  RIT dropped game one of the three game series before rebounding to win games two and three.  In game two, Cameron Burt (Detroit, MI/) scored the game-winning goal 1:23 into the second overtime, ending the longest game in program history at the Division I level.  The Tigers jumped out to an early lead in the deciding game, and two goals by Taylor McReynolds (Sherwood Park, Alberta/) in the third locked up the win.  Shane Madolora (Salinas, CA/) picked up his seventh shutout of the season, setting a program record for career shutouts at RIT with 13.

RIT is fifth nationally in defense, giving up just 2.19 goals per game. RIT's penalty killing is currently 10th nationally, stopping opponents 84.8 percent of the time. Madolora is among the national leaders in goals against average (1.92), save percentage (.932), and winning percentage (.650).  He also is tied for first nationally with seven shutouts this season.  Mike Colavecchia (Maple, Ontario/Lindsay Muskies) leads the Tigers with 32 points on 14 goals and 18 assists.  Burt is right behind hwith 31 points on eight goals and 23 assists.  Overall, 11 Tigers have recorded at least 10 points this season, while four have surpassed the 20-point plateau.

Niagara (17-10-9, 14-6-7 AHA) advanced the AHA semifinals after a sweep of Robert Morris in the quarterfinal series last weekend. The Purple Eagles won 3-0 on Friday and beat the Colonials 2-1 on Saturday. Chris Lochner scored the game-winner with just 15 seconds to play in regulation to send Niagara to its first AHA semifinal.  Giancarlo Iuorio and Patrick Divjak lead the Purple Eagles with 24 points each, while Marc Zanette and Isaac Kohls each have 22 points.  Chris Noonan has a 14-5-5 record so far this season,  leads the nation with a .944 save percentage and is second with a 1.60 goals against average.  Niagara is tied for sixth nationally in team defense, allowing just 2.19 goals per game this season.
 
Air Force (19-10-7, 15-6-6 AHA) needed three games to knock Connecticut out of the conference tournament.  The Falcons won game one 4-3, but fell in game two, 3-1.  Air Force came back with a win on Sunday, with George Michalke scoring the game-winner at the 3:21 mark in the third.  Kyle De Laurell leads Air Force this season with 37 points on 15 goals and 22 assists.  Seven Falcons have recorded at least 20 points.  The goaltending duo of Stephen Caple and Jason Torf have split time in net this season. Caple finished the season at 13-5-5, with a .911 save percentage and 2.16 goals against average, while Torf went 6-4-2 with a .921 save percentage and a 1.82 goals against average.  The Falcons are tied for sixth nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 2.19 goals per game.

Mercyhurst (20-15-4, 15-8-4 AHA) needed three games to defeat Holy Cross to advance to its first AHA semifinal since 2009.  Mercyhurst took game one 2-1, with Daniel Bahntge scoring both, but fell 3-1 in game two.  Matthew Zay scored twice in the deciding third game, giving the Lakers a 3-1 win.  Mercyhurst is led by a very talented group of freshmen, in Bahntge, Nardo Nagtzaam and Chris Bodo.  Bahntge leads the Lakers with 31 point on 10 goals and 21 assists.  Nagtzaam has 30 points on the season (11-19-30) while Bodo has 25 (11-14-25).  Max Strang has been strong in net all season, posting a 16-13-3 record with a .927 save percentage and 2.63 goals against average. 

RIT finished 0-1-2 against Niagara this season.  The two teams faced each other to kick off the Tigers' season in October, skating to a 0-0 tie, the scoreless tie in program history.  The Tigers met up with the Purple Eagles for a home-and-home series to end the season.  Niagara took the first game 4-1, and then tied the second 2-2.  RIT is 2-9-6 all-time against Niagara, including 0-6-4 at the Division I level.  The Tigers have not defeated the Purple Eagles since the 1996-97 season, the Purple Eagles' first season as a program.  RIT is 1-2-0 against Air Force this season, and 1-1-1 against Mercyhurst.

Saturday's championship game will be aired live on Time Warner Cable Sports channel 26, with Gene Battaglia and John DiTullio bringing you the action.

Come out and support the Tigers in their quest for the 2012 Atlantic Hockey Championship.