Men's Hockey to Host Clarkson and St. Lawrence This Weekend

Clarkson game is sold out; St. Lawrence contest to be played at Blue Cross Arena

By: Joe Venniro - Associate Director of Sports Information

Come out and watch the Tigers this weekend, as they host ECAC foes Clarkson and St. Lawrence

Men's Hockey | 10/14/2008 5:54:39 PM

ROCHESTER, NY - The RIT men's hockey team hosts the #14 Clarkson University Golden Knights in the 2008-09 home opener at Ritter Arena on Friday, October 17 at 7:05 p.m. On Saturday, the Tigers host St. Lawrence University at Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester at 7:05 p.m.

The B. Thomas Golisano School of Computing and Information Sciences is sponsoring Friday's game with a “thunderstick” giveaway. In addition, the first 500 fans in attendance will receive a free 2008-09 RIT schedule poster. The Democrat and Chronicle is Saturday's sponsor. The first 3,000 fans in attendance will receive a free RIT Hockey t-shirt sponsored by Dr. James Watters, Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration at RIT, along with RIT Sports Zone.

Friday's game will also be televised live by Time Warner Cable SportsNet channel 26 at 7 p.m. with Gene Battaglia and John DiTullio calling the action. It is the first of 10 live and five tape-delayed home games that will be aired this season.

RIT (1-1-0) split a pair of tough road games against CCHA foes last weekend. The Tigers opened up a 2-0 lead after one period of play on goals by Dan Ringwald (Oakville, Ontario/Oakville Blades) and Bobby Raymond (Lucknow, Ontario/Owen Sound), but could not hold on, falling to Bowling Green State University, 4-2 in the season opener on Friday. The Tigers rebounded to defeat Western Michigan, 2-1 on Saturday. Tyler Brenner (Linwood, Ontario/Elmira Sugar Kings) broke a 1-1 tie early in the third period for his first collegiate goal to give RIT the win. Junior goaltender Jared DeMichiel (Avon, Conn./Chicago Steel) was sensational between the pipes for RIT, stopping 33-of-34 shots to earn the win. Brenner was named the Atlantic Hockey Association Rookie of the Week on Monday.

Clarkson, ranked 14th in the latest USCHO.com/CBS College Sports XXL Division I Men's Poll, opens its season on Friday. Over the past two years, Clarkson has returned to the ranks of the nation's elite with a pair of ECAC Hockey titles and back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Clarkson skated to a 22-13-4 overall record in 2007-08, claimed the ECAC Hockey regular season title with a 15-4-3 league mark, and advanced to the championship game of the NCAA East Regional. Clarkson has a total of eight players on this year's roster who have been chosen in the NHL Draft. The Golden Knights are picked to finish fourth in the ECAC Hockey standings by the league's preseason coaches' poll.

Clarkson leads the all-time series between the two clubs, 8-2-1. The Golden Knights have defeated RIT twice since RIT moved to Division I, 5-2 during the 2005-06 season and 4-2 in 2006-07. Those two games were played at Clarkson. This is the first time RIT has hosted Clarkson at Ritter Arena since Nov. 24, 1984.

St. Lawrence comes into this weekend having lost their opening two games of the season at #2 Michigan last weekend. Both games were tied at 3 in the third period, before Michigan won the opener 4-3 on Friday and 5-3 on Saturday. Mike McKenzie and Brock McBride each tallied three points for the Saints in the two games. The Saints are picked to finish eighth in the ECAC Hockey standings by the league's preseason coaches' poll.

St. Lawrence leads the all-time series between the two schools, 5-1-0. The Saints defeated RIT by a score of 4-3 on Oct., 6, 2006 in the last meeting between the two schools. The season before, former RIT goaltender Jocelyn Guimond (Quebec City, PQ/Williams Lake) tied a NCAA record with 66 saves in a regulation win, as the Tigers shocked nationally-ranked St. Lawrence at Ritter Arena. It was RIT's sixth game as a Division I program.

Last year, the Tigers defeated nationally-ranked Cornell, 4-1 before 5,142 fans at Blue Cross Arena. The Tigers are hoping the attendance totals this year will exceed that number from 2007.

Friday's game against Clarkson is sold out. Tickets are available for Saturday's game at the Gordon Field House and Activities Center Box Office or by phone at (585) 475-4121. Fans can also purchase tickets via ticketmaster.com or at the Blue Cross Arena Box Office. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for alumni, faculty and staff and $6 for RIT students (at Gordon Field House only) with ID before Saturday. On Saturday, tickets are $12 for adults and $9 for students with ID.

Hope to see you on Friday and Saturday at 7:05 p.m.