Men's Hockey | 10/21/2008 11:02:00 AM
ROCHESTER, NY - The RIT men's hockey team opens Atlantic Hockey Association play this weekend, traveling to Milford, Conn. to play Sacred Heart in a two-game series. The Tigers and Pioneers play game one on Friday at 7:05 p.m. and conclude the weekend series on Saturday at the Milford Ice Arena at 7:05 p.m.
The Tigers were picked to finish third in the pre-season Atlantic Hockey poll. Sacred Heart was chosen to finish fourth.
RIT (1-3-0) dropped a pair of non-conference contests to ECAC foes last weekend. The Tigers opened up a 2-0 lead after one period of play on goals by
Tyler Brenner (Linwood, Ontario/Elmira Sugar Kings) and
Jesse Newman (Kelowna, British Columbia/Trail Smokeeaters), but could not hold on, falling to Clarkson University, 6-4 in front of a sellout crowd at Ritter Arena on Friday. Newman scored twice, while
Stevan Matic (Burnaby, British Columbia/Langley Hornets) also scored for the Tigers. On Saturday, RIT pounded the St. Lawrence net in the third period, out-shooting the Saints 16-5, but could not rally from a 2-0 deficit, falling 2-1 before 3,296 fans at the Blue Cross Arena.
Brent Alexin (West Seneca, N.Y./Buffalo Jr. Sabres) scored RIT's lone goal early in the third period, with assists going to Matic and
Riley Clark (Saskatoon, Sasakatchewan/Melfort Mustangs). Junior goaltender
Jared DeMichiel (Avon, Conn./Chicago Steel) was sensational between the pipes for RIT, stopping 24-of-26 in the loss.
Brennan Sarazin (Nepean, Ontario/Nepean Raiders) leads RIT with three points in four games.
Sacred Heart, comes into this weekend looking for its first win of the season. The Pioneers (0-4-0, 0-2-0) were shut-out in back-to-back games last weekend, falling 3-0 to Notre Dame on Friday and 7-0 on Saturday. Sacred Heart opened the season by dropping a pair of Atlantic Hockey Association contests to two-time defending champion Air Force, 4-1 and 4-3. Dave Jarman is the lone Pioneer player to have two points this season. Stefan Drew has played in three of the four games this season and has a .902 save percentage. Sacred Heart has been out-shot 131-91 this season. Senior forward Bear Trapp has 124 career points in 108 games.
RIT leads the all-time series between the two clubs, 4-1-0. The Pioneers defeated RIT 8-5 on Nov. 27, 2005, but RIT has won the last four meetings. In 2006-07, the Tigers swept Sacred Heart in Milford by scores of 4-0 and 6-3. Last season, on Jan. 18-19, 2008, the Tigers defeated Sacred Heart by identical 4-2 scores at Ritter Arena. RIT goaltender
Louis Menard (Chicoutimi, Quebec/Ottawa Senators) was sensational in both wins, stopping 57-of-61 shots.
Andrew Favot (King City, Ontario/Aurora Tigers) scored a goal in both games for RIT.
