Men's Hockey | 12/31/2008 12:49:33 PM

ROCHESTER, NY - The RIT men's hockey team opens the 2009 portion of its schedule with a weekend series at Atlantic Hockey foe Bentley College.  The two contests will be played on Friday, January 2 and Saturday, January 3, both at 7:05 p.m.  RIT is second in the AHA standings with 15 points.

RIT (8-9-1, 5-4-1 AHA) enters 2009 on a roll, having won three straight. Last time out on Dec. 12-13, the Tigers dispatched high-flying Mercyhurst, who had won six in a row, 6-2 and 5-3.  The Tigers scored 11 goals in the two weekend games, most in a single-weekend since tallying 16 in two wins over American International in Oct., 2006. RIT received balanced scoring during the two games, as 13 different players recorded a point and eight separate men scored goals. 

Andrew Favot (King City, Ontario/Aurora Tigers) (King City, Ontario),  Chris Haltigin (Oakville, Ontario/Oakville Blades) (Nepean, Ontario) and goaltender Jared DeMichiel (Avon, Conn./Chicago Steel) (Avon, CT) were named the Atlantic Hockey Association Player, Rookie and Goaltender of the Week, respectively, for the week ending December 13, 2008.

DeMichiel was named the Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week, after holding Air Force, the highest scoring team in the nation, to just four goals on 65 shots in two contests.  DeMichiel, who has started five of the last six games, is 4-4-0 with a 2.56 goals against average and .912 save percentage.

Bentley (6-8-1, 5-4-1 Atlantic Hockey) comes into the weekend series looking to snap a three-game losing streak.  Three weekends ago, the Falcons were swept in a pair of non-conference games at Ohio State, losing 10-1 and 3-2 in overtime.  The Falcons are fifth in the conference with 11 points in 10 games, but could move to as high as second if they were to sweep the Tigers.  Dain Prewitt and Dustin Cloutier lead the Falcons in scoring with 10 points apiece.  Freshman Kyle Rank and junior Joe Calvi have split the goaltending duties this season.  Calvi is 4-3-0, while Rank leads the way with a 2.85 goals against average and .907 save percentage.

RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 7-3-1, having played eight of the 11 contests against the Falcons since 2006.  Last season, Tigers went 3-0-1 against Bentley, winning 3-2 and earning a 2-2 tie on the road in late 2007, while concluding the regular season with consecutive 5-2 wins at home.  RIT outscored Bentley 15-8 in the four meetings a year ago.  The Tigers clinched the 2006-07 Atlantic Hockey Regular Season Championship with a 3-0 win at Bentley on Feb. 23, 2007.

After this weekend, the Tigers return home to the friendly confines of Ritter Arena for a four-game homestand, with two contests against Connecticut on January 9-10 and American International on January 16-17.