| 2/29/2008 9:20:58 PM

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ROCHESTER, NY – The quartet of Jesse Newman (Kelowna, BC/Trail Smokeeaters) (Westbank, BC), Matt Crowell (Kelowna, BC/Williams Lake Timberwolves) (Kelowna, BC), Tyler Mazzei (Kelowna, BC/Nanaimo Clippers) (Kelowna, BC) and Simon Lambert (Ste.-Therese, PQ/Cumberland Grads) (Ste. Therese, PQ) recorded two points apiece, as the RIT men's hockey team (16-11-6, 14-8-5 AHA) extended its unbeaten streak to four games after defeating Bentley, 5-2 (9-18-6, 9-12-6) on Friday evening at the Ritter Arena.

RIT's win, coupled with losses by Sacred Heart and Mercyhurst, mean that the Tigers can finish no worse than third in the league standings.  Army clinched a tie for first place in the conference standings with a win.  They hold the tiebreaker over RIT and lock up the top seed in the upcoming tournament.

RIT led 3-2 early in the third, when Newman found Mazzei all alone at the side of the Bentley net.  Mazzei slammed a loose puck past goaltender Joe Calvi for his third goal of the season.

Newman, Mazzei and Crowell, dubbed the "Kelowna" line earlier in the season, were the three stars of the game.

The trio combined for the game-winning goal late in the second period.  With the game tied at 2, Newman converted a nifty feed from Crowell after Mazzei forced a turnover deep inside the Bentley zone.  Newman ripped a wrist shot past Calvi from point-blank range for his fourth tally of the year.

Louis Menard (Chicoutimi, PQ/Ottawa Jr. Senators) (Chicoutimi, PQ) stopped 27 shots to pick up his 15th win of the season.  Calvi stopped 35 shots.

RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson was happy with the win and says that with the standings so tight in conference play, scoreboard watching is not a priority.

"I thought we played a good game in a lot of areas, except in our defensive zone coverage," said Wilson.  "They (Bentley) have a very good transition offense.  We just want to play as good as we can and not worry about what the other teams do."

Both teams scored two goals in an action-packed first period.  RIT held the edge in play, keeping the puck pinned inside the Bentley zone several times during the frame.  Bentley would counter attack, getting both of their goals on the rush.

The Tigers struck first just 2:28 in, as Anton Kharin (Twin Lake, MI/Bay State Breakers) (Moscow, Russia) fired a shot from the right face-off circle past Calvi to give RIT a 1-0 lead.  Brent Alexin (West Seneca, NY/Buffalo Jr. Sabres) (West Seneca, NY), who was RIT's best forward during the period, had the primary assist on the goal.  Brennan Sarazin (Nepean, ON/Nepean Raiders) (Nepean, ON) also assisted on Kharin's second tally of the year.

The Falcons came right back, just 1:21 later, as Erik Peterson converted a rebound off the initial shot by Dain Prewitt on a 2-on-2 rush.

Lambert became the second Tiger to score 20 goals in a season at the 7:45 mark, as his shot from the left side went over Calvi on the power-play.  Matt Smith (Toronto, ON/Kitchener Dutchmen)'s (Toronto, ON) original shot was blocked.  The rebound caromed to Sean Murphy (Rochester, MN/Green Bay Gamblers) (Owatonna, MN) who fed Lambert.

It marked the eight straight game that the Tigers have scored a power-play goal.  They are 14-for-32 with the man advantage during that span.

Once again, Bentley knotted the game, as Prewitt slammed home a loose puck in front of the RIT net.  The Tiger defense had several chances to clear puck out of the zone, but were unable to.

Menard made a pair of tremendous saves late in the period, diving across the crease to rob Prewitt.  Prewitt then wheeled around and found Anthony Canozeri streaking at the right side of the net.  Menard came back across and made a second, sensational toe save.

RIT held a 30-19 edge in shots after the second period.

Lambert salted the game away with his second goal of the game, an empty-netter with eight seconds left.  He now has 21 goals on the season, tied for the team lead with Smith.  Lambert has a team-best 44 points on the year.  He also has 15 points (nine goals and six assists) during an eight-game point-scoring streak.

Tonight's contest was the third of four regular season meeting between the two teams this season.  RIT leads the season series, 2-0-1.  The Tigers went 1-0-1 at Bentley in a two-game series in Waltham, Mass. from Nov. 30 to Dec. 1.  RIT scored three second period goals to win the opening game 3-2.  The two teams played to a 2-2 draw the following  evening.

RIT leads the all-time series between the two teams, 6-3-1.  Last season, the two teams split a four-game series.

The two teams conclude the regular season on Saturday at 7:05 p.m.