Men's Hockey | 1/20/2009 3:50:55 PM

ROCHESTER, NY - The RIT men's hockey team looks to extend its Division I team-record winning streak to 10 games, on the road at Canisius College on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 7:05 p.m.  In addition, the two teams play on Sunday, Jan. 25 at 4:05 p.m.  Both games will be played at Buffalo State Ice Arena.  The Tigers lead Atlantic Hockey with 27 points, while Canisius is tied for fourth, 11 points back.

RIT (14-9-1, 13-4-1 AHA) continued its scoring binge, tallying 11 goals in a weekend sweep of American International.  Eighteen different Tigers recorded at least one point in the two wins.  On Saturday, RIT trailed 3-2 with 3:48 to play on Friday before scoring three times to record a 5-3 win. Brennan Sarazin (Nepean, Ontario/Nepean Raiders) (Nepean, Ontario) scored two goals and added an assist in the third period.  On Saturday, RIT defeated the Yellow Jackets 6-1 behind a balanced scoring attack.

The Tigers lead all of Division I with eight shorthanded goals and have outscored opponents 44-22 during their nine-game winning streak.  RIT is fourth nationally in scoring, averaging 3.67 goals per game.  Six Tigers have at least 19 points this season.  Jesse Newman (Kelowna, British Columbia/Trail Smokeeaters) (Kelowna, British Columbia) and Dan Ringwald (Oakville, Ontario/Oakville Blades) (Oakville, Ontario) lead the team with 22 points each.

Canisius (9-8-4, 7-6-2 AHA) enters the weekend on a high note after sweeping #20 Air Force in Colorado Springs.  The Golden Griffins erased a 4-2 deficit with three goals in 1:07 late in the third period on Friday to win 5-4.  On Saturday, Canisius scored three second period goals to erase a 1-0 deficit and held on to win, 4-2.  Freshman Dave Kostuch leads the squad with 14 goals and 22 points.  Jason Weeks also has 22 points on four goals and 18 assists.  Andrew Loewen and Dan Morrison have split time in net.  Loewen is 5-5-3, while Anderson is 4-3-1.

RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 45-14-1 and is 6-4-0 against the Golden Griffins since moving to Division I in 2005.  Last season, the two teams split four contests, with each team winning twice at home RIT won at Ritter Arena, 4-3 and 4-1, while Canisius tallied two victories at Buffalo State Ice Arena, 6-2 and 5-4.  Both teams were Division III rivals in the ECAC West for several seasons.  

Thursday's game will be aired live on Time Warner Cable Sports channel 26, starting at 7 p.m.