Men's Hockey | 2/17/2009 12:44:32 PM
ROCHESTER, NY - The RIT men's hockey team looks to maintain its lead in the Atlantic Hockey Association, as they travel to West Point, N.Y. to play the Army Black Knights on Friday and Saturday at 7:05 p.m. It will be the third and fourth meetings of the season between the two schools.
RIT (19-10-1, 18-5-1 AHA) is once again on a roll, having won three straight games, including a weekend road sweep at Holy Cross last time out. Junior goaltender
Jared DeMichiel (Avon, Conn./Chicago Steel) (Avon, CT) recorded his first collegiate shut-out and six different Tigers scored in a 6-0 win on Friday. On Saturday, RIT scored three power-play goals en route to a 3-1 win.
Alan Mazur (Burnaby, British Columbia/Merritt Centennials) (Burnaby, British Columbia) had a power-play goal in each game.
Brennan Sarazin (Nepean, Ontario/Nepean Raiders) (Nepean, Ontario) leads RIT with 15 goals and 29 points in 30 games. He has 16 points over his last 10 games. Freshman
Cameron Burt (Detroit, Mich./Green Bay Gamblers) (Detroit, MI) recorded four points (1-3-4) in the two games last weekend and has nine points over his last five contests.
The Tigers have scored 23 power-play goals in their last 12 games and are 23-for-75 (30.6 percent) during that span. The power-play is now fourth in the nation. RIT is third nationally in goal scoring, averaging 3.83 goals per game. Eight players have at least 20 points
Army (10-16-4, 9-11-4 Atlantic Hockey) is riding a four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1). The Black Knights swept a weekend series from Sacred Heart, winning 4-3 on Friday and 3-1 on Saturday. Jay Clark stopped 59 shots in the two wins. Owen Meyer leads Army with 15 goals and 29 points in 24 games this season. Cody Omilusik and Eric Sefchik each have 25 points. Clark has assumed the starting role and is 8-6-4 with a 2.93 goals against average and .915 save percentage.
The all-time series between the two schools is knotted at 2-2-2. Earlier this season, the two teams split a weekend series at RIT. Army scored three third period goals to snap a 2-2 tie and defeat RIT, 5-3 on Nov. 14. The following night, the Tigers returned the favor, scoring three times in the final period to break a 3-3 tie and win, 6-3. Last season, the two teams skated to back-to-back ties, 2-2 and 1-1 at Ritter Arena. In 2006-07, the two teams split a pair of games at West Point, with Army winning 2-1 on Dec. 29, 2006 and RIT collecting a 5-3 win the following night.
The Tigers can clinch a top-two finish with a sweep this weekend. RIT is guaranteed a top-four finish in the AHA standings.
