Men's Hockey | 1/13/2010 11:50:35 AM
ROCHESTER, NY - The RIT men's hockey team heads back on the road to take on the University of Connecticut Huskies on Friday, Jan. 15 and Saturday, Jan. 16 at 7:05 p.m. in a pair of exciting Atlantic Hockey contests. RIT looks to extend its 12-game AHA unbeaten streak.
RIT (11-8-1, 11-2-1 AHA) puts its 12-game Atlantic Hockey Association unbeaten streak on the line this weekend. The Tigers are currently second in the AHA standings, tied with Air Force, and one point behind Mercyhurst. RIT has four games in hand on each team. The Tigers have out-scored foes 45-17 during the AHA unbeaten streak, and hold a 51-25 edge overall in conference play. RIT is the second highest scoring team, and top defensive squad in Atlantic Hockey contests.
Last weekend, RIT got back in the win column with 5-2, and 2-0 victories over Holy Cross at Ritter Arena. Five different players scored on Friday, while goaltender
Jared DeMichiel (Avon, CT/) stopped all 22 shots he faced on Saturday. DeMichiel was named the AHA Goaltender of the Week on Monday.
Connecticut (2-15-3, 2-10-3 AHA) comes into this weekend's contests looking to snap a 12-game winless streak (0-10-2). Last weekend, the Huskies took one point from Air Force on the road, losing 2-1 on Friday, but rallying for a 2-2 tie on Saturday. Goaltender Garrett Bartus made 57 saves in the tie on Saturday. The Huskies have not won since defeating AIC, 4-1 on Nov. 7. Connecticut is the lowest scoring team in the nation, averaging just 1.40 goals per game. Sean Ambrosie is the olne Huskies to have double-digit points, with 10 this season. He leads the squad with six assists. Andrew Olson leads the team with five goals. In net, Bartus has played three of the last four games and has a 2.65 goals against average and .934 save percentage in those contests.
This weekend will mark the third and fourth meetings between the two schools this season. RIT rolled to 6-2 and 7-0 wins on Oct. 30-31 at Ritter Arena, riding consecutive hat-tricks from
Alan Mazur (Burnaby, British Columbia/) and
Dan Ringwald (Oakville, Ontario/). Ringwald recorded six points on the weekend and was named the AHA and Inside College Hockey Player of the Week for his efforts.
RIT is 11-5-1 overall and 6-3-1 against Connecticut since moving to Division I in 2005. Last season, RIT went 3-1 against the Huskies. The two teams split a pair of games in Storrs, as Connecticut won 2-1 on Nov. 21, 2008, while RIT battled back to win 5-4 the following evening. The Tigers defeated the Huskies at Ritter, 5-3 on Jan. 9, and 7-4 on Jan. 10, 2009. RIT out-scored Connecticut 18-13 in the four games last season.
