Men's Hockey | 1/5/2010 3:18:44 PM

ROCHESTER, NY - The RIT men's hockey team takes on the Holy Cross Crusaders at Ritter Arena on Friday, Jan. 8 and Saturday, Jan. 9 at 7:05 p.m. in a pair of exciting Atlantic Hockey contests.

Tim Horton's is sponsoring Friday's contest, while Austin Spencer Collision will sponsor Saturday's contest. On Friday, all area youth hockey players in eighth grade or younger, who were their youth hockey jersey gets in free.  Friday is Autograph night, as the Tigers will be signing autographs in the RIT Sports Zone after the game.

RIT (9-8-1, 9-2-1 AHA) puts its 10-game Atlantic Hockey Association unbeaten streak on the line this weekend. The Tigers are currently third in the AHA standings, one point behind Air Force and Mercyhurst. RIT has four games in hand on each team. The Tigers have out-scored foes 38-15 during the AHA unbeaten streak, and hold a 44-23 edge overall in conference play. RIT is the highest scoring, and top defensive team in Atlantic Hockey contests.

Last weekend, RIT rang in 2010 with a pair of losses at Minnesota State of the WCHA. On Saturday, freshman goaltender Shane Madolora (Salinas, CA/) stopped a career-best 33 shots in a 3-0 loss. It was the first time RIT was shutout in a game dating back to Dec. 5, 2008, a span of 42 games.

Holy Cross (5-10-4, 4-6-3 AHA) comes into this weekend's contests after a third place finish at the Ledyard Bank Classic on Jan. 2-3. The Crusaders lost to No. 14 U-Mass Lowell, 3-0 on Saturday, but rebounded to knock off Dartmouth, 4-2 in the consolation game on Sunday. Jay Silvia and Mike Daly each had a goal and an assist to lead the Crusdaers to victory. Last month, the Crusaders tied then No. 8 Quinnipiac, 1-1. Everett Sheen leads the squad in scoring with eight goals and 13 points. Jordan Cyr is right behind with 12 points (5-7-12). Freshman Thomas Tysowsky has emerged as the starting goaltender, appearing in 17 games with a 5-8-4 record, 2.24 goals against average and .914 save percentage.

This weekend's contests will be the third and fourth meetings in the last month between the two schools. The teams skated to a 1-1 tie in Worcester, Mass. on Dec. 4, while Cameron Burt (Detroit, MI/) scored with 47 seconds left in overtime, as RIT won 3-2 the next night. RIT is 17-6-1 all-time against the Crusaders. Last season, RIT went 6-1-0 against Holy Cross and has knocked them out of the AHA Quarterfinals in each of the last two seasons.

Tickets are available for this weekend's games at the Gordon Field House and Activities Center Box Office or by phone at (585) 475-4121. Fans can also purchase tickets via ticketmaster.com. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for RIT faculty, staff and alumni and $5 for students with ID. Fans can also buy special reserved seats in Section 100 or 101 for $12 (adults), $10 (faculty/staff/alumni) or $7 (students). Buying a reserved section ticket will guarantee you a seat for the game.

Both games will be aired live on Time Warner Cable Sports. Friday'a game will air on channel 98, while Saturday's contest can be seen on channel 26, with Gene Battaglia and John Ditullio bringing you the action.

Come out and support the Tigers in their quest for the 2010 Atlantic Hockey Championship.