Men's Hockey | 1/9/2010 10:16:24 PM

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ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men's hockey team (11-8-1, 11-2-1 AHA) pushed its Atlantic Hockey Association unbeaten streak to 12 straight games, defeating Holy Cross (5-11-4, 4-8-3 AHA) at Ritter Arena on Saturday. Jared DeMichiel (Avon, CT/) made 22 saves to earn his second career shut-out.

Cameron Burt (Detroit, MI/) and Taylor McReynolds (Sherwood Park, Alberta/) scored 53 seconds apart in the first period top provide the offense for the Tigers. RIT's stifling defense held Holy Cross to just 22 shots on the evening. Thomas Tysowsky stopped 28 shots in defeat for Holy Cross.

The Tigers were 1-for-4 on the power-play, and held Holy Cross scoreless in two attempts with the man-advantage.

RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson was pleased with the effort not only tonight, but all weekend.

“I thought we played well in all three periods tonight,” said Wilson, who now has 199 career wins at RIT. “It was great to get back into the win column after a rough weekend in Minnesota. It's going to be important that build off this weekend and keep moving forward.”

RIT came out and dominated the opening period, scoring twice in a span of 53 seconds, and out-shooting the Crusaders 13-6 to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.

Burt tallied his team-best seventh goal of the season on the power-play, 13:29 into the contest.. Chris Tanev (Toronto, Ontario/) fired the puck around the boards to Dan Ringwald (Oakville, Ontario/). Ringwald held the puck along the left wall, drew a few Holy Cross defenders, then found Burt at the point, creating a 3-on-1. Burt tried to feed #Andrew Favot in front, but the puck redirected off a Holy Cross defender and past Tysowsky.

Just 53 seconds later, McReynolds tallied his third goal of the season, taking a feed from Brent Alexin (West Seneca, NY/) in the slot and blasting a shot past Tysowsky after good forechecking by the Tiger forwards.

DeMichiel made his best save of the game not long after, robbing Everett Sheen on a mini-breakaway. Sheen tried to deke DeMichiel left to right on the forehand, but the Tiger goaltender stuck his left pad out to preserve the 2-0 lead.

The defenses ruled in the second period, as neither team had many good chances. Both teams fired six shots on goal. RIT had the best chance of the period, right as a power-play expired, as Favot redirected a shot by Brenner that hit the right post and slid through the goal crease, but did not cross the goal line.

RIT's defense was stout in the final period, holding the Crusaders to 10 harmless shots from the outside.

Tonight's contest was the fourth meeting in the last month between the two schools. RIT finished the regular season series, 3-0-1 against Holy Cross. The teams skated to a 1-1 tie in Worcester, Mass. on Dec. 4, while Burt scored with 47 seconds left in overtime, as RIT won 3-2 the next night.

Last night, Ringwald scored a goal and added an assist to lead the Tigers to a 5-2 win over the Crusaders. Five different players scored for RIT. DeMichiel made 24 saves. Tysowsky made a career-best 37 saves in defeat for the Crusaders.

RIT is 19-6-1 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. The Tigers are 14-1-1 against the Crusaders since the start of the 2006-07 season.

DeMichiel is 6-0-1 all-time against the Crusaders, with a 1.26 goals against average, and .950 save percentage. This season, the senior goaltender is 10-2-1, with a 1.69 goals against average, and .935 save percentage in AHA play.

On Oct. 31, DeMichiel and Shane Madolora (Salinas, CA/) split a shut-out in a 7-0 win over Connecticut.

The Tigers have scored 52 goals in the last 11 home games (10-1-0) against Holy Cross, dating back to 2006-07.

RIT is back in action on Friday and Saturday, as they travel to Storrs, Conn. to play the University of Connecticut Huskies. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m. both nights.