Men's Hockey | 2/23/2010 10:33:28 AM
ROCHESTER, NY - The 2010 Atlantic Hockey Regular Season Champion RIT men's hockey team wraps up the regular season with a pair of contests against rival Canisius at Ritter Arena on Friday, Feb. 26 and Saturday, Feb. 27. Both games get underway at 7:05 p.m.
Zweigle's is sponsoring Friday's contest. On Saturday, Austin Spencer Collision and Wilshire Catering are the game sponsors. There will be a t-shirt giveaway on Saturday. In addition, RIT will be honoring its seniors before the game and the Atlantic Hockey Regular Season Championship trophy will be in the building.
RIT (20-11-1, 20-5-1 AHA) enters this weekend's contests having won four straight, and will be the top-seed in the upcoming AHA Tournament. Last weekend, the Tigers swept Air Force at home by scores of 3-2, and 3-0. On Friday,
Tyler Mazzei (Kelowna, British Columbia/) scored 1:10 into overtime to lift RIT. The following night, strong play by the Tiger defense and goaltender
Jared DeMichiel (Avon, CT/) propelled RIT to the shutout, its sixth of the season.
RIT is tied for third nationally, allowing just 2.19 goals per game. DeMichiel was named the Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week for the second straight week on Monday, and is fourth in the nation with a 2.11 goals against average. The Tigers have allowed just 47 goals in 26 Atlantic Hockey contests this season, by far the fewest in the league. They have outscored foes 96-47 in AHA play this season.
RIT has six players with at least 20 points, and 13 in double figures this season. Junior
Andrew Favot (King City, Ontario/) has 18 points (6-12-18) over the last 10 games, and has moved into third place in AHA scoring with 37 points (11-26-37) in 31 games. Sophomore
Cameron Burt (Detroit, MI/) has 15 points (3-12-15) over his last seven games. Burt is second among RIT skaters with 33 points on a team-best 12 goals and 21 assists.
Canisius (15-12-6, 13-9-4 AHA) enters this weekend's contests tied for fourth in the AHA with 30 points. The can finish as high as third, or as low as fifth. They are 4-1-2 over their last seven contests. The Golden Griffins earned three points against AIC last weekend, securing a 2-2 tie on Saturday, and winning 5-3 on Sunday. Cory Conacher leads the team and is second nationally in scoring with 47 points (20-27-47) in 30 games this season. Canisius has seven players with at least 20 points. Goaltenders Dan Morrison and Andrew Loewen have split time in net this season. Morrison is 10-9-3 with a 3.02 goals against average, and .908 save percentage, while Loewen is 5-3-2 with a 3.05 goals against average and .905 save percentage.
This will be the only regular season meetings between the two schools who are 65 miles apart this season. It will be the first meeting in Rochester since Feb. 9, 2008. In that game, the two teams combined for an AHA record 251 penalty minutes, including 243 in the third period. RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 47-14-1. Since the start of the 2005-06 season, RIT is 8-4-0 against the Golden Griffins. Last season, RIT won both games against Canisius in Buffalo, 5-2 and 4-3.
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 channel 26, with Gene Battaglia and John Ditullio bringing you the action.
