Men's Hockey | 3/9/2010 10:09:46 AM
ROCHESTER, NY - The RIT men's hockey team hosts the University of Connecticut Huskies in the Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals. The best of three series at Ritter Arena takes place on Friday, March 12, Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14 (if necessary). Each game will start at 7:05 p.m. RIT is the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament, while Connecticut is No. 9.
The Tigers (22-11-1, 20-5-1 Atlantic Hockey) enter this weekend's contests having won six straight games. The Tigers are 13-2-0 at home this season, outscoring foes 65-26. RIT is 4-1 in AHA postseason games at Ritter Arena, scoring 28 goals in those contests.
RIT's defense has seven shutouts this season, including six over its last 15 games. The seven shutouts tie a team record, set in 1983-84. RIT is tied for fourth nationally, allowing just 2.18 goals per game. RIT's offense is ninth in the nation, averaging 3.47 goals per game. Goaltender
Jared DeMichiel (Avon, CT/) was the AHA Goaltender of the Month in February. Sophomore Cameron Burt recorded 15 points (2-13-15) in the month of February, spanning eight games, and was named the AHA Player of the Month. #
Andrew Favot (King City, Ontario/)# leads the Tigers in scoring with 37 points.
Connecticut (7-25-3, 6-19-3 AHA) defeated No. 8 Bentley by a score of 2-1 in an Atlantic Hockey Play-in game on Saturday. Justin Hernandez scored the game-winning goal and added an assist. Garrett Bartus made 27 saves. Andrew Olson leads the team in scoring with 18 points. Olson and Hernandez are tied for the team lead with eight goals. Bartus emerged as the starting goaltender and has a 5-12-1 mark, 3.20 goals against average, and .898 save percentage.
RIT finished 3-1 against Connecticut this season, outscoring them 18-4. RIT defeated Connecticut, 7-0 and 6-1 at Ritter Arena on Oct. 30-31. Defensemen
Alan Mazur (Burnaby, British Columbia/) and
Dan Ringwald (Oakville, Ontario/) recorded back-to-back hat-tricks in those wins. The two teams split a pair of games in Storrs, as RIT won 4-0 on Jan. 15, while the Huskies earned a 2-1 win the following night. The Tigers are 12-6-1 all-time against Connecticut.
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 and $5 for students with ID. Fans can buy special reserved seats in Section 100 for $12 and $7 for students with ID. If the Sunday, March 14 game is necessary, the Gordon Field House box office will be open on that day from 1-5 p.m.
Friday and Saturday's games will be aired live on Time Warner Cable Sports channel 98, with Gene Battaglia and John Ditullio bringing you the action. If RIT plays on Sunday, the game will be aired on Time Warner Cable Sports channel 26.
If RIT advances, they will play in the Atlantic Hockey Final Four at Blue Cross Arena on Friday, March 19 and Saturday, March 20. Tickets are currently on sale at the Gordon Field House, Blue Cross Arena box office or at ticketmaster.com. Ticket prices are $16 for either day, or $28 for the entire weekend. Student prices are $11 for either day, or $22 for the weekend.
Come out and support the Tigers in their quest for the 2010 Atlantic Hockey Championship.
