Men's Hockey | 1/15/2011 10:26:07 PM

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ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men's hockey team (12-8-4, 11-3-3 AHA) extended its AHA unbeaten streak to eight games, and home unbeaten streak against conference opponents to 14 games, rallying to score twice in a 2:08 span in the third period to tie Bentley, 3-3 before a sellout crowd of 2,100 fans at Ritter Arena on Saturday.

RIT is now 21-1-2 at Ritter Arena against AHA foes dating back to the start of the 2009-10 season. Bentley was the last team to beat RIT at Ritter Arena, defeating the Tigers 5-4 on Jan. 30, 2010.

Andrew Favot (King City, Ontario/) scored two goals for the second straight game. Sean Murphy (Owatonna, MN/) also scored the game-tying goal for RIT with 13:52 left in regulation. Adam Hartley (West Vancouver, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) added two assists. Favot now has at least 30 points for the third straight season.

Down 3-1, RIT rallied with a pair of goals 2:08 apart early in the third to tie the game at 3-3.

Favot scored his second of the game and 11th of the season four minutes into the frame, on the power-play, to make it 3-2 Bentley. Hartley found Burt at the point, who fed Favot in front. Favot made a nifty move and slid a shot just pas Bentley goaltender Joe Calvi.

Just 2:08 later, Murphy took a feed from #Mark Cornacchia in tight and slid the puck around Calvi for his third goal of the year, and second in three games. Scott Knowles (Riverside, Ontario/) also assisted on the goal.

From there, RIT dominated the rest of the third period, but could not get the puck past Calvi. RIT out-shot Bentley, 18-3 in the third period.

In overtime, both teams had some good chances. Favot had RIT's best chance as he took a feed from Burt on a 4-on-2, but instead of shooting from the slot, tried to find Ben Lynch (Blaine, MN/Lincoln Stars) at the left side of the net, but the pass sailed over Lynch's stick and just wide. RIT goaltender Shane Madolora (Salinas, CA/) had to make a pair of big saves in the overtime session.

Bentley snapped a 1-1 tie with two second period goals, 20 seconds apart to go up 3-1.

Madolora made 28 saves in extending his unbeaten streak to 13 games. He is now 10-0-3 this season..
Dustin Cloutier, Erik Peterson, and Brett Hartung scored for the Falcons, who now have an eight game winless streak. Goaltender Joe Calvi was strong in net for Bentley, stopping 35 shots. He made 57 saves and allowed just three goals in just under 100 minutes over the weekend.

RIT out-shot Bentley, 38-31.  The Tigers were 2-for-8 with the man-advantage, while holding Bentley scoreless on four power-play attempts. RIT's penalty-killing unit has now killed off 26 straight power-play attempts dating back to the third period against Merrimack on Jan. 1.

RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson was relieved to get the tie.

“We knew Bentley was going to come out much harder, and they certainly did, taking the crowd out of the game early and played a great first period,” said Wilson. “I give our guys credit for coming back in the third period. It was an extremely entertaining overtime for both sides. We will certainly take the tie after being down a pair of goals late. It was a good three-point weekend.”

Bentley dominated the first period, out-shooting RIT, 17-9, while generating the better of the scoring chances, and winning several battles to loose pucks. Madolora had to be sharp and he was, stopping several good opportunities.

Bentley's best chance came on a RIT power-play, as Hartung came in all alone, and ripped a shot off of Madolora's shoulder that glanced off the crossbar and out.

RIT opened the second period having to kill off 3:22 of a five-minute major to Adam Mitchell (Crofton, MD/Baystate Breakers), which they succeeded in doing.

Unfortunately for RIT, they allowed a shorthanded goal for the second straight game, as Cloutier came in on a 2-on-1, faked the pass, and beat Madolora to the short side for his fifth goal of the season.

The Tigers tallied the equalizer at the 13:39 mark, as Favot ripped a shot through a screen on the power-play past Calvi for his 10th goal of the season, and third of the weekend.

Bentley re-took the lead at the 15:59 mark, as Peterson came in on a 2-on-1, cut to the middle of the ice, and ripped a slap-shot over the glove of Madolora, off the crossbar and in for his seventh tally.

Just 20 seconds later, Hartung came into the zone on the right wing and wristed a shot towards the net from a bad angle that Madolora misplayed for the goal.

RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 11-4-2. RIT is 9-3-2 against the Falcons since the start of the 2006-07 season.

Last night, RIT scored four times in the first 24 minutes, cruising to a 4-1 win. Favot scored twice in the win for RIT.

RIT returns to action on Friday and Saturday, as they travel to face AHA rival Holy Cross for a pair of games, both at 7:05 p.m.