Men's Hockey | 1/20/2011 11:26:34 AM

ROCHESTER, NY - The RIT men's hockey team travels east to play a pair of crucial Atlantic Hockey Association contests at Holy Cross this weekend. Both Friday and Saturday's contests begin at 7:05 p.m. RIT leads the AHA standings with 25 points, five ahead of Robert Morris and Niagara.

Last weekend, the Tigers (12-8-4, 11-3-3 AHA) maintained its five-point lead in conference play after a three-point weekend at home against Bentley. The Tigers are riding an eight-game unbeaten streak in AHA play. On Friday, RIT came out on top 4-1, then rallied from a 3-1 third period deficit to earn a 3-3 tie on Saturday and extend its unbeaten streak at Ritter Arena against AHA foes to 14 games (12-0-2). It is the second time that RIT has come from two goals down in the third period to earn a tie this season. Andrew Favot (King City, Ontario/) scored twice in both contests.

The RIT penalty-killing unit has killed off 26 straight opposing power-play attempts dating back to Jan. 1. Goaltender Shane Madolora (Salinas, CA/), who stopped 54 shots over the weekend, is now 10-0-3 this season and 10-0-2 in AHA play. He is third in Division I with a .934 save percentage. In AHA play, Madolora is 10-0-2 with a 1.72 goals against average and .944 save percentage. Madolora is the lone Division I goalie not to suffer a loss this season. Junior forward Tyler Brenner (Linwood, Ontario/) is tied for fourth nationally with 17 goals, while Favot is tied for seventh nationally with 20 assists and eighth with 31 points. He surpassed the 30-point plateau for the third straight seasons.

Holy Cross (7-13-2, 6-7-2 AHA) comes into this weekend with a 1-9-1 record over its last 11 games. Last weekend, the Crusaders dropped a pair of road games at Mercyhurst, falling 3-1 on Friday, and 3-2 in overtime on Saturday. Everett Sheen leads the Crusaders in scoring with 21 points on eight goals and 13 assists in 22 games. Kyle Fletcher is second in scoring with 17 points (4-13-17). In net, Thomas Tysowsky, Adam Roy, and Derek Rump have split time. Tysowsky has appeared in 12 games with a 5-6-0 record.

This weekend's meetings will be the only two regular season meetings between the schools this season. RIT is 19-6-1 all-time against the Crusaders and are riding a six-game unbeaten streak at the Hart Center. Overall, RIT is 15-1-1 against Holy Cross since the 2006-07 season. Last year, RIT went 3-0-1 against the Crusaders, out-scoring them 11-5.