Men's Hockey | 10/1/2011 9:30:00 PM

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ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men's hockey team scored three goals in a 4:08 span midway through the second period en route to a 4-0 win over Brock University of Ontario in front of 1,732 fans in the 2011-12 exhibition opener at Ritter Arena on Saturday.

Brandon Thompson (Vancouver, British Columbia/Handsworth), Adam Hartley (West Vancouver, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles), Cameron Burt (Detroit, MI/), and Mike Colavecchia (Maple, Ontario/Lindsay Muskies) scored for the Tigers.  The goaltending trio of Shane Madolora (Salinas, CA/), Josh Watson (Lititz, PA/Powell River Kings), and Jordan Ruby (Tavistock, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) combined to make 32 saves in the win, and were named the three stars of the game.

The game ended with the shots even at 32.  Brock was 0-for-8 with the man-advantage, while RIT was 2-for-6.  Kurt Jory started for Brock and played the first 26:36, stopping nine shots.  Adrian Volpe played the final 33:14, stopping 19-of-22 shots.

RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson was happy with the way his team played, given the fact that the Division I season started today.
“I thought we had a lot of different players step up and play really well,” said Wilson.  “We said going into the season that we have three really good goalies and they all played great.  Our freshmen showed up well, and our veterans were strong.  We were able to work on some situational stuff in special teams and have to be strong next weekend, as we open against Niagara.”

The Tigers came out slow, getting out-shot 7-1 over the first 10 minutes, but regrouped and scored the lone goal of the period, as Thompson shoveled home a loose puck in a scrum in front of the net with 6:40 left in the frame.  Scott Knowles (Riverside, Ontario/) fed a pass to the front of the net that Mark Cornacchia (Unionville, Ontario/) tipped on the goal.  Jory thought he had the puck covered, but Thompson slid the puck into the net.

Madolora was sharp in the period, making a handful of good saves.  He led the nation in shutouts and goals against average a year ago.

RIT broke the game wide-open with three quick goals in the second period, taking a 4-0 lead into the first intermission.
Hartley scored a power-play goal at the 7:29 mark, taking a feed from Chris Haltigin (Oakville, Ontario/), streaking in on a breakaway and snapping a shot over the shoulder of Volpe.  Nolan Descoteaux (Dallas, TX/South Shore Kings) also assisted on the goal.

Burt gave RIT a 3-0 lead 1:39 later, taking a feed from Matt Garbowsky (St. George, Ontario/Powell River Kings) in the slot and ripping a shot past Volpe.  Adam Mitchell (Crofton, MD/Baystate Breakers) also assisted, once again on the power-play.

Just 2:30 later, Burt stripped a Brock defenseman and fed Colavecchia, who was all alone in front and beat Volpe with a backhander to make it 4-0.

RIT out-shot Brock, 14-4 over the middle 20 minutes.  Watson only needed to make four saves in the period, but he made a huge stop on Derek Brochu in the first minute of the period from point blank range to keep the score 1-0.

Ruby was very busy in the third period, stopping all 20 shots he faced, including several in spectacular fashion.

Knowles nearly made it 5-0 late in the third period, zipping past a pair of defenders, and ripping a shot off the crossbar while shorthanded.

RIT is now 5-4-1 all-time against Brock.  It was the first meeting between the two schools since 1991-92.

The Tigers open the regular season on Saturday, October 8, as they host Niagara in an Atlantic Hockey Association contest at 7:05 p.m.