Men's Hockey | 10/8/2011 10:01:00 PM

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ROCHESTER, NY – For the first time in 47 years of varsity hockey at RIT, the Tigers played to a 0-0 tie, opening the 2011-12 season against Niagara in front of a sellout crowd at Ritter Arena on Saturday evening.

Both goaltenders, Shane Madolora (Salinas, CA/) of the Tigers and Cody Campbell of Niagara were excellent.  Madolora, the reigning NCAA Division I leader in save percentage and shutouts, picked up the seventh blanking of his career, stopping all 32 shots he faced.  Campbell, making his first start of the season, made 30 saves.  Madolora was named the game's first star, and Campbell, the second star.

The only other time RIT and its opponents played three periods of scoreless hockey was last Feb. 4, against Air Force.  The Tigers ended up winning that game 1-0 on an overtime goal by Adam Hartley (West Vancouver, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles).  RIT had not been shutout at Ritter since Jan. 16, 1993, a 1-0 loss to SUNY Cortland.  The goaltender for Cortland in that game was current RIT volunteer goaltending coach Mike Germain.

“I thought both goalies played really well tonight, and defensively, both teams played great," said RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson.  Overall, I was pleased with our effort and with a lot of players tonight.  We had to play the final two periods shorthanded defensively, so our effort especially from our forwards in the backchecking aspect was very good.”

The shorthanded units for both sides were excellent, as Niagara killed off all eight RIT power-plays and the Tigers were perfect in five shorthanded attempts.

In overtime, RIT held a 5-3 edge in shots, getting a few great chances in a late shift.  Campbell made a great pad save on a shot by Ben Lynch (Blaine, MN/Lincoln Stars), then robbed #Mike Colavecchia seconds later.

Late in the third period, Patrick Divjak had a breakaway after a giveaway in the RIT zone, tried to go to backhand on Madolora, but the puck slid off his stick and went wide.

Both teams had excellent chances during a scoreless first period, in which the goaltending held center stage.

Just a few minutes in, Niagara broke in on a shorthanded 2-on-0, after a Tiger forward fell in the neutral zone.  Issac Kohls took a feed from Doug Clifford from in tight for what looked like a sure goal, but Madolora slid across to make the amazing stop.

Moments later, Madolora stoned Scott Arnold from the slot with an excellent glove save after a Tiger giveaway.

RIT's Nolan Descoteaux (Dallas, TX/South Shore Kings) ripped a slot from the high slot that looked to be earmarked for the top corner, but Campbell came up big.  Earlier in the period, Matt Garbowsky (St. George, Ontario/Powell River Kings) broke in on a shorthanded 2-on-1 and tried to go high, but Campbell stood his ground.

Niagara did a great job getting in shooting lanes during the second period, allowing just four RIT shots despite being shorthanded three times.

Madolora made two big saves on Giancarlo Iuorio and Patrick Divjak during a power-play midway through the frame.  Moments later, Ryan Rashid intercepted an errant clearing attempt right in front of the RIT net, but Madolora did commit, trapping the backhander into his crest.

RIT's best chance came off a face-off in the final seconds of the period, as Chris Haltigin (Oakville, Ontario/) whistled a shot through a screen that Campbell stopped, but the rebound came out to slot as time expired.

RIT freshmen Garbowsky, Brandon Thompson (Vancouver, British Columbia/Handsworth), and Brad Reid (Delta, British Columbia/Coquitlam Express) all made their collegiate debuts tonight.  Garbowsky generated some great chances and won 9-of-13 face-offs, earning third star of the game honors.

Overall, RIT went 27-18 at the face-off circle.

Tonight's game was the eighth straight regular season sellout, dating back to last season. 

RIT and Niagara were ECAC West foes in the 1990's when both were Division III teams.  Niagara won the season series last season, 2-0-1.  The Tigers are 2-8-5 all-time against the Purple Eagles and are 0-6-3 since moving to Division I in 2005.  RIT last defeated Niagara on Feb. 8, 1997 and are 0-8-4 against Niagara since then.

It is the second 0-0 game in Niagara's history, as they played Robert Morris to a scoreless tie in 2009.

The Tigers return to action on Saturday, as they host St. Lawrence at Blue Cross Arena at 7:05 p.m.  The game is the focal part of RIT's Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend.