Men's Hockey | 11/18/2011 9:42:00 PM

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ROCHESTER, NY – Senior goaltender Shane Madolora (Salinas, CA/) made 23 saves to set a Division I team record with his eighth career shutout, leading the RIT men's hockey team (4-3-2, 3-2-2 AHA) to a 2-0 win over visiting Holy Cross (4-5-0, 3-3-0 AHA) in front of 1,824 fans at Ritter Arena on Friday evening.  The win extends RIT's unbeaten streak to four games (3-0-1).

Mike Colavecchia (Maple, Ontario/Lindsay Muskies) and Brad McGowan (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) scored first period goals for RIT, who are now 28-2-6 against AHA foes at Ritter Arena dating back to the start of the 2009-10 season.

Madolora was brilliant all evening, making nine third period saves, as RIT had to kill off four straight Holy Cross power-play attempts over the final 20 minutes.  His best save came on Ron Linsmayer on a stuff in attempt on a power-play from the side of the net with 4:40 left in regulation.

The Tigers were the better team throughout, with the majority of good scoring chances.  Overall, RIT out-shot Holy Cross, 32-23.  RIT's penalty-killing unit was tremendous, killing off all six Holy Cross power-play attempts.  Holy Cross came into tonight's game with the seventh best power-play in the nation.

The Tigers were 1-for-6 with the man-advantage, but generated several good chances.

RIT extends its unbeaten streak against the Crusaders to nine games with tonight's win. Holy Cross last defeated RIT in game one of the 2009 Atlantic Hockey Association quarterfinals. 

RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson thought his team played well 5-on-5 and needs to stay out of the penalty box against Holy Cross' potent power-play.

“I thought we did a really good job tonight, especially in the first period,” said Wilson.  “We were a little sloppy in the second, and 5-on-5 in the third did a good job.  We got into penalty problems in the third, but our penalty killing was really solid.  We can't take a lot of penalties tomorrow night.”

RIT held the advantage over the first 20 minutes of play, out-shooting Holy Cross 13-6 en route to a 2-0 lead.

Colavecchia gave the Tigers the 1-0 lead with a power-play goal with 6:26 gone by in the contest.  Chris Saracino (St. Louis, MO/Green Bay Gamblers) fired a shot that went wide, but caromed right to Cameron Burt (Detroit, MI/), who fed Colavecchia in the slot.  The sophomore forward buried a wrist shot past Ginn for his first goal of the season.

RIT continued its pressure and upped its lead to 2-0 midway through the period, as McGowan shoveled in a rebound off a scramble in close for his third goal of the season.  Adam Hartley (West Vancouver, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) circled at the blue-line and dropped a pass to Greg Noyes (Lucan, Ontario/Salmon Arm Silverbacks), who was able to walk in from the left side and get a shot off.  That shot was blocked and the rebound came to McGowan in the slot, who spun and put a backhander just inside the right post.

RIT's defense was stout, allowing very few in the way of chances during the first period.  Erik Vos had the Crusaders best chance, firing a shot from the left face-off circle that Madolora got a piece of before hitting the left post and bouncing out.

The Tigers continued to pour on the pressure in the second period, out-shooting Holy Cross, 15-8, but could not get a puck past Ginn, despite several great chances.

Matt Garbowsky (St. George, Ontario/Powell River Kings), who was named the game's first star, had three really good chances thwarted by Ginn and drew a pair of penalties in the period.

Hartley had a breakaway midway through the third period and tried to go high on Ginn, but the Holy Cross goaltender made a strong shoulder save.

The Tigers have enjoyed tremendous success against the Crusaders, with a 17-1-2 mark against them dating back to the start of the 2006-07 season.   Overall, RIT is 21-6-2 all-time against the Crusaders.

The two teams conclude their regular season series on Saturday at Ritter Arena, with the puck dropping at 7:05 p.m.