Men's Hockey | 11/19/2011 10:08:00 PM

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ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men's hockey team (5-3-2, 4-2-2 AHA) exploded for four second period goals, jumping out to a 6-2 lead before hanging to defeat Holy Cross (4-6-0, 3-5-0 AHA) 6-5 in front of 1,757 fans at Ritter Arena on Saturday evening.  The win extends RIT's unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1).

Mike Colavecchia (Maple, Ontario/Lindsay Muskies) scored a pair of goals and added an assist to lead the way offensively for RIT, while Matt Garbowsky (St. George, Ontario/Powell River Kings), Mark Cornacchia (Unionville, Ontario/), Adam Mitchell (Crofton, MD/Baystate Breakers) and Adam Hartley (West Vancouver, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) also tallied.  Cameron Burt (Detroit, MI/) dished out three assists, while Chris Saracino (St. Louis, MO/Green Bay Gamblers) recorded a pair of assists.

RIT's special teams were excellent tonight, as the power-play went 2-for-3, while the penalty unit held Holy Cross to just one goal on seven power-play attempts and scored a shorthanded goal.

Mike Daly and Jay Sylvia tallied a goal and an assist apiece for the Crusaders, while Brendan Baker, Matthew Davis, and Erik Vos also scored.  Matt Gordon dished out a pair of assists.

RIT goaltender Shane Madolora (Salinas, CA/) made 33 saves to improve to 4-0-1 this season.  Matt Ginn stopped 21 shots for the Crusaders.

Mitchell gave the Tigers a 6-2 lead just 3:21 into the final period firing a shot in from the slot off a nifty passing play between Colavecchia, Burt, and Mitchell, giving the Tigers what seemed to be an insurmountable advantage.

The Crusaders would not quit however, scoring three times in a span of 4:51 to stun the Ritter Arena faithful and cut RIT's lead to 6-5.

At the 5:20 mark, Daly intercepted an errant RIT clearing attempt, skated into the slot and whistled a shot past Madolora to make it 6-3.

Moments later, Burt was whistled for a cross checking penalty, proceeded to argue with the officials and was given a 10-minute misconduct and was ejected with a game misconduct.  On the ensuing power-play, Baker collected a rebound off a shot from Rob Linsmayer and beat Madolora to cut the RIT lead to 6-4.

With 9:49 left in regulation, Davis fired what looked to be a harmless shot from just outside the RIT blue-line that caromed off a Tiger defenseman, changed direction, and went over the shoulder of Madolora to make it 6-5.

Holy Cross pressed, but RIT's defense tightened up, as they were able to hang on.

The Tigers have enjoyed tremendous success against the Crusaders, with a 10-game unbeaten streak and a 18-1-2 mark against them dating back to the start of the 2006-07 season.   Overall, RIT is 22-6-2 all-time against the Crusaders.

RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson thought his team was fortunate to get the win tonight.

“I thought we played a very sloppy game,” said Wilson.  “That being said, I am very happy to get four points this weekend against a very good team who will be right at the top of the standings at the end of the season.”

Unlike last night, Holy Cross was the aggressor in the first period, out-shooting RIT 16-9, but the two teams went the dressing room even at 1-1.

Silvia gave the Crusaders the lead just 42 seconds into the game, as Mike Daly caused a turnover inside the RIT zone and created a 2-on-1.  Daly fired a cross-ice pass to Silvia, who fired a shot past the diving Madolora and off the both posts and in.

Cornacchia tied the game with 6:49 left in the first period, punching in a rebound off a shot from Saracino that bounced in the air and over Ginn.

RIT scored a season-high four second period goals to take a 5-2 lead after 40 minutes of play.

Garbowsky gave the Tigers the lead for good at the 5:56 mark of the second period, shorthanded, as he blocked a shot in his own zone, skated in and took a shot that was stopped by Ginn.  Garbowsky collected his own rebound and beat Ginn for his second goal of the year, RIT's second shorthanded tally of the season as well.

Colavecchia made it 3-1 RIT six minutes later, as he sped in and took a pass from Burt and beat Ginn to the short-side for his second goal of the year.  Nolan Descoteaux (Dallas, TX/South Shore Kings) also assisted on the goal.

Erik Vos made it 3-2, tapping in a pass from Andrew Cox in front at the 14:18 mark of the period.

Just 1:08 later, Colavecchia tallied his second of the game and third in two contests, taking a feed from Burt in the slot and ripping a shot past Ginn on the power-play.

RIT took a 5-2 lead on the power-play late in the period, as Saracino fed Lynch down low.  Lynch deked the goalie and went behind the net, feeding Hartley who was all alone in front to bang in his third goal of the season.

Last night, Madolora stopped all 23 shots he faced, while Colavecchia and McGowan scored first period goals in a 2-0 win over the Crusaders.

RIT is now 29-2-6 against AHA foes at Ritter Arena dating back to the start of the 2009-10 season.

The Tigers return to action on Friday, as they host ECAC foe Rensselaer with the puck dropping at 7:05 p.m.