Men's Hockey | 12/10/2011 9:58:00 PM

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ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men's hockey team (8-5-2, 7-3-2 AHA) scored three straight goals, 4:25 apart early in the third period to snap a 1-1 tie and defeat American International (3-14-2, 2-9-2 AHA), 4-2 in front of 1,705 fans at Ritter Arena on Saturday.

Mike Colavecchia (Maple, Ontario/Lindsay Muskies), Scott Knowles (Riverside, Ontario/), and Matt Garbowsky (St. George, Ontario/Powell River Kings) scored the third period goals to lift RIT.  Brad McGowan (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) also scored for the Tigers in the second period.  Nolan Descoteaux (Dallas, TX/South Shore Kings) added two assists, as RIT is currently riding a three-game winning streak and is tied for second in the Atlantic Hockey Association standings.

RIT goaltender Shane Madolora (Salinas, CA/) stopped 25 shots to earn his seventh win of the season, improving to 7-2-1 this season.  Eleven of his 27 shots came in the third period.
Nathan Sliwinski and Nielsson Arcibal each had a goal and an assist for the Yellow Jackets, who have now lost six straight games, all in AHA play.  Ben Meisner made 30 saves in defeat.

With the game tied at 1-1 early in the final period, Colavecchia ripped a slapshot over the shoulder of Meisner from the right point on a power-play after receiving a feed from Chris Haltigin (Oakville, Ontario/).  The goal was Colavecchia's team leading fifth of the season.

Just 1:58 later, Knowles unleashed a bullet of a slap-shot from just beyond the left face-off circle past Meisner on the short side after getting a long feed from Descoteaux for his first tally of the season.

Garbowsky ended the flurry taking a feed from Colavecchia after Adam Hartley (West Vancouver, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) caused a neutral zone turnover.  Garbowsky was all alone in the slot and he made no mistake, burying a shot just under the crossbar for his third goal of the year.

The Yellow Jackets closed the scoring out on the power-play at the 9:31 mark, as a shot by Arcibal ricocheted off the skate of Taylor McReynolds (Sherwood Park, Alberta/) in the slot, changing directions and getting past Madolora.

RIT was 1-for-6 with the man-advantage and held AIC to one goal in seven power-play attempts.  RIT out-shot AIC, 34-27.

The Tigers are now 6-0-2 against AHA foes at home this season and 31-2-6 against them at Ritter Arena since the start of the 2009-10 season.

RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson knows his team will need to keep playing more consistent hockey down the line.

"Tonight was a weird game, as I wasn't real happy with our inconsistent effort, but it is hard to win two games in a weekend, and we got the sweep we were looking for,” said Wilson.  “Our effort level was up and down, as we didn't start playing well until (AIC) scored, and started getting shots to the net, which paid off for us.  Once we got the three-goal lead, we relaxed again, so we want to keep raising the bar.” 

Despite out-shooting American International, 12-6 over the opening 20 minutes, RIT came out a bit flat in the scoreless period.

American International had a great chance just four minutes in, as Adam Pleskach found himself alone in front of Madolora, but RIT's senior goaltender made a slick glove save to keep the game scoreless.

RIT's best chance came off the stick of Mark Cornacchia (Unionville, Ontario/), who received a great cross-ice pass from McGowan, but Meisner came across to smother the shot.

Penalties ruled the second period, as nine minors were assessed, but both goals were scored at even strength, as the game was tied at 1-1 after 40 minutes of play.

The Yellow Jackets got on the board at the 9:41 mark, just as RIT came back to full strength after a 4-on-3 power-play.  Sliwinski slammed a rebound from the slot past Madolora, as a shot from Arcibal was blocked.  Pleskach fed Arcibal in the high slot.  His initial shot went off a Tiger defenseman right to Sliwinski, who wired a shot in for his third goal of the year.

McGowan deftly tipped in a point shot from Descoteaux a little less than three minutes later for his fourth goal of the season. Cornacchia won a battle along the boards and fed Descoteaux at the left point.  Descoteaux wristed a shot that McGowan got just enough of to get it past Meisner.

Last night, Hartley and Colavecchia each tallied a goal and an assist, while Madolora stopped 27 shots in a 3-1 win over the Yellow Jackets.  Hartley tallied his 50th career point in the win.

RIT is 19-3-1 all-time against the Yellow Jackets, including a 16-3-0 mark since moving to Division I in 2005.  RIT went 3-1 against American International last season with two shutouts.  The Tigers eliminated the Yellow Jackets in the 2011 AHA Quarterfinals and are 11-1-1 all-time against them at Ritter Arena.

The Tigers return to action next Saturday, Dec. 17, as they travel to face Robert Morris in a single AHA contest at 7:05 p.m.