Men's Hockey | 2/9/2011 9:11:20 AM
ROCHESTER, NY - The RIT men's hockey team plays its second to last regular home game of the 2010-11 season against Atlantic Hockey Association rival Canisius at Ritter Arena on Friday, Feb. 11 at 7:05 p.m. Two days later, the Tigers travel to Buffalo State Ice Arena to complete the season series with Canisius, with that contest getting underway at 4:05 p.m. RIT leads the AHA standings by six points with five games to play.
Tom Horton's and Salvatore's Pizzeria are sponsoring Friday's game. There will be a youth hockey game between the first and second period and a pizza toss between the second and third period.
RIT (14-8-7, 13-3-6 AHA) enters weekend play unbeaten in nine straight games overall (4-0-5), and has a 13-game unbeaten streak in AHA play (8-0-5). RIT also has a 17-game unbeaten streak at Ritter Arena against AHA foes (13-0-4), dating back to last season. Last weekend, the Tigers earned a win and a tie against Air Force. On Friday,
Adam Hartley (West Vancouver, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) scored 2:07 into overtime to lift the Tigers to a dramatic 1-0 win in the lowest scoring game in program history. The following evening, RIT scored four times in the first 11:40 before settling for a 5-5 tie.
RIT now has five players with a least 20 points and 13 in double figures this season.
Cameron Burt (Detroit, MI/) is one point shy of 100 in his brilliant Tiger career, while
Tyler Brenner (Linwood, Ontario/) is a goal shy of 50.
Andrew Favot (King City, Ontario/) leads the way with 35 points (11-24-35).
Shane Madolora (Salinas, CA/) is the only Division I goaltender not to have suffered a loss this season. He is riding an 18-game unbeaten streak (12-0-6) and is third nationally with a .933 save percentage, and ninth overall with a 2.01 goals against average.
Canisius (9-13-6, 8-8-5 AHA) enters this weekend seventh in the AHA standings with 21 points. Last time out, the Golden Griffins split a weekend series with Robert Morris, winning 5-4 at home on Thursday, while losing 4-1 at Robert Morris on Saturday. Cory Conacher, the 2010 Atlantic Hockey Association Player of the Year, recorded the hat-trick in Thursday's win, and leads the team in scoring with 30 points (19-11-30) in 27 games this season. Ben Danford leads the way with 17 assists. Goaltender Dan Morrison has played the majority of games in net this season. Morrison is 6-11-4 with a 3.53 goals against average, and .903 save percentage.
This will be the second of three regular season meetings between the two schools who are located just 65 miles apart this season. On Dec. 17, RIT scored four times in the third period to erase a 1-0 deficit and win 4-1. Favot and Brenner recorded three points apiece in the win. RIT is 51-14-1 all-time against the Golden Griffins and have won six straight, dating back to the 2008-09 season. RIT is 12-4-0 against the Golden Griffins since the 2005-06 season.
Tickets are available at the Gordon Field House and Activities Center Box Office or by phone at (585) 475-4121. Fans can also purchase tickets via ticketmaster.com. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for RIT faculty, staff and alumni and $5 for students with ID. Fans can also buy special reserved seats in Section 100 or 101 for $12 (adults), $10 (faculty/staff/alumni) or $7 (students). Buying a reserved section ticket will guarantee you a seat for the game.
Friday's game will be aired live on Time Warner Cable Sports channel 26, with Gene Battaglia and John DiTullio bringing you the action.
