Men's Hockey | 3/11/2011 10:17:16 PM

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ROCHESTER, NY – Tyler Brenner (Linwood, Ontario/) became the fifth Tiger to record 100 career points at the Division I level, as the top-seeded RIT men's hockey team (17-10-8) scored four third period goals to break open a close game and defeat 12th seed American International (8-23-1), 5-0 at Ritter Arena in game one of the 2011 Atlantic Hockey Association Quarterfinals on Friday evening.

Brenner recorded the historic point on a power-play with 1:43 left in the third period, tipping in a point shot by Chris Saracino (St. Louis, MO/Green Bay Gamblers) for his 25th goal of the season. He now has 54 goals, one shy of tying Simon Lambert (Ste.-Therese, PQ/Cumberland Grads) for the all-time record at the Division I level for RIT. His 25 goals are two shy of the single-season record, 27, held by Matt Smith (Toronto, ON/Kitchener Dutchmen) in 2007-08.

RIT scored three times in a span of 2:29 midway through the final period to expand a 1-0 lead to 4-0, as Ben Lynch (Blaine, MN/Lincoln Stars), Nolan Descoteaux (Dallas, TX/South Shore Kings), and Mark Cornacchia (Unionville, Ontario/) tallied to put the game away for RIT.

Cameron Burt (Detroit, MI/) and Andrew Favot (King City, Ontario/) each had two assists for the Tigers. Favot moves to within three points of Lambert's record for career points, with 129. Lambert had 132 from 2005-08.  Bryan Potts (Niagara Falls, Ontario/Markham Waxers) also scored for RIT.

RIT goaltender Shane Madolora (Salinas, CA/) broke a personal three-game winless streak, stopping all 28 shots he faced to earn his sixth shutout of the season, tying him for the national lead. Madolora was in control all evening, making several big saves at key moments with RIT clinging to a one-goal lead. He lowers his goals against average to 2.00 and raises his national-best save percentage to .932.

The Tigers out-shot American International, 44-28. RIT was 1-for-4 with the man-advantage, while holding the Yellow Jackets scoreless in six chances with the man-advantage.

American International's Ben Meisner was great in net for the first 47 minutes, stopping 34 of RIT's first 35 shots before allowing four goals on the final nine shots he faced. Overall, Meisner stopped 39 shots.

RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson was happy with the way his team was able to put the game away.

“I thought we looked rusty, a little sloppy in the first, giving pucks away and missing the net on several occasions,” said Wilson. “Shane (Madolora) was able to come up some key stops that kept us in the lead and we were able to break it open in the third period. AIC didn't get here by accident. They beat a tough Army team on the road and played a great road game for 45 minutes.”

American International played a strong first 15 minutes, out-shooting RIT 8-5 to start, but the Tigers rebounded to dominate the final five minutes, getting a goal from Potts and a hit post by Brenner in the final minute, as RIT led 1-0 after 20 minutes of play. RIT out-shot the Yellow Jackets 7-1 over the final five minutes to hold a 12-9 edge.

Madolora came up big twice, first on Nielsson Arcibal on a point-blank chance from the right side, and then on Jon Puskar after a RIT giveaway in tight.

Potts scored his third goal of the season with 2:16 left in the period, sweeping in a rebound after Burt had a shot stopped by Meisner from the right point though traffic in front.  Burt grabbed the puck in the neutral zone, zoomed into the Yellow Jackets zone, circled the net and wound up from the point. Potts swiped and missed once, but was successful on the second attempt.

Brenner just missed making it 2-0 shortly thereafter, finding himself all alone at the side of the Yellow Jackets cage with nothing but net to shoot at. Unfortunately for RIT, Brenner, who rarely misses from in tight, shot the puck off the left post.

Neither team scored in the second period, despite a bevy of good chances by each team.

Madolora was called upon to make a few big saves, one on Tom Mele on a one-timer on the right side, and on Blake Peake right in front.

Sean Murphy (Owatonna, MN/) was robbed from the slot by Meisner with a big shoulder save after a great setup by Burt late in the period. He also stopped Descoteaux and Potts in tight late in the period.

Mike Janda (Glen Ellyn, IL/) and Favot had point blank chances go just wide of the cage.

With RIT up 1-0, Lynch went hard to the net, tipping in a perfect pass from Favot past Meisner for his sixth goal of the year with 12:13 left in regulation. He extended his point streak to seven games.

Just 1:22 later, Descoteaux crashed the net and buried a rebound after Murphy made a great move, going around a defenseman, and backhanding a shot that Meisner stopped. The goal was Descoteaux's second of the season and first in 29 games.

Cornacchia completed the three-goal binge, coming in on the right wing after stealing a puck into the neutral zone and firing a shot past Meisner to the far side for his third tally of the season with 9:44 remaining.

RIT is now 16-3-1 all-time against American International. The Tigers are now 2-1 against the Yellow Jackets this season. Madolora made 16 saves in a 4-0 win for his first collegiate shutout on Dec. 3, while six different Yellow Jackets scored in a 6-2 win the following afternoon.

The Tigers have now won five straight AHA postseason contests, and are 7-1 all-time at Ritter Arena in postseason play since moving to Division I in 2005. RIT has scored 41 goals in those eight postseason home games at Ritter Arena.

The same two teams meet in game two, Saturday at 7:05 p.m. Game three, if necessary, is Sunday at 7:05 p.m.