Men's Hockey | 1/17/2012 2:08:00 PM
ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men's hockey team wraps up a nine-game road stretch this weekend with a pair of games at Atlantic Hockey Association rival Bentley University on Friday and Saturday at 7:05 p.m. It is a battle of top defensive units as RIT and Bentley have allowed the fewest goals in AHA play this season.
The Tigers (12-8-2, 9-4-2 AHA) set countless Division I team records over the weekend, sweeping Sacred Heart 10-0 on Saturday and 3-0 Sunday. RIT's 10 goals scored on Saturday set a Division I team record. The last time RIT scored at least 10 goals in a game came on Feb. 18, 2005 in a 12-2 win over Lebanon Valley. The Tigers set single-game records with 17 assists and 27 points and tied a team record by scoring five third period goals on Saturday.
Mike Colavecchia (Maple, Ontario/Lindsay Muskies) recorded the sixth hat-trick in RIT's seven years of Division I hockey and added an assist to lead the way, while
Greg Noyes (Lucan, Ontario/Salmon Arm Silverbacks) tallied two goals and two assists. Fourteen different Tigers recorded a point.
Goaltender
Shane Madolora (Salinas, CA/) stopped all 41 shots he faced over the weekend for his 10th and 11th career shutouts. He is seventh nationally with a .928 save percentage and eighth with a 2.00 goals against average. He leads all goaltenders with a 1.54 goals against average in AHA play.
It is the second time in under a year that RIT recorded back-to-back shutouts in a weekend series and first time RIT shutout the same opponent twice in one weekend on the road. The last time RIT recorded consecutive road shutouts came on Feb. 4-6, 1981. Colavecchia leads the team in scoring with 20 points on 10 goals and 10 assists.
Colavecchia, Madolora, and
Brad McGowan (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) swept the AHA Player, Goaltender, and Rookie of the Week honors, respectively, on Monday.
Bentley (7-9-5, 7-3-4 AHA) comes into this weekend's games sixth in the AHA standings, just four points out of first place, while riding a four-game unbeaten streak (2-0-2). Last weekend, Bentley earned three tough points at Air Force. The two teams skated to a 2-2 tie on Friday, then Bentley upended Air Force, 2-1 on Saturday. Goaltender Brendan Komm was brilliant in net, stopping 59-of-62 shots on the weekend, while Brett Gensler scored the game-winner 2:31 into the third period, breaking a 1-1 tie on Saturday. The Falcons have the second best defense in AHA play this season. Gensler leads the team in scoring with six goals and 21 points in 21 games this season. In net, Komm is 7-7-5 with a 2.39 goals against average and .929 save percentage. He is among the leaders in AHA play with a 1.56 goals against average and .949 save percentage.
RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 11-4-2 and is 9-3-2 against the Falcons since the start of the 2006-07 season. Last season, the Tigers went 1-0-1 against the Falcons, winning 4-1 and playing to a 3-3 tie at Ritter Arena. RIT is 4-1-1 at the John A. Ryan Skating Center since 2006.
