Men's Hockey | 1/20/2012 10:00:00 PM

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WALTHAM, MA - The RIT men's hockey team (13-8-2, 10-4-2 AHA) took down Bentley (7-10-5, 7-4-4 AHA) 2-0 for its third straight shutout win on Friday night at the John A. Ryan Skating Center.  RIT goaltender Shane Madolora (Salinas, CA/) made 26 saves on the night, picking up his third straight shutout and sixth of the season. It is the first time in program history that RIT has recorded three consecutive shutouts.

Matt Garbowsky (St. George, Ontario/Powell River Kings) scored for the Tigers early in the first period and Brad McGowan (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) sealed the game with 1:24 left in regulation. McGowan finished with a goal and an assist, while Taylor McReynolds (Sherwood Park, Alberta/), Chris Haltigin (Oakville, Ontario/), and Madolora tallied an assist apiece. Garbowsky, McGowan, McReynolds, Haltigin, and Daniel Spivak (Thornhill, Ontario/) were all plus-2 on the evening.

The two best defensive teams in the conference did not disappoint, allowing little in the way of quality scoring chances. Bentley goaltender Branden Komm was strong in net, stopping 24-of-25 shots in the loss.

Madolora now has a shutout streak of 185:20. He is 11-4-1 with a 1.87 goals against average and .932 save percentage overall, while his six shutouts tie a Division I team record and are tied for the national lead. In conference play, Madolora is 9-2-1 with a miniscule 1.41 goals against average and .948 save percentage.

RIT was 0-for-4 on the power play while Bentley was 0-for-5.  Shots were even at 26 apiece.

RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson is happy with the way his team is playing right now.

"I thought we had a real strong effort against a good Bentley team," said Wilson. "We were strong defensively and Shane (Madolora) made big saves when we needed them. We are playing some of our best hockey right now and hope to continue improving as the season moves on."

RIT got off to a hot start, firing 14 shots on net in the opening period.  Just under six minutes into the game, Garbowsky fired a shot from inside the face off circle, but the save by Komm bounced straight out to McGowan at the blue line who sent in a shot of his own that deflected off of McReynolds.  Komm made another save, but the rebound landed at the stick of Garbowsky who wrapped it around the netminder for his fifth of the season. 

RIT outshot Bentley 14-6 in the first, with most of the play coming in the Tigers' offensive end.

The second period saw a different Bentley squad, with the Falcons attacking the crease for the majority of the frame. Alex Grieve fired three shots at Madolora from point-blank range, but Madolora was ready, stopping every shot he faced.  The Tigers' best opportunity came late in the period with Adam Hartley (West Vancouver, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) attempting to slip a shot into the net, but Komm made a tremendous save on the effort.

Bentley kept the pressure on in the third, but a stout RIT defense allowed just seven shots on target, with Eliot Raibl (Vancouver, British Columbia/Quesnel Millionaires) and Scott Knowles (Riverside, Ontario/) making important blocks down the stretch.  Bentley pulled Komm with under two minutes to play to apply the added pressure, before Madolora deflected a Bentley shot to Haltigin, who sent the puck to McGowan in he neutral zone, with the freshman forward hitting the empty net and sealing the victory.

RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 12-4-2 and is 10-3-2 against the Falcons since the start of the 2006-07 season. RIT is 5-1-1 at the John A. Ryan Skating Center since 2006.

The two teams will close out the regular season series against each other on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m.