Men's Hockey | 2/22/2012 11:07:00 AM
ROCHESTER, NY -- The RIT men's hockey team concludes the 2011-12 regular season with a home-and-home series against Niagara this weekend. On Friday, the Tigers travel to Dwyer Arena to face the Purple Eagles, then return home to honor its class of 2012 Saturday. Both games get underway at 7:05 p.m.
RIT enters the final weekend of the season in second place in the incredibly bunched up AHA standings, one point behind Air Force, and one ahead of third place teams Bentley, Mercyhurst, and Niagara. Three points separate the top six teams in the conference, while Robert Morris is just five points out in seventh. The top four teams receive a first round bye and will host the best of three quarterfinal round on March 9-11. RIT can finish as high as first and as low as sixth. The best-of-three first round will take place on March 2-4.
Last weekend, RIT skated to a pair of 2-2 ties against Robert Morris on Friday and Saturday at Ritter Arena. On Friday,
Greg Noyes (Lucan, Ontario/Salmon Arm Silverbacks) and
Cameron Burt (Detroit, MI/) scored power-play goals, while
Mike Colavecchia (Maple, Ontario/Lindsay Muskies) dished out a pair of assists. RIT out-shot Robert Morris 46-23 and were 2-for-3 on the power-play against the nation's top penalty-killing unit. On Saturday,
Trevor Eckenswiller (Lions Head, Ontario/) and
Ben Lynch (Blaine, MN/Lincoln Stars) scored to rally RIT from a 2-0 deficit, while
Shane Madolora (Salinas, CA/) made 37 saves, including a breakaway by Trevor Lewis with just over two minutes left in regulation.
Niagara enters this weekend just one point back of the Tigers in the AHA standings and is riding a three-game unbeaten streak. Last week, the Purple Eagles cruised to a pair of wins over Canisius, winning 4-1 at Canisius on Feb. 14, then coming back two nights later to earn a 4-2 win at home. Niagara has balanced scoring, with 11 players scoring between 11 and 22 points. Marc Zanette leads the team in scoring with 11 goals and 22 points, while Ryan Rashid and Patrick Divjak each have 15 assists. In net, Chris Noonan is 11-5-4 and among the national leaders with a 1.73 goals against average and .939 save percentage.
RIT and Niagara were ECAC West foes in the 1990's when both were Division III teams. Heading into the weekend, the Tigers are 2-8-5 all-time against the Purple Eagles and are 0-5-3 since moving to Division I in 2005. This weekend will mark the second and third meetings of the season between the two schools. In the first meeting of the season on Oct. 8, the two teams skated to a scoreless tie, RIT's one and only in 47 seasons of varsity hockey. Madolora made 32 saves in that contest, while Niagara's Cody Campbell stopped 30 shots.
Tickets are available for Saturday's game 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 $13 (adults), $11 (faculty/staff/alumni) or $8 (students). Buying a reserved section ticket will guarantee you a seat for the game.
Both Friday and Saturday's games will be aired live on Time Warner Cable Sports channel 26 or 1026 for high definition subscribers. On Friday, Ben Wagner and Andrew Peters will call the game from Dwyer Arena. Gene Battaglia and John DiTullio will call the game as always from Ritter Arena on Saturday. In addition, the games will be broadcast over the airwaves on WITR 89.7 FM and witr.rit.edu.
Come out and support the Tigers in their quest for the 2012 Atlantic Hockey Championship.
