Men's Hockey | 3/17/2012 9:59:00 PM

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ROCHESTER, NY -- For the second straight year, the RIT men's hockey team ended their season at the hands of Air Force. The Tigers were defeated by the Falcons 4-0 in the Atlantic Hockey Association Finals from Blue Cross Arena on Saturday night. RIT ends their season with a 20-13-6 record.

Air Force scored twice in a 1:10 span in the first period  then added goals in the second and third periods to secure their second straight championship and fifth overall.

Jason Torf was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player, stopping all 34 shots he faced in net. Senior Taylor McReynolds (Sherwood Park, Alberta/). who scored the game-winner in Friday's semifinals, was an All-Tournament Team selection.

"We couldn't get the momentum," said RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson. "When it was 2-0 we needed to get that next goal to make it 2-1. When they scored to make it 3-0 that took a lot out of us."

RIT out shot Air Force 34-27. The Tigers were 0-for-1 with the man advantage, while Air Force was 1-for-3 on the power play.

Cole Gunner gave Air Force a 1-0 lead at 15:15 of the first period on a power play goal. He swung around the back of the net and stuffed the puck past Shane Madolora (Salinas, CA/)'s skates for his eighth of the season.

Just 1:10 later John Kruse took advantage of a defensive miscue by the Tigers in their own zone and tucked a shot over Madolora's pads to make it 2-0 Falcons.

RIT generated some good chances in the second period, but Torf and the Falcons defense kept RIT at bay until Jason Fabian tallied his eighth of the season at 9:23 to give Air Force a 3-0 lead.

Fabian added an empty-net goal with seven seconds remaining to make it a 4-0 final.

Madolora finished with 23 saves and finishes his career at RIT with a school record 13 career shut outs.

Senior Chris Haltigin (Oakville, Ontario/) summed up his career by saying "We would have liked to have gone out with a win, but they (Air Force) were the better team tonight. I'm very proud of my teammates and our coaches for what we have accomplished over the last four years."

Air Force moves on and will compete in the NCAA Division I Tournament. The Falcons will find out who and when they play tomorrow on the NCAA Selection Show.