Men's Hockey | 3/6/2012 9:59:00 AM

ROCHESTER, NY - The RIT men's hockey team hosts the Bentley University Falcons in the 2012 Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals. The best of three series at Ritter Arena takes place on Friday, March 9, Saturday, March 10 and Sunday, March 11 (if necessary). Each game will start at 7:05 p.m. RIT is the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament, while Bentley enters as the No. 6 seed.

The Tigers (17-11-6, 14-7-6 Atlantic Hockey) enter this weekend's contests having won eight of nine AHA quarterfinal contests since becoming eligible for the league's postseason in 2007-08. RIT is 8-1 all-time in AHA postseason games at Ritter Arena, scoring 46 goals in those contests. The Tigers are 8-0-6 at home against AHA foes this season, outscoring foes 43-26.

Sophomore Mike Colavecchia (Maple, Ontario/Lindsay Muskies) leads the team in scoring with 29 points on 13 goals and 16 assists, and leads the squad with eight power-play tallies. Senior Cameron Burt (Detroit, MI/) leads the team with 20 assists and is second with 27 points.  Burt is tied for the RIT Division I team record with 132 points (42-90-132) in 142 career games. Greg Noyes (Lucan, Ontario/Salmon Arm Silverbacks) leads all RIT defensemen with 20 points (6-14-20). In goal, Shane Madolora (Salinas, CA/) is 15-7-5 and is in the top six nationally with a 1.94 goals against average and .931 save percentage. He is second in the nation with six shutouts and has started the last 14 games.

Bentley (15-14-8, 13-7-7 AHA) comes into the quarterfinals having taken down Sacred Heart in three games last weekend in the first round.  Bentley won game one 5-3, then lost game two 4-2. The Falcons rebounded to win the decisive third game, 5-0. Brett Gensler is the leading scorer among all AHA players this season, with 47 points (21-26-47) in 37 games. In net, Branden Komm is 15-12-7 with a 2.39 goals against average and .921 save percentage.

RIT went 2-0 against Bentley earlier this season, winning 2-0 on Jan. 20 and 2-1 on Jan. 21, both on the road. Madolora made 26 saves in the shutout win on Jan. 20, while Scott Knowles (Riverside, Ontario/) broke the 1-1 tie with a shorthanded goal the following night. The defensive duo of Chris Haltigin (Oakville, Ontario/) and Daniel Spivak (Thornhill, Ontario/) were on the ice for all four RIT goals that weekend.
 
The Tigers are 13-4-2 all-time against the Falcons, including 11-3-2 at the Division I level.  The two teams have never met in the postseason.

Tickets are available for this weekend's games 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 and $5 for students with ID. Fans can buy special reserved seats in Section 100 or 101 for $13 and $7 for students with ID. If the Sunday, March 11 game is necessary, tickets will be sold immediately after Saturday night's game and the Gordon Field House Box Office will be open on that day from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

All games this weekend will be aired live on Time Warner Cable Sports channel 98, with Gene Battaglia and John DiTullio bringing you the action.

If RIT advances, they will play in the Atlantic Hockey Semifinal at Blue Cross Arena on Friday, March 16. If RIT wins that game, they will play for the Atlantic Hockey Championship Saturday, March 17. The winner of the AHA Championship gets an automatic berth into the 2012 NCAA Tournament.

Come out and support the Tigers in their quest for the 2012 Atlantic Hockey Championship.