Men's Hockey | 2/24/2009 9:58:45 AM
ROCHESTER, NY - The RIT men's hockey team hosts the Air Force Falcons at Ritter Arena on Friday, Feb. 27 and Saturday, Feb. 28 at 7:05 p.m. in the final two regular season home contests of the season. The two games will determine the 2008-09 Atlantic Hockey Regular Season Champion, as both teams are tied for first place in the AHA standings with 40 points and have identical 19-5-2 records in league play.
Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse is sponsoring Friday's game, while Tim Horton's is the game sponsor on Saturday. On Saturday, Tim Horton's will have free coffee and hot chocolate. Saturday is also Youth Hockey Night. Any youth hockey player in eighth grade or below who wears their jersey gets in free.
The Tigers will honor its senior class before Saturday's contest.
RIT (20-10-2, 19-5-2 AHA) is riding a five-game unbeaten streak and has a 15-1-1 mark over the last 17 games. Last weekend, RIT defeated Army, 3-2 on Friday, while the two teams skated to a 1-1 draw on Saturday.
Jesse Newman (Kelowna, British Columbia/Trail Smokeeaters) (Kelowna, British Columbia) scored the game-winning goal for RIT on Friday, while goaltender
Louis Menard (Chicoutimi, Quebec/Ottawa Senators) (Chicoutimi, Quebec) was sensational in net on Saturday, stopping 25 shots. Menard is now 33-7-7 all-time in AHA play.
RIT is 10-3-0 at home in 2008-09, and have outscored their opponents 66-42 in those contests, averaging 5.1 goals per game. RIT has scored 25 power-play goals over its last 14 games and are fifth in the nation in power-play efficiency.
Air Force (22-8-2, 19-5-2 AHA) has won five of their last six games, after sweeping Holy Cross at home last weekend by scores of 4-3 and 3-2. Forward Jacques Lamoureux leads the nation in goals (26), power-play goals (12), game-winning goals (7) and is second with 44 points. Brent Olson leads the squad with 27 assists. The Falcons have five players with at least 30 points. Goaltender Andrew Volkening has played every minute in net this season and has a 22-8-2 mark, 1.99 goals against average and .918 save percentage.
RIT started their big streak with a dramatic, 3-2 overtime win over Air Force on Dec. 6. Air Force defeated RIT 2-0 the night before. The all-time series between the two teams is even at 9-9-2. This will be the 16th and 17th match-ups between the two schools in the last four seasons. Air Force is 7-6-2 over that stretch. It is a battle of two of the highest scoring teams in Division I, as both teams are tied for second in scoring, averaging 3.72 goals (119 in 32 games).
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, $8 for RIT faculty, staff and alumni and $5 for students with ID.
Friday and Saturday's game will be aired live on Time Warner Cable. Friday's game is on Channel 98, while Saturday's is on Time Warner Sports channel 26, while Friday's game will be shown on tape delay. Gene Battaglia and John Ditullio will bring you the action.
Hope to see you on Friday and Saturday at 7:05 p.m.
