Men's Hockey | 1/2/2012 4:11:00 PM

ROCHESTER, NY - Junior defenseman Chris Saracino (St. Louis, MO/Green Bay Gamblers) and senior goaltender Shane Madolora (Salinas, CA/) of the RIT men's hockey team were named the Atlantic Hockey Association Player and Goaltender of the Week respectively, for the week ending Jan. 1, 2012.  It is Saracino's first weekly honor, while Madolora has been honored for the seventh time in his brilliant RIT career.

Saracino was named MVP and earned All-Tournament Team honors at the Catamount Cup hosted by the University of Vermont, as RIT won both its games to claim the title.  Saracino opened the week by scoring the game-winning power-play goal early in the first period while adding an assist in a 3-0 win over No. 11 Ferris State.  On Friday, Saracino added an assist and was plus-2 in a 3-1 win over No. 16 Lake Superior State.  He was a big reason why RIT allowed just one goal and went 11-for-11 on the penalty-kill in the two games.  Overall, Saracino has eight points (1-7-8) and is plus-5 in 12 games this season.

Madolora ended 2011 on a high note, stopping all 23 shots he faced to lift RIT to a 3-0 win over No. 11 Ferris State at the Catamount Cup hosted by Vermont.  He was named to the Catamount Cup All-Tournament Team after recording RIT's first shutout over a non-AHA opponent in its seven-year Division I history.  Madolora, who notched his third blanking of the 2011-12 season, now has nine career shutouts and is 8-3-1 this season with a 2.00 goals against average and .930 save percentage.

Next up for the Tigers is a trip to Madison, Wisconsin for a pair of games at the University of Wisconsin (7-9-2) on Friday and Saturday with both games getting underway at 8:07 p.m.  It will be a rematch of the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four Semifinal, which Wisconsin won by a score of 8-1.  The Badgers have eight NHL draft picks on its current roster.  Friday's game will be aired live on the Big 10 Network.