Men’s hockey hosts Holy Cross in Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals this weekend

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Justin Hofstetter (left) and Jesse Newman (right) will lead RIT this weekend against Holy Cross in the Atlantic Hockey Association quarterfinals at Ritter Arena.

For the second consecutive season, the RIT Tigers men’s hockey team hosts the Holy Cross Crusaders in the Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals. The best-of-three series takes place Friday, March 13, Saturday, March 14, and Sunday, March 15 (if necessary). Each game starts at 7:05 p.m. at Ritter Arena.

RIT (21-11-2, 20-6-2 Atlantic Hockey) is the number two seed in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament, while Holy Cross is number seven.

The Tigers, 2009 Atlantic Hockey co-champions, are 16-2-1 over their past 19 games. Last time out, RIT split a weekend series with fellow co-champion Air Force.

RIT has eight players with at least 21 points. Brennan Sarazin leads the Tigers with 18 goals and 17 assists for 35 points, while defenseman Dan Ringwald leads the team with 27 assists.

The Tigers are second in the nation with 10 shorthanded goals, tied for third in the nation in scoring (3.71 goals per game) and tied for third nationally on the power-play (21.1 percent). RIT has scored 27 power-play goals over the last 16 games.

Holy Cross (12-18-5, 10-15-3 Atlantic Hockey) finished seventh in the Atlantic Hockey standings with 23 points. The Crusaders defeated number 10 seed American International 1-0, in overtime, in an Atlantic Hockey Tournament play-in game on March 7. Ian Dams stopped 30 shots to record the shutout.

RIT won all four meetings between the two clubs this season. The Tigers defeated Holy Cross 5-1 and 5-2 at Ritter Arena. RIT swept the Crusaders 6-0 and 3-1 on the road.

The Tigers and Crusaders played a memorable quarterfinal series last year in which RIT won both games in overtime by 5-4 scores. The Tigers lead the all-time series between the two schools 14-5-0 (10-0 since moving to Division I in 2005). Overall, RIT has won 14 straight games against Holy Cross dating back to Nov. 4, 1983.

Tickets for each game of the playoff series are $10 for adults and $5 for students with ID and children under 18. Tickets are available at the Gordon Field House and Activities Center Box Office or by phone at (585) 475-4121. If the Sunday, March 15 game is necessary, the Gordon Field House box office will be open noon to 5 p.m. that day.

Games can be heard on WITR-FM (89.7).

If RIT advances, the Tigers will play in the Atlantic Hockey Final Four at Blue Cross Arena on Friday, March 20, and Saturday, March 21. For more, visit RIT Athletics.