Atlantic Hockey Weekly Award Winners for Games Through February 6

Atlantic Hockey Players of the Week

Kyle Fletcher - Holy Cross

Sophomore, Forward, Kanata, Ontario

Fletcher recorded three goals and five assists for eight points in the Crusaders’ two-game sweep of AIC on Feb. 4-5. In the 5-2 win on Friday, he tallied one goal and two assists for three points, while in the 8-4 victory on Saturday, Fletcher recorded two goals and three assists for five points including his team-best fourth gamer-winner of the season. Holy Cross is 4-0-1 in the last five games as Fletcher has six goals and six assists for 12 points during that stretch of games. For the season he is tied for first on the team with a career-best 10 goals, while he is second with a career-best 19 assists and a career-best 29 points.

Atlantic Hockey Goalie of the Week

Ryan Zapolski - Mercyhurst

Senior, Goaltender, Erie, Pa.

Zapolski posted 43 saves in back-to-back wins over thePurple Eagles last weekend. He held the Purple Eagles to two even-strength goals and shut them out in the first and third periods in an 8-5 win on Friday. Then, at home on Saturday, he pitched his second shutout of the season and held Niagara scoreless for the first time this year, leading the Lakers to a 4-0 victory.

Atlantic Hockey Co-Rookies of the Week

Billy Latta - Connecticut

Freshman, Forward, West Chester, Pa.

Latta led UConn to a 4-2 victory at Army on Friday, February 4 with two goals.  Latta tallied the game-winning goal midway through the second period before adding an insurance goal on the power play in the waning minutes of the third period.  It was Latta’s fifth two-point performance of the season. He now has 17 points in the last 15 games.

Nick Jones - Mercyhurst

Freshman, Defenseman, Cranberry Township, Pa.

Jones scored two goals in Mercyhurst’s 8-5 win over Niagara on Friday night at Dwyer Arena. He scored the first goal of the game in the opening period and the game-tying tally early in the third.  It marked his first multi-goal game of the season and improved his rookie goal total to four.

Atlantic Hockey Honor Roll

Michael Penny - American International (Junior, Forward, Calgary, Alberta) - Penny had a five-point weekend against the College of Holy Cross. Friday night Penny recorded one goal and one assist, while Saturday night he tallied two goals and one assist. He is second on the team in point with 10 goals and nine assits for 19 points.

Adam Pleskach - American International (Sophomore, Forward, Beausejour, Manitoba) - Pleskach had a four point weekend against the Crusaders with one goal and three asssits. He continues to lead the Yellow Jackets in points with 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points.

Cody Omilusik - Army (Senior, Forward, Traverse City, Mich.) - Omilusik totaled four points, including a natural hat trick, to help Army halt a four-game winless streak. Omilusik scored three times in the third period to lift Army to a 5-3 victory over Connecticut. The senior captain scored once on the power play, netted the game-winning goal and was credited with an assist while posting a +3 rating. Omilusik has two hat tricks this season and three for his career and recorded Army’s first natural hat trick since Jan. 5, 2002.

Joe Campanelli - Bentley (Sophomore, Forward, Pierrefonds, Quebec) - Campanelli had two goals and one assist for Bentley over the weekend against Sacred Heart. He scored the game-winning goal in overtime on Saturday, completing Bentley’s comeback from 4-1 down in the third period. He also assisted on Dustin Cloutier’s power play goal in the third period which got the rally started.

Mike Switzer - Bentley (Junior, Defenseman, Calgary, Alberta) - Switzer scored once in each game for the Falcons against Sacred Heart and was a team-best +4 for the weekend. In Saturday’s game, he scored an extra-attacker goal with 1:01 left in regulation to force overtime.

Cory Conacher - Canisius (Senior, Forward, Burlington, Ontario) - Conacher led the Griffs during the weekend, netting four of the team’s six goals as Canisius split a weekend series with Robert Morris. In Thursday’s 5-4 victory, Conacher netted his second hat trick of the season, including two third-period goals as the Griffs rallied for the victory. With his three scores, Conacher became the program’s all-time leading scorer. He now has 135 career points, surpassing the mark of Josh Heidinger. Conacher, who also netted a goal on Saturday, also added to his records in career goals (58) and career game-winning tallies (11). Conacher now ranks eight in the country with 0.70 goals per game and has recorded 13 points and 10 goals in his last seven contests.

Jason Krispel - Connecticut (Senior, Defenseman, Cypress, Calif.) - Krispel played just his second and third games of the season on defense for the Huskies this weekend and tallied three assists.  The senior captain tallied two assists in Friday’s 4-2 victory at Army, including an assist on the game-winning goal.  He then added an assist on Saturday to give him ten on the season. Krispel has recorded double-digit assists in each of the last-three seasons.

Adam Roy - Holy Cross (Senior, Goaltender, Feeding Hills, Mass.) - Roy made 43 saves in the two-game sweep of AIC on Feb. 4-5, with a .878 save percentage and a 3.00 goals against average. He made 17 saves in the 5-2 win on Friday, while he made 26 saves in the 8-4 victory on Saturday. For the season he has a .910 save percentage and a 2.84 goals against average with a 5-6-1 record. Roy is second all-time on the Holy Cross Division I list with 1,709 career saves. He is also second all-time with 19 victories.

Scott Pitt - Mercyhurst (Senior, Forward, Ottawa, Ontario) - Pitt scored four goals and added an assist as the Lakers swept conference rival Niagara by the scores of 8-5 and 4-0. He netted a goal and an assist in the team’s 8-5 victory on Friday at Dwyer Arena, before capping off the series with his first career hat trick in a 4-0 blanking athome on Saturday. The team’s leading scorer, Pitt has 12 goals and 29 points.

Ron Cramer - Robert Morris (Junior, Foward, New Wilmington, Pa.) - Cramer passed out three assists and scored two big goals over the weekend as Robert Morris picked up a win and a loss against Canisius. Cramer scored his first goal of the weekend shorthanded to tie Thursday’s game at Canisius to complete a Colonial rally from three goals down. Saturday Cramer netted the game winning goal as Robert Morris picked up a 4-1 win.

Brooks Ostergard - Robert Morris (Junior, Goaltender, Chagrin Falls, Ohio) - Ostergard stopped 61 of the 64 shots he saw over the weekend and put together a great performance Thursday as Robert Morris rallied from three goals down. Saturday, Ostergard surrendered just one goal with 14 seconds left in the game. Over the weekend Ostergard did not allow a goal to any Canisius player other than Cory Conacher. Ostergard also helped the Colonials go 11-for-11 on the penalty kill over the weekend.

Adam Hartley - RIT (Sophomore, Forward, West Vancouver, British Columbia) - Hartley scored two goals over the weekend, as RIT recorded three points against Air Force.  On Friday, he scored the game’s only goal 2:07 into overtime, blasting a one-timer past goaltender Jason Torf to give RIT a 1-0 win.  On Saturday, he scored with 8:44 left to break a 4-4 tie and give RIT a 5-4 lead.  The game would end in a 5-5 tie.  Hartley now has 11 goals and 11 assists in 29 games this season.

Ben Ketchum- Sacred Heart (Sophomore, Forward, Greenwich, Conn.) - Ketchum led the Pioneer attack with three goals and three assists in the team’s highest offensive outburst in a weekend series all season.  SHU totaled 10 goals in a 1-1 weekend split with Bentley.  On the road Friday night, Ketchum scored twice, including the game winner on a power play 12:34 into the second.  He added an insurance goal late in the third as he stole the puck in the Falcon’s defensive zone and skated one on two for the score.  Ketchum scored his fifth goal of the season in Saturday’s loss off a feed from sophomore Eric Delong (Oakville, Man.) that sprung him for him for a fast-break.

Atlantic Hockey Team Notes

Air Force:  Air Force took one point at RIT last weekend in a two-game set at Ritter Arena. On Friday, Air Force lost a 1-0 overtime decision to tie as the second-lowest scoring game in school history. It marked the first time since November of 2008 that Air Force went into overtime tied 0-0. AFA beat Holy Cross, 1-0 in overtime, that season. The shutout loss was the first of the season for Air Force and the first in 30 games since a 3-0 loss to RIT late last season. AFA’s 20 shots on Friday tied a season low and were the fewest since getting 20 in the season opener at Alaska-Anchorage. AFA was 0-for-4 on the power play, breaking a streak of six straight games that the Falcons had scored on the man advantage. Goaltender Jason Torf made 36 saves tying the third most of his career. On Saturday, AFA fell behind 4-4 in the first 12 minutes of the game and came back for a 5-5 overtime tie. Jacques Lamoureux and Kyle DeLaurell each had three points (1-2-3) in the game. DeLaurell had the game-tying goal on the power play midway through the third period. Junior defenseman Scott Mathis scored his seventh of the season, to tie as the seventh most in the nation by a defensemen. His 21 points are tied as the 12th most in the nation. Freshman defenseman Adam McKenzie scored his fourth of the season and his second in the last five games. His four goals are the most by any freshman defenseman in the league (AHA games only). His 13 points are tied as the most in league games. McKenzie’s four goals are tied as the fifth most in the nation by a freshman defenseman. Jacques Lamoureux scored his team-leading 14th of the season on Saturday. His 14 goals and 31 points are sixth in the league in AHA games. His nine power-play goals are tied for fourth in the nation. AFA hosts Niagara in a two-game league series, Feb. 11-12, at Cadet Ice Arena. Earlier this season, AFA beat Niagara, 7-4, on Nov. 20 in Niagara Falls. AFA and Niagara have played 42 times and the Purple Eagles holds a 27-12-3 lead in the series that began in 1996. Both teams were members of the CHA from 1999-00 to 2005-06. The last time Niagara visited the Academy was January, 2006. AFA is 6-11-1 vs. Niagara in Colorado. Niagara is 1-10-1 in the last 12 games at the Academy.

American International:  The American International College men’s ice hockey team dropped a weeekend series against Holy Cross. Friday night was a 5-2 decisions, while Saturday night the Crusaders pulled away for a 8-4 victory against the Yellow Jackets. Junior forward Michael Penny had a five point weekend with three goals and two assists, while Sophomore forward Adam Pleskach (one goal, three assists) and junior forward Nielsson Arcibal (four assists) tallied four points each for AIC. Sophomore Goaltender Ben Meisner made 37 saves on Friday night. In Saturdays game Meisner made 26 saves in 40 minutes in the loss for the Yellow Jackets, before being replaced by freshman goalie Ryan Kerpan who made nine saves in 20 minutes The Yellow Jackets drop to 6-17-1 overall and 6-14-1 in Atlantic Hockey. AIC will host Bentley University on Friday night February 11th for a 7:05 p.m. contest, while finishing the weekend series in Waltham, Mass. at Bentley on Saturday night February 12th in an Atlantic Hockey Contest.

Army:  The Black Knights are 8-16-4 overall and 7-10-4 in conference games following a weekend split with Connecticut … Following a 4-2 loss on Friday at Tate Rink, Army exploded for five third-period goals in a 5-3 victory in a game moved to the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. … Senior captain Cody Omilusik collected his second hat trick of the season and also handed out an assist … Omilusik’s natural third-period hat trick was Army’s first since Joe Carpenter scored three times in second period of a 4-4 tie with Connecticut on Jan. 5, 2002 … Omilusik has six multiple-point games this season and 23 for his career … Sophomore Cheyne Rocha handed out a career-best three assists in Saturday’s victory … Junior Danny Colvin registered four assists over the weekend … Joey Ammon scored an empty-net goal on Saturday, his first goal in a 38-game span … Junior Marcel Alvarez had three points over the weekend … Senior Jay Clark started Saturday’s game in goal and made 20 saves. It marked Clark’s first appearance since Dec. 30. Ryan Leets had started the previous 11 games in goal … Because of a Friday ejection and a rash of injuries, Army was forced to juggle its defensive pairings. Pat Ryan made his second appearance of the season and Bret Larson his first … Omilusik and Colvin continue to share the team point lead. Omilusik has a team-best 15 goals and 10 assists while Colvin leads the squad with 18 assists to go with seven goals … Junior Mike Hull has eight goals and 13 assists while Alvarez has 13 assists and four goals. Bryant Skarda (four goals, seven assists) and Andy Starczewski (five goals, five assists) are also in double-digits … Army will play a two-game series at Holy this weekend. Games on Friday and Saturday are set for 7:05 p.m. in Worcester, Mass.

Bentley:  Bentley and Sacred Heart had a back-and-forth series with each team rallying from behind for a win. The Pioneers took the first game in Watertown 6-3 after trailing 3-1 in the second period and scoring five unanswered goals over the final 30-plus minutes. The Falcons however turned the tables the next day in Bridgeport, overcoming a three-goal deficit in the third period to win 5-4 in overtime. Dustin Cloutier and Zach Ledford scored early in the period to make it a 4-3 game, and defenseman Mike Switzer scored an extra-attacker goal 1:01 to play. Joe Campanelli scored the winner just 47 seconds into overtime off a rebound. Goalie Kyle Rank was the unsung hero in the game, making 11 third period saves after coming on in relief to keep the game close. Bentley is now in a three-way tie for second place in the East pod with six regular season games to go. Their next series is a home-and-home against AIC starting Friday night in Springfield. The first meeting between the two teams on Jan.11 ended in a 1-1 tie.

Canisius:  Canisius split a pair of games against Robert Morris during the weekend, winning 5-4 at home on Thursday before falling on the road on Saturday, 4-1. The Griffs are now 9-13-6 on the season and remain .500 in conference play with a 8-8-5 record.  The Griffs won the season series with the Colonials, 2-1-0, with the home team winning in all three games. Prior to this season, the home team was winless in the all-time series, going 0-4-1.  Senior Cory Conacher was named one of 10 finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award during the week and did not disappoint with his performance on the ice. Conacher netted four goals in the two games against Robert Morris, including a hat trick in the team’s 5-4 victory on Thursday. Conacher tallied the 13th hat trick in the program’s Division I history and became the first Griff to net three hat tricks in his career. The senior also added another school record, this time in career points. Conacher now has 135 career points – totaling 58 goals and 77 assists – to become the program’s all-time leading scorer. He surpassed the mark held by former teammate Josh Heidinger, who recorded 132 points from 2006 to 2010. Conacher also added to his school-record totals in career goals (58) and career game-winning tallies (11). Conacher leads the Griffs with 30 points and 19 goals this season. He currently ranks eighth nationally in goals per game with 0.70. In his last seven games, Conacher has 13 points on 10 goals and three assists.  Conacher’s two linemates – senior Eric Rex and junior Scot Moser – also had successful weekends. Rex recorded two assists in the 5-4 win against Robert Morris, raising his season total to 20 points on seven goals and 13 assists. The senior posted a 20-point season after recording just 13 points in his first three seasons combined (five goals and eight assists). Moser matched a career high with three points on a goal and two assists in Thursday’s win, while adding an assist on Saturday.  Thurdsay’s win marked just the third for Canisius this season in one-goal contests. The Griffs, who are 3-7-0 in one-goal games this season, have earned two of their one-goal victories against the Colonials, the other coming in a 3-2 overtime victory on Nov. 20.  On Saturday, only Conacher kept the Griffs from being shutout despite the team posting a season-high 49 shots on goals. The 49 shots for Canisius are 13 more than in any other game this season and the most in a regulation game since also recording 49 last November at AIC. The Griffs are 0-3-1 this season when posting more shots on goal than their opponent, including each of their last two losses.  Canisius returns to the ice on Friday, playing at RIT before the team’s finish up the season series in Buffalo on Sunday. The Griffs have lost their last six games to the Tigers, including a 4-1 setback in Rochester earlier in the season.

Connecticut:  UConn split a home-and-home series with Army this weekend by scores of 4-2 and 5-3 with the road team winning each contest… UConn saw multi-point games from seven players, including three freshmen… Sophomore Sean Ambrosie led the way on the weekend, tallying three points with a goal and two assists in Saturday’s 5-3 defeat to Army… Freshman Billy Latta put home two goals on Friday night, marking his fifth multi-point performance of the season… He’s recorded 17 points in the past 15 games… Saturday’s game was played at the XL Center in Hartford while the normal home of the Huskies, Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum, is temporarily closed for precautionary reasons due to an accumulation of snow on the roof… Friday’s 4-2 victory at Army marked the first win away from Storrs since December 10… Senior Jason Krispel, who moved to defense for Connecticut last weekend, recorded three assists in two games, giving him 10 for the year… Krispel has reached double-digit assists in each of the past three seasons and now ranks fifth on the UConn Division I assists list with 54… Junior Marcello Ranallo played in his 100th game for Connecticut on Saturday… UConn will play this weekend at Sacred Heart on Friday before hosting the Pioneers in the historic outdoor game to be played at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn. on Sunday, February 13 at 1:00 p.m… Tickets for the monumental game can be purchased through UConnhuskies.com and are $10 for adults, $5 for youth/seniors and $5 for students… Sunday’s game is part of the Whalers Hockey Fest that will feature up to 30 high school, prep, college and professional games. 

Holy Cross:  The Crusaders return to action on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 11-12, when they play Army at the Hart Center for two Atlantic Hockey games. Saturday will also be winter homecoming and an MVP trophy will be awarded after the game. The Crusaders defeated the Black Knights by a 5-4 score in overtime earlier this season on Oct. 17 in the first meeting of the three-game regular season series.  The Crusaders are 4-0-1 in their last five games and have won four straight with a 3-3 tie versus RIT, 4-2 and 4-0 wins over UConn, and 5-2 and 8-4 victories versus AIC. Holy Cross’ four wins in a row represents the Crusaders’ longest winning streak since the 2005-2006 season when they won six straight games between March 3-March 24. Holy Cross has outscored its opponents by a 24-11 margin in the last five games as the Crusaders are averaging 4.8 goals per game and allowing 2.2 goals per contest. The Crusaders’ eight goals versus AIC on Feb. 5 were the most scored in a single game since their 10-3 win over Mercyhurst on Nov. 11, 2005. The 4-0 win against UConn was Holy Cross’ first shutout of the season. The Crusaders are also 8-24 on the power play in the last five contests for a .333 percentage. Sophomore Rob Linsmayer has led the Crusaders in this stretch with four goals and 10 assists for 14 points, while sophomore Kyle Fletcher has six goals and six assists for 12 points as he has scored three of the four game-winning goals. Sophomore Brandon Nunn has also been outstanding with four goals and six assists for 10 points, including his first collegiate game-winner in the game versus AIC on Feb. 4. Senior Adam Roy has been big in net as he has a 2.17 goals against average and a .911 save percentage in the five games as he also has a 4-0-1 record and tallied his second career shutout.  Three Crusaders had a big series versus AIC. Over the course of two nights Fletcher put up three goals and five assists for a total of eight points. Linsmayer also totaled eight points in two nights putting up two goals and six assists, while Nunn scored four goals and three assists for a total of seven points. Before this series the last time a Holy Cross player recorded five points in a game was when Jon Landry had one goal and four assists in a 7-4 victory versus Bentley on Jan. 5, 2007. In the series versus AIC, Holy Cross had three players reach five points in a game. In the 5-2 win on Feb. 4, both Linsmayer and Nunn tallied two goals and three assists, while in the 8-4 win on Feb. 5, Fletcher also had two goals and three assists.  Saturday’s game versus AIC was the Crusaders second annual “Pink the Rink” night. Proceeds from “Pink the Rink” will go to Pink Revolution, which is an alliance of dedicated individuals with a unified commitment to those touched by breast cancer at UMass Memorial and UMass Medical School here in Worcester. This year, the Crusaders raised money for breast cancer awareness by selling ‘Pink the Rink’ T-shirts, holding a chuck-a-puck competition during an intermission and running a 50/50 raffle. There was also a ceremonial puck drop before tonight’s game which honored Jackie Peterson, Holy Cross’ Vice President of Student Affairs/Dean of Students and breast cancer survivor.  The Crusaders are looking to win their fifth straight game. So far this season Holy Cross is 5-4-1 following a victory. The Crusaders’ four-game winning streak is their longest since the 2005-2006 season when they won six straight games between March 3-March 24.  So far this season the Crusaders have found success when they score the first goal of the game. Holy Cross is 10-2-2 when it scores the first goal of the contest.  The Crusaders’ 23.1 power play percentage is second in Atlantic Hockey. The Crusaders are 27-117 while on the power play and are 11-4-2 in games when they score a power play goal.  This season the Crusaders have scored 87 goals through 28 games as they have netted 3.11 goals per game. Last season through 28 games, Holy Cross had scored 61 goals and was averaging 2.18 goals per game. This season, the Crusaders have scored three or more goals in 16 of the 28 games with an 11-3-2 record.  The Crusaders will play four of their last six games of the season at home. Holy Cross is 5-5-1 at home this season and has won three straight in Worcester. The Crusaders split a two-game series with Robert Morris, lost to Bentley and Providence, went 1-1-0 versus Niagara, recorded a 0-1-1 record versus RIT, then swept UConn and defeated AIC. Last season, Holy Cross went 6-6-5 at the Hart Center. Holy Cross has a 305-194-34 (.604) all-time record at the Hart Center since it started playing there in 1975-1976.  Linsmayer and Fletcher have each provided strong offense this season. Fletcher has recorded at least one point in 19 of the last 23 games, while Linsmayer has recorded at least one point in 16 of the last 23. Over this 23-game stretch, Linsmayer has recorded 10 goals and 19 assists for 29 points, while Fletcher has nine goals and 18 assists for 27 points. For the season, Linsmayer leads the team with a career-best 30 points and a career-best 20 assists, while he is tied for first with a career-best 10 goals. Fletcher is tied for first on the team with a career-best 10 goals, while he is second with a career-best 19 assists and 29 points. He also leads the team with four game-winning goals. For his career, Linsmayer has 14 goals and 35 assists for 49 points in 65 games, while Fletcher has 10 goals and 23 assists for 33 points in 37 games.  Senior captain Everett Sheen is third on the team with nine goals, a career-best 15 assists and also 24 points. For his career he has 44 goals and 49 assists for 93 points in 139 games. He is second on the team with a career-best three game-winners and has six for his career. His 44 goals are ninth all-time on the Holy Cross Division I list, while his 93 points are ninth and his 15 career power play goals are tied for ninth. Also his 139 games played are fifth all-time in the program’s history. He is also on the Hobey Baker fan ballot for the fourth time. He leads all current Crusaders in goals, assists, points and games played.    During Holy Cross home men’s hockey games, fans can enter to win, free of charge, a pair of tickets to the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Northeast Regional on March 26th and 27th in Manchester, N.H. The winner will be announced at the game versus Bentley on Feb. 25. 

Mercyhurst: Mercyhurst (13-12-3, 11-9-1 AHA) moved its record over the .500-mark for the first time this season thanks to a two-game sweep of Niagara. The Lakers defeated the Purple Eagles 8-5 at Dwyer Arena and 4-0 at the Mercyhurst Ice Center… MC recorded five power-play goals in the series, scoring a season-high four in Friday’s win…Senior Scott Pitt led the Lakers with four goals and an assist for five points. He netted his first career hat trick naturally in the 4-0 win on Saturday. It marked the second hat trick by a Laker this season, as redshirt sophomore Phil Ginand netted the first in an 8-3 win over Alabama Huntsville Dec. 11, 2010…Senior Ryan Zapolski posted back-to-back wins with 43 saves in each game and marked his second shutout of the season. He improves to 11-9-2 on the season and 46-38-10 in his career at Mercyhurst, needing just four wins to become the first MC goalie to crack the 50-win plateau since Peter Aubry in 2002…Mercyhurst closes out its season series with Robert Morris this weekend with a home-and-home series, beginning in Pittsburgh on Friday, Feb. 11 at 7:05 p.m.  MC is 2-0-1 against the Colonials, defeating them 3-1 earlier this year at the RMU Island Sports Center.

Niagara:  Niagara is now 15-10-3 and 12-8-1 in AHA play…Currently sitting one point out of second place, with a game in hand on Robert Morris…Niagara now has 31 power-play goals, surpassing the mark of 30 from the 2008-09 season, making it the most power-play goals in a season since the 2007-08 season…Niagara’s Paul Zanette is currently tied for first in the nation in goals and second in the nation in goals per game…Zanette’s goal on Friday night now gives him 47 career goals, passing former teammate Vince Rocco (’09) for 10th on Niagara’s Career Goal Scoring List…Zanette needs three more goals to tie Randy Harris (1999-02; 2005-06) for ninth on the list…Three more goals would also make Zanette just the 10th player in team history to net 50 goals…Zanette is just three-points shy of cracking Niagara’s Single-Season Point Scoring list, currently chasing Barret Ehgoetz from the 2002-03 season…Zanette’s 23 goals places him in seventh place on Niagara’s Single-Season Goal scoring list, needing one more goal to tie for fifth place with Mikko Sivonen (’00) and Ryan Gale (’05)…With his 22 goals, Haczyk is currently in eighth place on that list…Zanette and Haczyk both have four game-winning goals, currently tied for seventh place with several others…Their next game-winning goal will jump them into third place with various players… Zanette needs eight more points to become the newest member of Niagara’s 100 point-club…Bryan Haczyk needs 13 more points for the 100-point plateau…Haczyk has now played in 137 games as a Purple Eagle, every single game the Purple Eagles have played in since the start of the 2007-08 season…Haczyk and fellow senior Ryan Annesley have played in 137 games, nine short of tying the Niagara Career Games Played leader, currently held by Chris Moran (’10) and Matt Caruana (’08)…Freshman Scott Arnold currently has 13 goals, placing him in a tie for sixth place on Niagara’s Rookie Goal Scoring List with Les Reaney (’08) & Kyle Martin (’00)…Arnold’s next goal will place him in a fifth place tie with Sivonen (’00)…Ryan Rashid (19 points) and Scott Arnold (18 points) are close to cracking Niagara’s Rookie Point Scoring List, currently chasing Adam Morris (’00) who netted 24 points…The Purple Eagles have scored 100 goals so far this season, 26 short of the fourth-most total in program history, which was hit by three different teams…Niagara next heads out west to Colorado for the program’s first away series against Air Force since the 2005-06 season, where Niagara split the series…The last time Niagara played in the state of Colorado was a two-game set against Denver during the 2006-07 season.

RIT:  RIT holds a six-point lead in Atlantic Hockey with five games to play after earning three points over the weekend at home against Air Force to extend its unbeaten streak to nine games overall (4-0-5) and 13 games in conference play (9-0-4).  They extended their home-unbeaten streak against AHA foes to 17 games (14-0-3).  On Friday, Adam Hartley scored 2:07 into overtime to give RIT a 1-0 win in the lowest scoring game in program history.  Shane Madolora made 20 saves to record his third shutout of the season.  On Saturday, RIT scored four times in the first 11:40 of the contest to race out to a 4-0 lead, but could not hang on, as the two teams skated to a 5-5 tie.  It is the first time RIT has squandered a four-goal lead in the Division I era.  The tie is the seventh of the season for RIT, setting a team record.  They have played to a tie on each of the last four Saturdays. The all-time series between the two schools is knotted at 13-13-3. Since the start of the 2005-06 season, RIT is 10-11-3 against Air Force. An astounding 15 of the last 24 meetings between the two schools have been a tie or decided by one goal. The RIT penalty killing unit, which had allowed just two power-play goals and killed of 46 of 48 attempts over the last eight games, allowed three power-play goals on Saturday.  It is the sixth time that RIT has allowed three power-play goals in a game this season.  They are 1-4-1 in those games.  Madolora extended his unbeaten streak to 18 games, as he is 12-0-6 this season and 12-0-5 in AHA play. He is third in Division I with a .933 save percentage and ninth with a 2.01 goals against average.  Madolora is the lone Division I goalie not to suffer a loss this season. Tyler Brenner is tied for sixth nationally with 20 goals, while senior Andrew Favot is tied for 10th nationally with 24 assists.  The Tigers lead the nation, averaging 19.5 penalty minutes per game. RIT has sold out nine of the 12 games at Ritter Arena this season, with the three non-sellouts coming while the students were on break.  They are averaging 2,032 fans per game this season.  It is expected that RIT will sell out its final two regular season home games, well in advance.  This weekend, the Tigers play a home-and-home series with Canisius.  RIT hosts Canisius on Friday at 7:05 p.m. and travels to play the Golden Griffins on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. of games on Friday and Saturday at 7:05 p.m. It will be the second and third meetings between the two schools this season.  The Tigers scored four times in the third period to erase a 1-0 deficit and win, 4-1.  Andrew Favot and Tyler Brenner tallied three points apiece in the win.  RIT leads the all-time series bewteen the two schools, 50-14-1.  Since the start of the 2005-06 season, RIT is 12-4-0 against Canisius. 

Robert Morris:  Robert Morris set a new program record for wins Saturday recording its 16 win of the season. Nathan Longpre extended his point streak to nine games Saturday. The senior assistant captain has a point in 16 of his last 17 games with six multi-point games during the streak. The streak is the second longest in school history. Longpre is now just one point short of tying Chris Margott for the Robert Morris school record for career points. Denny Urban recorded his fourth multi-point game in his last five games. The senior assistant has eight points in his last five games. Urban currently leads the nation in totals assists by a defenseman and ranks second nationally in points per game by a defensman. The senior assistant captain ranks as one of just two defenseman who ranks in the Top 25 nationally in points per game. The Colonial record four or more goal for the second consecutive game. It is the first time Robert Morris has found the net four or more times in back-to-back games since Dec. 10 (Dec. 4, W 5-1 vs. Bentley, Dec. 10, W 4-3 at Alabama Huntsville). The Colonials went 11-for-11 on the penalty kill in their two games with Canisius after allowing three power-play goal in their previous 12 kill opportunities. Jimmy Geerin recorded his first career point in the second period picking up the second assist on Ron Cramer’s goal. Ron Cramer netted his second shorthanded goal of the season Thursday finding the net against Canisius both the Colonial shorthanded goals this season have been scored on the road.  

Sacred Heart:  The Pioneers were victorious on the road for the first time this season with a 6-3 come-from-behind win at Bentley on Friday night.  SHU ended the weekend series with a split after falling to the Falcons, 5-4 in overtime, at the Arena at Harbor Yard on Saturday afternoon.  The Pioneers trailed 3-1 Friday night, but went on to score five unanswered goals to take the win at the JAR.  Sophomore Ben Ketchum (Greenwich, Conn.) scored twice, including the game winner, and added an assist.  It was a different story for Sacred Heart on Saturday as the Pioneers let a 4-1 lead slip away.  SHU had its highest scoring period of the season as four different skaters tallied a score for the home squad.  However, the third period belonged to the Falcons, who outshot the Pioneers 40-28 for the game, with three unanswered goals of their own to force OT.  It would take just 47 seconds for Bentley to post the winning score and hand SHU its first overtime loss of the season.  In net, senior Olivier St. Onge (Wickham, Que.) totaled 66 saves on the weekend.  For the weekend, Ketchum tallied three goals and three assists.  Junior Matt Gingera (Winnipeg, Man.) crossed into double figure scoring on the season with a pair of goals to push his team-leading total to 11.