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SETTING THE SCENE: The American International College men's ice hockey team welcomes the Rochester Institute of Technology Tiger to town, for a two game series this weekend at the Olympia Ice Center.

ABOUT AIC: The Yellow Jacket come into this weekend's match-up with an overall record of 3-16-2 and are 3-12-2 in Atlantic Hockey play after going 1-0-1 in a home-and-home with Holy Cross. AIC skated to a 1-1 tie in overtime in the series opener and then ended an 11-game winless streak with a 1-0 shutout on Saturday night at home. With the shutout the Yellow Jackets set an all-time school record for most shutouts in a single season with three. It is also the first time since the 2000-01 season that the Yellow Jackets won a season series with the Crusaders. In Friday's tie, junior #Steve McLeod# gave AIC a 1-0 lead one-minute into the second period when he found the back of the net with an assist from freshman #Richard Leitner#. Senior Brodie Sheahan tied the score at 1-1 for Holy Cross, with just over six-minutes remaining in the period, when the puck deflected off of a defenseman's skate and into the back of the net. The game was pushed to overtime after a scoreless third period, where the Yellow Jackets were outshot 8-2. Junior #Dan Ramirez# played very well between the pipes making 38 stops on the night for AIC, while freshman Thomas Tysowsky had 32 saves for the Crusaders. The Yellow Jackets were outshot 39-33 by Holy Cross on the night, but held a 9-7 advantage in the first period and a 15-13 in the second. In Saturday's 1-0 win, junior #Tom Mele# netted the only goal of the game at 2:17 of the first period with assists from senior #Josh Froese# and his brother, freshman #Steve Mele#. Holy Cross almost tied the score at 1-1 early in the third period when junior J.P Martignetti poked home a rebound but the play had already been blown dead after freshman goaltender #Ben Meisner# covered up the initial shot. Meisner made 39 saves in the shutout and now holds the schools individual all-time record for shutouts in a season. Tysowsky stopped 21 shots in the loss. AIC was outshot 39-22 but held a 7-5 advantage in the opening period of play. Freshman #Adam Pleskach# leads the team in scoring with eight goals and four assists for 12 points, while #Tom Mele# and McLeod are tied for second with 10 points, including six goals and four assists and four goals and six assists, respectively. Senior #Mike McMillan# (4g, 5a), Froese (3g, 6a), and junior #Mike Little# (1g, 8a) round out the top group with nine points each.

WEEKLY HONORS: Meisner was named the AHA Rookie of the week after recording 39 saves, 34 of which in the second an third periods, and setting a school record in the Yellow Jackets 1-0 win on Saturday. Ramirez joins him with AHA honors by being named to the Weekly Honor Roll. He made 38 stops, 31 in the final two periods and overtime, to preserve the 1-1 tie.

ABOUT ROCHESTER: The Tigers enter this weekends double-header 12-8-1 thus far this season and are 12-2-1 in the conference after going 1-1-0 with Connecticut. RIT claimed a 4-0 shutout in the first game and then lost 2-1 in the finale. In the 4-0 win, the Tigers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, when sophomore Mark Conacchia netted a shorthanded goal just 1:53 into the first period. Senior Alan Mazur was credited with the lone assist. RIT increased their lead to 2-0 midway through the second period as senior Stevan Matic buried a power-play goal with assists from Mazur and senior netminder Jared DeMichiel. The Tigers added two goals in the third period for the 4-0 victory. Sophomore Tyler Mazzei and senior Brent Alexin both found the back of the net in the period. DeMichiel stopped 25 shots in the shutout, while freshman Jeff Larson made 27 saves in the loss. In the 2-1 loss, UConn was first on the scoreboard, as freshman defenseman Tom Janosz tallied a goal four-minutes into the game with assists from sophomores Daniel Naurato and Chris Waterstradt. The Huskies extended their lead to 2-0 when Josh Bernard found the back of the net midway through the second period with an assist from Naurato. RIT attempted to pull of the come back, when they pulled within a goal, as Mazur netted a power-play goal with an assist from Mazzei. But their efforts cam up short, as UConn skated to a 2-1 win. Freshman Shane Madolora made 27 saves in the loss, while Larson played well stopping 30 shots in the win. Junior Andrew Favot leads the team with 19 points including five goals and 14 assists, while senior Dan Ringwald is second with six goals and 12 assists for 18 points. Sophomore Cameron Burt and Mazur are tied for third with 16 points each, both have seven goals and nine assist.

LAST TIME THEY MET: RIT swept the Yellow Jackets in a weekend series in Rochester, N.Y. January 16 and 17, 2009. The Tigers claimed a 5-3 win in the first game and a 6-1 victory in the second. McMillan dished out three assists, while McLeod tallied a goal and an assist in the first game for AIC. Ramirez made 54 combined saves in the two losses.

2008-09 RECAP: AIC went 5-28-2 during the regular season and 5-22-1 in conference play with a team that consisted of eight first year players. The Yellow Jackets played well in the Atlantic Hockey Championship Tournament but came up short, losing in overtime to Holy Cross 1-0 in the first round. Sophomores #Michael Penny# and #Nielsson Arcibal# showed promise in their first season with AIC as both finished in the top five in points on the team. The Yellow Jackets placed 18 member on the AHA All-Academic Team, with senior #Dean Yakura# and junior #Steve McLeod# sharing the Top Scholar Athlete award.

MONTHLY HONORS: Pleskach was named the AHA Rookie of the Month for October. He scored a least one goal in three of his first four starts, with a career-high two goals in a 3-2 loss to Rensselaer. In a
weekend series against Union and Rensselaer, Pleskach had a hand in all four goals the Yellow Jackets score as he notched three goals and an
assist.

NEXT UP: AIC takes on Sacred Heart in a single game on Tuesday night in Milford, Conn. Puck drops at 7:05 p.m.