Men's Hockey | 2/24/2015 1:26:00 PM

Click here for RIT Game Notes --- Click here for Mercyhurst Game Notes

ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men's hockey team wraps up the 2014-15 regular season with a pair of home games against Atlantic Hockey Conference foe Mercyhurst on Friday and Saturday. Both games from the Gene Polisseni Center start at 7:05 p.m.
 
Tickets for both contests are available at the Gene Polisseni Center and Gordon Field House Box Offices, by calling (585) 475-4121, or by visiting www.rithockey.com.
 
The Tigers and Lakers are battling for fourth in the league standings and could play each other in two weeks in the AHC Quarterfinals. The top five teams in the AHC standings receive a first round bye and advance directly to the quarterfinals. RIT enters the weekend fifth in AHC play with 29 points; just two behind fourth place Mercyhurst. The fourth and fifth place teams play each other in the quarterfinals. RIT can finish as high as third and as low as seventh.
 
On Saturday, RIT will honor seniors Matt Garbowsky (St. George, Ontario/Powell River Kings), Brad McGowan (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles), Brad Reid (Delta, British Columbia/Coquitlam Express), Jordan Ruby (Tavistock, Ontario/Wellington Dukes), and Brandon Thompson (Vancouver, British Columbia/Handsworth), along with student manager Joe Vicario. This group has led RIT to 60 wins in four seasons and a trip to the Atlantic Hockey Championship game in 2011-12.
 
RIT (13-14-5, 12-9-5 AHC) recorded a split last weekend at home vs. No. 19 Robert Morris, falling 4-3 on Friday and winning by the same score on Saturday. On Friday, Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) set a Division I team record for fastest goal from the start of the game, scoring 12 seconds in. Max Mikowski (Cheekotwaga, NY/Buffalo Jr. Sabres) and Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) also scored. Norrish's goal was the first of his collegiate career. On Saturday, Brad McGowan (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles) scored a natural hat-trick and added an assist, as RIT rallied from a 3-1 deficit. Mitchell also scored for RIT.
 
McGowan, the reigning Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week, is three points shy of becoming the eighth player since RIT moved to DI to reach 100 for his career. He has career-high totals of 14 goals, 19 assists, and 33 points this season. His hat-trick was the No. 1 selection for the NCAA Hockey Plays of the Week.
 
Garbowsky is tied for second in Division I and fifth in the nation with 42 points. Mitchell is tied for sixth nationally with 26 assists and tied for 11th with 38 points. RIT's top line has accounted for 50.5 percent of the team's goals (47-of-93) this season. They are the second-highest scoring trio with 113 points (Boston University has highest with 130).
 
In goal, Jordan Ruby (Tavistock, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) and Mike Rotolo (Rochester, NY/Cedar Rapids Roughriders) have split time over the last seven weeks. Ruby is 6-7-4 with a 2.26 goals against average and .917 save percentage, while Rotolo is 7-6-1 with a 2.81 goals against average and .899 save percentage. RIT is out-scoring its opponents, 93-84 this season.
 
The win over No. 19 Robert Morris was the first for the Tigers over a nationally-ranked opponent this year and marked the ninth time in ten Division I seasons that RIT has defeated a team in the USCHO.com Top-20 poll. RIT is 12-19-2 all-time against nationally-ranked foes.

The Tigers are 8-4-2 over their last 14 games and are fifth nationally in both penalty-killing at 88.5 percent and shots on goal per game, averaging 34.0.
 
Mercyhurst enters the final weekend of the regular season two points ahead of RIT in the Atlantic Hockey standings. The Lakers are 16-12-4 overall and 14-9-3 in league play, good for 31 points.  Last weekend, the Lakers dropped both ends of a home-and-home against Canisius, falling by scores of 4-2 and 3-1. Daniel Bahntge leads the team in scoring with 31 points on 13 goals and 18 assists. Linemates Kyle Just and Matthew Zay are right behind with 30 and 29 points, respectively. The Lakers are out-scoring their opponents, 103-97. In goal, Brandon Wildung has emerged as the starter after a season-ending injury to incumbent starter Jimmy Sarjeant. Wildung is 8-6-3 with a 2.37 goals against average and .921 save percentage.

It is the first time these two long time rivals will meet this season. RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 30-18-6, including a 14-9-3 mark since moving to Division I in 2005. Both teams were also part of the ECAC West Conference in Division III from 1988-99. Mercyhurst won all three meetings between the two schools, outscoring RIT 15-7 in those contests.

Both games will be aired live on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel 26. As always, Gene Battaglia and John DiTullio are on the call from the Gene Polisseni Center. The contests will be broadcast over the airwaves on WITR 89.7 FM and witr.rit.edu, and on America One. Live stats are also available for both contests.
 
Come out and support your Tigers in their first season at the Gene Polisseni Center.