Men's Hockey | 1/15/2018 10:10:00 AM
ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men's hockey team makes a quick trip on I-90 to take on Atlantic Hockey rival Mercyhurst University at 7:05 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 16 from the Mercyhurst Ice Center.
The game was originally scheduled for the weekend of Dec. 29-30, but was postponed due to excessive snow in Erie.
RIT has 14 regular season games remaining, all against Atlantic Hockey foes. The Tigers return home after Tuesday's game to play a pair of contests this weekend vs. Atlantic Hockey leader Canisius College from the Gene Polisseni Center.
RIT enters Tuesday's game with an 8-10-2 overall record and 7-6-1 mark in conference play. The Tigers dropped a pair of home games last weekend to Air Force by scores of 2-1 and 4-0.
Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals) scored RIT's goal on Friday night.
Powell leads the team in scoring with 21 points on eight goals and 13 assists,
Erik Brown (Keene, Ontario/Kemptville 73's) has a team-best 12 goals.
Gabe Valenzuela (Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers) and Powell are tied for the team lead with 13 assists apiece. Defensemen
Adam Brubacher (Elmira, Ontario/Powell River Kings),
Dan Willett (Bayville, NY/Bloomington Thunder) and
Matt Abt (Leduc, Alberta/Whitecourt Wolverines) have combined for 31 points. In net,
Logan Drackett (Calgary, Alberta/Calgary Canucks) is 6-6-2 with a 3.38 goals against average and an .875 save percentage, while
Christian Short (Vaughan, Ontario/Surrey Eagles) is 2-4-0 with a 3.03 goals against average and an .890 save percentage.
Mercyhurst is 10-10-2 overall and 7-7-2 in Atlantic Hockey play. The Lakers swept league foe Niagara last weekend by identical scores of 3-2. Seven Lakers have at least 10 points. Taylor Best has 18 points on eight goals and 10 assists to lead the Lakers in scoring, while Derek Barach is right behind with 17. Jack Riley has a team best nine goals, while Zach Todd leads the way with 12 assists. In net, Brandon Wildung is 9-9-2 with a 3.02 goals against average and a .913 save percentage.
Tuesday's contest marks the first of four regular season meetings between the two schools in 2017-18. RIT and Mercyhurst will meet again at the Mercyhurst Ice Center on Feb. 12. The Tigers will also host the Lakers for a pair of games to close out the regular season on Feb. 23-24.
RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 39-20-6, including a 23-11-3 edge since moving to Division I in 2005. Both teams were also rivals in the ECAC West at the Division III levels in the late 1980s and 1990s. RIT won both meetings between the two schools last season at the Mercyhurst Ice Center by scores of 4-3 and 7-1.
Live video will be available for both contests. In addition, both games will be broadcast on
WITR 89.7 FM and
Fox Sports 1280 with Scott Biggar and Ed Trefzger on the call from the Mercyhurst Ice Center.
Live stats will also be available for each game.
