Men's Hockey | 10/10/2018 9:15:00 AM

ROCHESTER, NY - The RIT men's hockey team will open the 2018-19 regular season with a pair of non-conference road contests at UMass Lowell of Hockey East on Oct. 12-13. Friday's game from the Tsongas Center gets underway at 7:15 p.m., while Saturday's contest begins at 7 p.m.
 
The Tigers defeated Wilfrid Laurier University, 5-2 in an exhibition contest from the Gene Polisseni Center Saturday evening. Alden Dupuis (Edmonton, Alberta/Bonnyville Pontiacs) and Erik Brown (Keene, Ontario/Kemptville 73's) scored two goals apiece, while Gabe Valenzuela (Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers) added two assists and Will Calverley (Scarborough, Ontario/Chilliwack Chiefs) also scored. Logan Drackett (Calgary, Alberta/Calgary Canucks) made 12 saves in two periods, as RIT held a 31-16 edge in shots.
 
RIT returns four of its top five scorers from last season, including the top line of seniors Brown, Valenzuela and Abbott Girduckis (Belleville, Ontario/Wellington Dukes). Brown set a RIT Division I team record and was second nationally with 29 goals and also led the team with 42 points in 37 games. Valenzuela had 35 points on 11 goals and 24 assists, while Girduckis added 27 points on seven goals and 20 assists. In addition, junior defenseman Adam Brubacher (Elmira, Ontario/Powell River Kings) is back after recording nine goals and 15 assists.
 
Overall, 20 Tigers return from last season's squad, including 11 forwards, six defensemen and all three goaltenders. Drackett, a sophomore, led RIT with seven wins last season, while senior Christian Short (Vaughan, Ontario/Surrey Eagles) had six wins, a 3.02 goals against average and an .883 save percentage.
 
Like RIT, UMass Lowell also hosted a Canadian university in an exhibition contest over the weekend, defeating Acadia, 4-3 on Sunday afternoon. Ryan Lohin scored the game-winning power-play goal with 4:04 remaining in regulation. Lohin and Mattias Goransson had multiple-point efforts for the River Hawks. In net, Tyler Wall made 24 saves on 27 shots.
 
UMass Lowell is coming off a 2017-18 season in which they finished 17-19-0 overall and advanced to the Hockey East Quarterfinals. Lowell has earned five NCAA Tournament berths over the last seven seasons, including a Frozen Four appearance in 2013. The River Hawks have four NHL draft picks on the 2018-19 roster. Lohin led Lowell in scoring last season with 25 points on nine goals and 16 assists, while Ryan Dmowski had a team-best 11 goals. Christoffer Hernberg and Wall split time in net last season. Hernberg was 14-10-0 with a 2.08 goals against average and a .921 save percentage.
 
UMass Lowell has won five of the previous seven meetings between the two schools. RIT defeated Lowell 4-1 in the semifinals of the 1983 NCAA Division II Championship. RIT would win its first national title over Bemidji State University the following evening.
 
Both games will be aired online and feature live stats. In addition, Ed Trefzger and Matt Campbell will be on the call for WITR 89.7 FM from Tsongas Arena.