Men's Hockey | 12/21/2020 12:00:00 PM

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The Rochester Institute of Technology will head to Niagara on Tuesday (Dec. 22) for a 3:05 p.m. Atlantic Hockey matchup with the Purple Eagles.

The game was scheduled following the postponement of Canisius' games scheduled versus RIT on Saturday and Niagara on Tuesday due to COVID-19 protocol. 

RIT earned a non-league split with visiting Long Island University two weekends ago, bouncing back from a 4-3 setback on Saturday for a 5-1 win on Sunday. Niagara looks to get back on track following a 7-4 home loss (Dec. 18) and a 3-3 tie/2-1 shootout loss (Dec. 16) on the road opposite Mercyhurst. 

FOLLOW LIVE
Tuesday's game can be heard on WITR 89.7 FM and Fox Sports 1280 AM with Ed Trefzger, Scott Biggar and Matt Campbell on the call. Fans can also listen online at witr.rit.edu or foxsports1280.iheart.com. All home games and Atlantic Hockey road contests this season will be streamed by FloSports on a subscription basis at Flohockey.tv. Live statistics for all games can be found at RITathletics.com while in-game updates can be found on Twitter by following 
@RITMHKY and/or @RITathletics.

TIGER TRACKS
RIT split two games with visiting LIU in its most recent outings. On Friday, Dec. 11, the Tigers held a 2-0 lead early in the second period following goals by junior forward Will Calverley (Scarborough, Ontario) and freshman forward Cody Laskosky (New Norway, Alberta), but couldn't overcome a 4-0 Sharks run to suffer the 4-3 setback. Senior forward Nick Bruce (Fall River, Nova Scotia/Johnstown Tomahawks) added a goal with 12:03 left in regulation, but RIT fell despite out-shooting LIU, 36-26. On Saturday Dec. 12, the Tigers finished the game with five-unanswered goals while senior goalie Ian Andriano (Barrie, Ontario/Ottawa Jr. Senators) stopped 23 shots to earn his first victory of the season. Calverley and junior forward Kobe Walker (Lloydminster, Alberta) ended the night with a goal and an assist apiece to pace the attack. 

CALL IN THE CALVERLEY
Junior forward Will Calverley (Scarborough, Ontario) entered the week tied for first nationally with six goals and third with 10 points. He was tabbed the Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks after notching a goal and an assist in both of last weekend's games versus LIU. Calverley also won the first Player of the Week honor of the season (Dec. 1) after scoring his first collegiate hat-trick in the Tigers' 8-5 victory over then No. 9 Clarkson (Nov. 27) in the season-opener. Calverley found the net with 6:30 left in the first period to push RIT to an early 2-0 lead and later broke a 4-4 tie with a power-play tally with 8:27 left in the third period. The Golden Knights re-tied the game 28 seconds later, but Calverley notched what proved to be the game-winner with 6:15 remaining in regulation.

START WITH A BANG
RIT opened Atlantic Hockey play with a shoot-out win opposite visting Niagara (Dec. 5). The Tigers dug out of a 3-0 first-period deficit with three-unanswered goals to salvage the 3-3 home tie, before earning the extra AHA point with a shootout victory. Senior forward Jake Hamacher (Corona, Calif.) converted the winning goal in the shootout while senior defenseman Dan Willett (Bayville, N.Y.) and junior forwards Jake Joffe (Toronto, Ontario) and Andrew Petrucci (Toronto, Ontario) each tallied goals in the comeback. Senior goalie Logan Drackett (Calgary, Alberta) logged 23 saves, including five during the five-minute overtime period, as well as two shoot-out saves.

RED LIGHT DISTRICT
It didn't take long for the 2020-21 Tigers to surpass their highest team point total from all of last season. RIT compiled 21 total points (eight goals, 13 assists) in its 8-5 victory over No. 9 Clarkson (Nov. 27), eclipsing the season-high 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) it accumulated during a 7-4 win over visiting Holy Cross last November. Twelve Tigers notched at least one point, led by senior forward Alden Dupui's four (1 goal, 3 assists) and junior forward Will Calverley's (Scarborough, Ontario) hat-trick.

DON'T CALL ME SHORTY
Senior forward Alden Dupuis (Edmonton, Alberta) currently leads the nation with six career short-handed goals. He punctuated the Tigers' 8-5 victory over visiting Clarkson with his first empty-netter of the campaign after scoring two shorties last season as well as three as a sophomore. 

PULLING RANK
RIT's win over then No. 9 Clarkson was its fifth opposite a nationally-ranked team in the last two seasons. The Tigers finished 2-4 in games against teams listed in the USCHO Top-20 last season, defeated then No. 13 UMass-Lowell, 3-2 (Jan. 11), after taking a 3-2 overtime victory opposite then No. 17 Bowling Green (Oct. 11) in the opening game of the Ice Breaker Tournament in Toledo. 

HELP! SAVE ME!
No other goalie in the nation has more career saves than RIT senior Logan Drackett (Calgary, Alberta). The top returner in Division I with 2,182 stops to start the season, he was tabbed a second-team Atlantic Hockey all-star last winter after compiling a 17-11-4 record while finishing fourth in the conference with 856 saves and ninth with a .907 save percentage. Tabbed the Atlantic Hockey Goalie of the Month for October and the Goalie of the Week four times last season, he made a career-high 43 saves in the Tigers' 2-1 win at Air Force (Oct. 24) and later was credited with 41 saves in RIT's 4-1 win at Robert Morris (Feb. 7). He compiled a 1.82 goals against average with a .939 save percentage during his 17 victories last winter.

NON-CONFERENCE, NO PROBLEM
The 2019-20 Tigers compiled their highest non-league win total since moving to the Division I level. RIT's 4-4-0 record last winter was the first time RIT finished the regular season with a .500 non-league mark.

BIG SKATES TO FILL
The Tigers will be without standout defenseman Adam Brubacher (Elmira, Ontario/Powell River Kings)  for the first time in four years. The two-time Atlantic Hockey all-star graduated after tying for 19th nationally and sixth among defensemen with 24 assists while tying for 10th in Atlantic Hockey with 28 points. He finished his career one of only 35 players (and only six defenseman) in the nation with at least 100 career points while his 80 assists were the 12th-highest total over the last four seasons. Voted the Atlantic Hockey Defensive Player of the week on three occasions last season, Brubacher became the 13th player in RIT's Division I era to hit the 100-point plateau, finishing 10th with 106 points. He didn't miss a game in four seasons, finishing two shy of a tie for third-place in program history with 148 appearances. He signed a contract over the summer with the New York Islanders' AHL affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers. 

GOING GONZO
Sophomore forward Elijah Gonsalves (Scarborough, Ontario) returns after being voted to the 2019-20 Atlantic Hockey All-Rookie Team. Gonsalves tied for 15th among freshman nationally as well as second in Atlantic Hockey with 24 points while leading all conference rookies over the final month of the regular season with 10 points. The five-time Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week notched a pair of goals during a 5-4 OT victory over Canisius (Jan. 25) to lead the Tigers back from a late 4-1 deficit. He also scored twice in a 5-1 win over visiting Bentley (Feb. 15) to go along with back-to-back one goal/one assist outings at Holy Cross (Jan. 31-Feb. 1).

POINTS OF EMPHASIS
RIT finished the 2019-20 season 15th nationally with 113 goals and tied for 11th with 313 total points. The Tigers also ranked 15th overall and third in Atlantic Hockey in scoring offense averaging 3.14 goals per game. 

ENTER SANDMAN
RIT finished the 2019-20 season sixth nationally with 47 third period goals and was 13-1-3 when leading after two periods. The Tigers tied for 11th with 29 goals when leading or tied in the third period and also tied for second with 23 goals in final five minutes of regulation.

OH, CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Senior forward Alden Dupuis (Edmonton, Alberta) will serve as team captain for the 2020-21 season while senior defenseman Dan Willett (Bayville, N.Y.) and junior forward Will Calverley (Scarborough, Ontario) were selected assistant captains. Dupuis tied for seventh with 17 points on eight goals and nine assists during 28 games last season and also finished second on the team with 215 face-off victories, including a season-high 13-of-21 in the Tigers' 3-3 tie opposite visiting Holy Cross (Nov. 2). Willett played 35 of 36 games on the Tiger blue line last season and led all Tiger returners with 47 career assists. Calverley finished his sophomore campaign second on the squad with 13 goals as well as sixth with 23 points. He also led the Tigers with 244 face-off victories, including a season-high 16 during a 3-2 OT home victory opposite Niagara (Feb. 22). 

TIGERS IN THE NHL
Former RIT standout defenseman Chris Tanev enters his 12th season in the NHL, spending the last 11 with the Vancouver Canucks before signing a free agent contract with the Calgary Flames this past offseason. Voted the 2010 AHA Rookie of the Year, Tanev made his NHL debut on Jan. 18, 2011, becoming the first RIT player to appear in an NHL contest. Entering the 2019-20 season, he had played in 467 NHL games with 21 goals and 81 assist for career 102 points. He won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2016 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships. Tanev tallied 28 points (10-18-28) and was plus-33 in 41 games for RIT in 2009-10. Tanev and another former Tiger, Steve Pinizzotto (2005-07), were teammates with Vancouver in 2012-13. Pinizzotto tallied 57 points (20-37-57) in 54 career games for the Tigers and appeared in 36 NHL games with two goals and four assists. 

RIT's NCAA DIVISION II/III HISTORY
RIT made 16 NCAA Tournament appearances since 1983. RIT won the 1983 National Championship at the Division II level, and 1985 National Championship at the Division III level. RIT earned National Runner-Up honors in 1989, 1996 and 2001. The Tigers made the National Final Four in 1984, 1986, 1999, and 2010. Overall, RIT was 26-15-4 in NCAA contests at the DII/III level and is 3-2 in Division I. RIT made the NCAA Tournament in 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002,  2010, 2015, and 2016.

FINAL FOUR FRENZY
RIT was the first team in NCAA history to reach the Frozen Four in a team's first postseason appearance back in 2010. They were also the first team from the AHA to reach the Frozen Four. RIT was one win away from duplicating that feat in 2014-15.