Men's Hockey | 2/27/2020 12:13:00 PM

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - RIT hosts Air Force on Friday and Saturday at 7:00 p.m. to close the regular season. The Tigers have already clinched no lower than the fourth seed for next month's Atlantic Hockey Tournament and would climb to third with a pair of victories, while the Falcons could move up to fifth with two wins or fall as low as eighth depending upon other outcomes around the league.  

FOLLOW LIVE
This week's games can be heard on WITR 89.7 FM and Fox Sports 1280 AM with Ed Trefzger and Scott Biggar 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. RIT home games are carried locally in Rochester, N.Y. on MY18 (Ch. 18 and over the air on Ch. 46.1) with Gene Battaglia and John DiTullio bringing you the action. 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 a home-and-home series with Niagara last week, following up a 4-1 road loss on Friday with a 3-2 OT comeback at home on Saturday. Senior forward Adam Brubacher (Elmira, Ontario/Powell River Kings) was the hero on Saturday after scoring the game-tying goal with 47 seconds left in regulation and the game-winner 1:06 into overtime. He also assisted sophomore forward Jake Joffe's (Toronto, Ontario/Toronto Jr. Canadiens) tally to open the scoring midway through the first period.

The previous night, freshman forward Andrew Rinaldi (Pierrefonds, Quebec/Wellington Dukes) scored his 10th goal of the season, but the host Purple Eagles opened an early 2-0 second-period lead and later added two unanswered tallies to seal the victory.  

SENIOR MOMENT
RIT will honor the seven members of the Class of 2020 on the squad prior to Saturday's game. Senior defenseman Adam Brubacher (Elmira, Ontario/Powell River Kings), senior defenseman Brody Vallette, senior forward Ryan Kuper, senior forward Shawn Cameron (Sherbrooke, Quebec/Cumberland Grads), senior defenseman Darren Brady (Lake Orion, MI/New Jersey Titans), senior defenseman Chris McKay (Edmonton, Alberta/Sherwood Park Crusaders) and senior forward Jordan Peacock (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Cougars) will be recognized on the ice before face-off.

ADAM BOMB
Senior defenseman Adam Brubacher (Elmira, Ontario/Powell River Kings) was voted the Atlantic Hockey Defensive Player of the Week, announced Tuesday, following his three-point effort in Saturday's win over Niagara. Brubacher tied former teammate Gabe Valenzuela (Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers) '19 for 11th on RIT's Division I era career scoring list with 104 points to date while his first-period assist also broke a tie with Simon Lambert '08 for fifth place with 78 career assists. Brubacher hasn't missed a game over the last four seasons and entered the week with 146 appearances - four shy of moving into a tie for third-place in program history.

BRU PART II
Brubacher entered the week tied for second in the country with 11 assists over the last month. He became the 13th player in RIT's Division I era to hit the 100-point plateau with his assist in the Tigers' 4-1 victory at Robert Morris (Feb. 7). Brubacher entered the week as one of only 31 active players (and only six defenseman) in the entire nation with at least 100 career points. 

OUT OF THE ASHES
RIT has scored nine power play goals during 33 extra-man chances (.273) over its last eight games – one more than it had scored on 77 chances during its previous 21 outings (.104). Freshman forward Elijah Gonsalves (Scarborough, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) has three power-play goals over the Tigers' last eight outings, while senior forward Shawn Cameron (Sherbrooke, Quebec/Cumberland Grads) and sophomore forward Will Calverley (Scarborough, Ontario/Chilliwack Chiefs) have each notched two.

RATED ROOKIES
Freshman forward Elijah Gonsalves (Scarborough, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) landed his third Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week award in four weeks on Feb. 18th, interrupted only by teammate Ryan Nicholson (Mississauga, Ontario/Oakville Blades), who garnered the award on  Feb. 11. Named the conference's top rookie for the fifth time this season, Gonsalves scored two goals during the Tigers' 5-1 win over Bentley (Feb. 15) after assisting two tallies the evening before in a 4-1 victory. Nicholson logged a team-high five points during RIT's trip to Robert Morris, including his first collegiate goal during the 4-1 win (Feb. 7) as well as three assists in the following day's 3-3 tie (Feb. 8).

POINTS OF EMPHASIS
RIT entered the week tied for eighth nationally with 108 goals and tied for eighth with 299 total points this season. The Tigers also rank 11th overall and third in Atlantic Hockey in scoring offense averaging 3.18 goals per game. 

ENTER SANDMAN
RIT is tied for sixth nationally with 44 third period goals and is 13-1-3 when leading after two periods. The Tigers are also tied for 12th with 26 goals when leading or tied in the third period and are also tied for second with 21 goals in final five minutes of regulation. 

GREEN EGGS AND HAMACHER
Junior forward Jake Hamacher (Corona, CA/Dubuque Fighting Saints) was named the Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week on Feb. 18. Hamacher climbed into a tie for second on the team in scoring after four goals and four assists over the last five games. Notching two goals in RIT's 3-3 tie at Robert Morris (Feb. 8), he then totaled two goals and an assist in the 4-1 win over Bentley (Feb. 14) before logging two assists the following night (Feb. 15) in the 5-1 win over the Falcons.

SHAWN OF THE RED (LIGHT)
Senior forward Shawn Cameron (Sherbrooke, Quebec/Cumberland Grads) ranks third in Atlantic Hockey with 17 goals and tied for sixth with 27 points (both career-highs), including a season-best two goals and three points in the Tigers' 4-1 victory at Robert Morris (Feb. 9). He also leads the way with six power play goals, including one in both of legs of the Bentley sweep as well as two in the season-opening 3-1 victory at Colgate (Oct. 5). 

ROOKIE COOKIES
RIT is currently eighth nationally with 30 goals scored by first-year players and ranks 10th with 57 goals scored by underclassmen. Sophomore forward Will Calverley (Scarborough, Ontario/Chilliwack Chiefs) is second on the team with 12 goals and is sixth with 21 points. Freshman forwards Elijah Gonsalves (Scarborough, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) and Caleb Moretz (Fairbanks, AK/Flin Flon Bombers) are tied for fourth on the team and second among all Atlantic Hockey rookies with 23 points apiece while classmate Andrew Rinaldi (Pierrefonds, Quebec/Wellington Dukes) is tied for first among Atlantic hockey freshmen with 10 goals.  

MORE ON THE NEW GUYS
Over the last four weeks, freshmen forwards Elijah Gonsalves (Scarborough, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) and Caleb Moretz (Fairbanks, AK/Flin Flon Bombers) are among the highest scoring freshmen in the nation. Gonsalves is fourth with nine points and tied for fourth with four goals, while Moretz is tied for fifth with eight points, including seven assists that are tied for the third-best total by any freshman since Jan. 31. 

SPREAD THE LOVE
When freshman defenseman Ryan Nicholson (Mississauga, Ontario/Oakville Blades) scored in the third period of the Tigers 4-1 victory at Robert Morris (Feb. 7), he became the 20th Tiger to score a goal this season. Six players have also hit the 20-point plateau to lead 13 Tigers that have scored double-digit points. Twenty-four of the 27 active members of the roster have scored at least one point, including three assists by junior goalie Logan Drackett (Calgary, Alberta/Calgary Canucks).

PUT THE WHISTLE AWAY
RIT has finished with fewer penalties than its opponents in four consecutive games. The Tigers had only finished with less infractions than their opponents on six occasions (3-2-1 record in those games) over its previous 30 games. RIT moved outside the top-10 nationally in PIM for the first time since the season started, sitting 11th overall with 13.2 PIM per game. RIT was called for a season-low one penalty and two PIM during its 4-3 setback at Holy Cross (Feb. 7).

CALL IN THE CALVERLEY
Sophomore forward Will Calverley (Scarborough, Ontario/Chilliwack Chiefs) is currently second on the squad with 12 goals and sixth with 21 points. He notched two goals and an assist in the 7-3 win over Mercyhurst (Dec. 6) and scored what proved to be the deciding tally in the second period of the next day's 3-2 decision against the Lakers (Dec. 7). He also scored two goals during a 5-0 run that pushed the Tigers to a 7-4 win over visiting Holy Cross (Nov. 1).

SCOUTING THE FALCONS
Air Force ended a nine-game winless skid with a 2-1 victory over visiting Mercyhurst last Saturday. Tied with under four minutes left in regulation, junior forward Marshall Bowery scored the deciding tally off an assist from senior forward Brady Tomlak with 3:07 on the clock. The Falcons skated to a 1-1 tie the previous night versus the Lakers but earned the extra Atlantic Hockey point after senior forward Trevor Stone scored a power-play goal during the 3-on-3 double overtime. Tomlak leads the squad with 21 points and is second with 14 assists behind junior defenseman Zach Mirageas's 17 helpers. Bowery and junior forward Max Harper lead the way with nine goals apiece. Bowery also netted both goals in a 6-2 setback at Colorado College (Feb. 14) and had a pair of goals during a 4-1 win over visiting AIC (Jan. 3). Harper netted two in a 5-2 setback versus visiting Sacred Heart (Feb. 1).