ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT men's hockey team hosts St. Lawrence on Saturday in the annual Brick City Weekend game at Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester. The Tigers return to action following a 1-0-1 record at Army last week in their Atlantic Hockey openers, while the Saints kicked off the 2021-22 campaign with a win and a tie at Colorado College. 

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TIGER TRACKS
RIT opened Atlantic Hockey play at Army last week, coming back for a 4-3 victory on Friday before skating to a 2-2 tie on Saturday. Junior forward Andrew Rinaldi scored two goals, including the short-handed game-winner with 3:04 left in regulation, as the Tigers made up a 3-1 second-period deficit to earn the win. On Saturday, RIT built a 2-0 lead 56 seconds into the second period, but the Black Knights responded with a pair of goals in a two-minute span to tie the game with 7:50 left in the second. Following a scoreless third, neither team found the net in overtime before Army won the extra conference point with a 1-0 shootout victory. 

KOL-BE GOOD
Junior Kolby Matthews was named the Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week following his two starts at Army. He made 25 saves in Friday's 4-3 win before totaling a career-high 40 saves to preserve Saturday's 2-2 tie. Matthews stopped all 14 shots he faced in the third period of Saturday's game to force OT on his way to the highest save total by a Tiger since Logan Drackett stopped 41 shots in a 4-1 victory at Robert Morris (Feb. 8, 2020) two seasons ago. He also eclipsed the 31 saves he made in a 2-1 victory over visiting Mercyhurst last winter (Feb. 5).

START THE CAR(TER)
Freshman forward Carter Wilkie was named the Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week, Monday. He scored his first collegiate goal on a left-wing blast to put RIT on the board in Friday's win before logging his first assist in a Tiger sweater on Saturday. He also totaled 21 face-off wins, including 12 in Saturday's game – one which went directly back to freshman forward Grady Hobbs for a one-timer from the top of the face-off circle to put RIT up 2-0 in the first period.

WHERE THERE IS A WILL...
Senior forward Will Calverley notched a goal in both games at Army last week. Picking up where he left off last year after being named only the fourth All-American in Division I program history (AHCA Second-Team), the Atlantic Hockey-West Co-Player of the Year and Best Defensive Forward finished the season ranked fourth in the nation and first in Atlantic Hockey with 1.39 points per game while tying for first in the league with 25 points and second with 12 goals. Voted a preseason All-Atlantic Hockey pick, Calverley currently has 66 career points on 34 goals and 32 assists in 89 career appearances.

HIT THE BRICKS
RIT hosts St. Lawrence in its 14th-annual Brick City game, played at the Blue Cross Arena since 2007 in conjunction with Homecoming & Family Weekend.  Unbeaten in their previous five trips downtown, the Tigers will be in the hunt for their third-consecutive win after defeating Merrimack, 4-0, in 2019 and Colgate, 6-1, in 2018. Saturday's game also marks the third time RIT will host St. Lawrence for the game and first time since a 6-5 OT victory in 2011 which saw the Tigers make up a 5-3 third-period deficit before  Adam Mitchell notched the game-winner 14 seconds into overtime. 

HOME AWAY FROM HOME
RIT has many fond memories of playing at the Blue Cross Arena since joining the Division I ranks. Home to the Atlantic Hockey Tournament Semifinal and Championship games from 2007-18, The Tigers punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament with championship victories in 2010, 2015 and 2016, while finishing runner-up in 2011 and 2012. RIT owns a combined 12-9-4 record at Blue Cross Arena in the Division I era, including an 8-4 mark in Atlantic Hockey Tournament play.

SCOUTING THE SAINTS
St. Lawrence kicked off its 2021-22 campaign with a 2-1 victory at Colorado College last Friday, before tying the  Tigers, 1-1, on Saturday. Senior Emil Zetterquist was named the ECAC Goaltender of the Week after stopping 40 shots on Friday and 29 on Saturday. Junior forward Aleksi Peltonen opened the scoring 2:03 into the game before senior forward Kaden Pckering scored what proved to be the game-winner six minutes into the second. The following day, sophomore defenseman Luc Salem broke a scoreless tie 5:18 into the third period before Colorado College tallied with 8:03 left in regulation. The Saints returned to action after compiling a 6-8-3 pandemic-shortened record last season,  culminating in the program's seventh ECAC Championship (1st since 2001). However, they were unable to play in the NCAA Tournament due to COVID protocols. St Lawrence returned seven of their top eight scorers from last season, including junior forward Cameron Buhl, who led the way with 15 points and 10 assists.