ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT men's hockey team hosts Mercyhurst this Friday and Saturday nights in its first home Atlantic Hockey games of the season. The Tigers return home following two games at No. 13 Notre Dame last week, including a 3-2 OT victory last Thursday, while Mercyhurst hits the road following a 7-3 exhibition victory over the US National Team Development Program on Saturday. 

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TIGER TRACKS
RIT split a pair of games at No. 13 Notre Dame last week, earning a 3-2 overtime victory last Thursday before falling, 6-0, on Friday. Senior forwards Will Calverley and Kobe Walker staked the Tigers to a 2-0 first-period lead, before the Fighting Irish tied with a goal in the second an another with 10:46 left in the third to force overtime. Junior goaltender Kolby Matthews made a sliding pad save on a point-blank shot 19 seconds into the extra period which was eventually cleared down the left-wing boards by junior forward Andrew Rinaldi. Sophomore defenseman Aiden Hansen-Bukata caught up to the puck in the Irish's left face-off circle and centered a pass to freshman forward Carter Wilkie in the low slot for a short finish and the deciding tally. Matthews totaled 32 saves, including 13 in the second period, to improve to 3-0-1 this season. Notre Dame bounced back with a 6-0 win on Friday, spoiling freshman goaltender Tommy Scarfone's 39-save collegiate debut.

BIG DEAL
RIT's 3-2 OT win at No. 13 Notre Dame on Thursday was its first victory over a  Big 10 opponent during the Division I era. The Tigers were 0-4-1 in five previous meetings, most recently a 3-1 setback opposite No. 12 Ohio State on Oct. 12, 2019 at the Toledo Ice Breaker Tournament. RIT also tied host Penn State, 3-3, on Oct. 25, 2013, eventually winning a shootout, 2-0. 

WHERE THERE IS A WILL...
Senior forward Will Calverley is tied for third in Atlantic Hockey with four goals and tied for sixth with six points. He saw a four-game goal-scoring streak, which included the third-period game-winner in the 2-1 victory over St. Lawrence (Oct. 16), come to a close in Friday's Notre Dame setback after opening the scoring in the first period of Thursday's victory. 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 69 career points on 36 goals and 33 assists in 93 career appearances.

START THE CAR(TER)
Freshman forward Carter Wilkie landed his second Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week honor, Monday, after scoring the overtime game-winning goal in the Tigers' 3-2 upset of No. 13 Notre Dame. He also landed the award on Oct. 11 after notching his first two collegiate points in the Army series, including the opening goal of RIT's 4-3 win on Oct. 8.

PAIN IS JUST WEAKNESS LEAVING THE BODY
Senior defenseman Dan Willett leads the nation with 24 blocked shots this season, including a season-high seven shots in RIT's 3-2 victory over St. Lawrence (Oct 16). Willett garnered First-Team Atlantic Hockey-West All-Conference honors last season after leading RIT and tying for 12th in Atlantic Hockey with 30 blocked shots. He also tied for first on the team with 14 assists and was fourth with 18 points. The 2021-22 Preseason All-Atlantic Hockey honoree leads all Tiger returners with 61 career assists while ranking second with 71 career points over 134 games played the last five seasons.

DOWN FOR WHATEVER
RIT allowed its first power-play goal of the season in last Thursday's victory at Notre Dame. The Tigers killed off the first 16 power plays it faced this season before the Irish scored, 4-on-3, with under 10 minutes left in the third period. The Tigers' penalty kill still ranks 11th nationally and first in Atlantic Hockey,  fighting off 21-of-23 (.913) short-handed attempts entering the weekend versus Mercyhurst. 

POLL WATCHING
RIT received votes in the USCHO.com poll national poll for the second-straight week. The Tigers were listed on four ballots this week after receiving one vote last week. 

EXTRA SMALL
RIT is one of three NCAA Division I teams (Dartmouth, Sacred Heart) in the nation without a power-play goal. The Tigers are currently scoreless in 23 extra man chances this season after finishing the 2020-21 season ranked 11th nationally in power-play efficiency (21-90, 23.3%) and tied for 10th with 21 power play goals. 

DOT MATRIX
Senior forward Will Calverley entered the week ranked ninth nationally 77 face-off wins. He has won a season-high 16 on three occasions, including 16-of-26 performances in the 4-4 tie at Army (Oct. 9) and the 3-2 win over St. Lawrence (Oct. 16). 

WET CLEAN-UP ON AISLE THREE
RIT's home ice at the Gene Polisseni Center was unavailable until yesterday following an overnight ammonia leak caused by a faulty compressor on Oct. 15. The Tigers had been skating at the Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester in the interim while repairs were made and the GPC ice was restored. 

NICE BARN
With last Thursday's 3-2 OT victory over the 13th-ranked Irish, RIT now has two wins over nationally-ranked teams at Notre Dame's Compton Family Ice Arena. The Tigers also upset top-overall seed Minnesota State, 2-1, to open the 2015 NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional during their first appearance in the facility,  before falling to Nebraska-Omaha, 4-0, in the second round. 

KOL-BE GOOD
Junior Kolby Matthews improved to 3-0-1 this season following Thursday's 32-save effort opposite Notre Dame. Currently ranked ninth nationally with a .942 save percentage and 18th with a 1.96 GAA, he was named the Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week (Oct. 11) following his two starts at Army. Matthews started with 25 saves in the opening 4-3 win over the Black Knights before totaling a career-high 40 saves to preserve a 2-2 tie the following day with 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 his previous high of 31 saves in a 2-1 victory over visiting Mercyhurst last winter (Feb. 5).

NON-CONFERENCE, NO PROBLEM
RIT is 8-8-1 in non-conference games over the last three seasons following last week's split at Notre Dame. The 2019-20 Tigers compiled the highest non-league win total in the Division I era with a 4-4-0 record before finishing 2-2-1 in five non-conference games last season.

ABOUT THE LAKERS
Mercyhurst won a 7-3 exhibition with the US National Team Development Program last Saturday after opening Atlantic Hockey play with a 4-4 tie and a 5-2 victory over Holy Cross (Oct. 15-16) and  kicking of the season with 7-4 and 5-3 setbacks at Minnesota (Oct. 8-9). Sophomore forward Carson Briere currently leads the nation with eight points and seven goals while sitting fifth with three power-play goals. He scored all four goals in the Holy Cross draw and had a goal in all three of the Lakers' other games thus far. Sophomore forward Dante Sherrif is tied for first nationally with 1.50 assists per game and tied for fifth with six assists. He logged three helpers in the Holy Cross tie and totaled a goal and three assists during the Minnesota set. Graduate student Hank Johnson and sophomore Kyle McClellan have split Mercyhurst's four games in goal. Johnson stopped 20 shots in the Holy Cross win while McLellan had 20 in the tie with the Crusaders.