ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT men's hockey team hosts Holy Cross this Friday and Saturday in its only home games of the month. The Tigers look to get things going following a 1-3 start to the month, including a pair of setbacks at Canisius last weekend, while the Crusaders salvaged a 5-4 OT win over visiting Mercyhurst on Saturday to halt a four-game slide
 
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TIGER TRACKS
RIT dropped back-to-back games at Canisius last week, falling in a 5-2 decision on Friday before coming up short, 4-1, on Saturday. Senior forward Jake Hamacher and junior forward Elijah Gonsalves each notched a goal and an assist to put the Tigers up, 2-1, after the first period of Friday's contest, but the Griffs finished with four-unanswered tallies on a night that saw the the teams combine for six power-play goals. Canisius scored short-handed eight minutes into the second period of Saturday's game and broke it open with three goals in the third before Gonsalves ruined the shutout bid with a power-play goal with 22.5 seconds left in the game. Tiger junior goaltender Kolby Matthews took both losses, totaling 20 and 29 saves, respectively.
 
WE'VE GOT THE POWER
After only scoring one power play goal in its first eight outings of the 2021-22 season, RIT has scored at least one in its last four games, including two in Friday's nights 5-2 setback at Canisius. Two of senior forward Will Calverley's team-high six goals this season are of the power play variety, while both of junior forward Elijah Gonsalves' tallies this year are extra-man goals.
 
CARTER BLANCHE
Freshman forward Carter Wilkie was voted the Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Moth for October, while also being named the Rookie of the Week four times during the first six weeks of the season. Wilkie entered the week tied for third among the nation's first-years with five goals and tied for 14th with eight points. He scored the road overtime game-winning goal in the Notre Dame upset and notched a goal and an assist in the Tigers' 3-3 tie versus Mercyhurst (Oct. 29). He is also tied for 29th nationally (4th in Atlantic Hockey) with 95 face-off wins, including a season-high 20-of-24 in the Mercyhurst draw. 
 
PAIN IS JUST WEAKNESS LEAVING THE BODY
Senior Dan Willett was named the Atlantic Hockey Defensive Player of the Month for October. He currently ranks second in the nation with 33 blocked shots, including a season-high seven in the Tigers' 2-1 victory over St. Lawrence (Oct. 16) followed by three-consecutive four-block performances, including the Tigers' 3-2 OT road upset of No. 13 Notre Dame (Oct. 21). Willett garnered first-team 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 64 career assists while ranking second with 73 career points over 140 games played the last five seasons.
 
WHERE THERE IS A WILL...
Senior forward Will Calverley is tied for 21st nationally and tied for second in Atlantic Hockey with six goals. 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 73 career points on 38 goals and 35 assists in 99 career appearances.
 
SAVE MATTHEWS BAND
Junior Kolby Matthews has been named Atlantic Hockey Goalie of the Week twice this season. He earned his first career honor after compiling a career-high 40 saves to preserve a 2-2 tie at Army (Oct. 9), marking 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 garnered the award following the Mercyhurst series (Nov. 1) after stopping 22 shots and a pair of shootout attempts in the 3-3 tie/shootout win followed by 29 saves in the 3-1 win the next day.
 
DOT MATRIX
Senior forward Will Calverley entered the week ranked 10th nationally and first in Atlantic Hockey with 140 face-off wins. He 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). Freshman forward Carter Wilkie is third in Atlantic Hockey with 112 victories as RIT leads Atlantic Hockey winning 50.4 percent of its face-offs.
 
POLL WATCHING
RIT received votes in the USCHO.com poll for the fifth-consecutive week. The Tigers landed a vote after receiving 12 last week and a season-high 15 the previous week.
 
ABOUT THE CRUSADERS
Holy Cross split a two-game series with Mercyhurst last week, falling in Friday's matchup, 3-2, before rebounding Saturday for a 5-4 win on junior forward Grayson Constable's game-winner 24 seconds into overtime. Senior Ryan Leibold leads the Crusaders with 11 points off four goals and seven assists, including a goal in each game versus Mercyhurst along with two assists in Saturday's win. Junior goaltender Matt Radomsky totaled 24 saves to picked up his first win of the season while junior defenseman Nick Hale was named the Atlantic Hockey Defensive Player of the Week after logging a three-point weekend. Holy Cross sits second in Atlantic Hockey with 172 blocked shots on the season, including sophomore defenseman Jake Higgins' team-high 18. Holy Cross dropped two games at No. 17 Notre Dame, 5-2 and 4-1 (Nov. 4-5) after coming up short at No. 5 Quinnipiac, 5-2 (Oct. 26). The Crusaders also split a home-and-home series with Bentley, earning a 3-2 road win (Oct. 23) after falling, 4-2, at home (Oct. 21). Holy Cross also started league play with a 4-4 tie and a 5-2 loss at Mercyhurst (Oct. 15-16).