ROCHESTER, N.Y. -  The RIT men's hockey team heads to New Jersey for a two-game set at first-time opponent Princeton, Friday and Saturday. The RIT Tigers solidified their grip on the early-season Atlantic Hockey standings with a home-sweep of Holy Cross, 3-2 and 4-3, last weekend, while the Princeton Tigers dropped home games to ECAC Hockey rivals St. Lawrence, 6-4 (Friday), and Clarkson, 8-3 (Saturday).
 
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TIGER TRACKS
RIT swept visiting Holy Cross last week, starting with a 3-2 win on Friday before taking a 4-3 decision on Saturday. Senior forward Will Calverley notched two goals, both assisted by junior defenseman Gianfranco Cassaro and senior defenseman Dan Willett, while freshman forward Carter Wilkie scored what proved to be the game-winner with 3:22 left in the third to seal the opener. The following night, RIT jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first 3:50 of the contest, including senior forward Nick Bruce's first two goals of the season, while senior forward Kobe Walker scored the eventual game-winner with 6:01 left in the second period to go along with two assists. Senior forward Jake Hamacher also tallied a goal during the opening surge. Junior goaltender Kolby Matthews earned both victories, stopping 24 shots on Friday and 28 on Saturday.
 
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 five of its last six games. Two of senior forward Will Calverley's team-high eight 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 landed his fifth Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week honor on Monday after scoring the eventual game-winner in Friday's 3-2 victory over Holy Cross before notching an assist to go along with two blocked shots in Saturday's 4-3 decision. Voted the Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Month for October, Wilkie entered the week tied for second among the nation's first-years with six goals and tied for 10th with 10 points. He scored the overtime game-winning goal in the Tigers' 3-2 upset of Notre Dame (Oct. 21) and notched a goal and an assist in the Tigers' 3-3 tie versus Mercyhurst (Oct. 29). He is also tied for 33rd nationally (3rd in Atlantic Hockey) with 125 face-off wins, including a season-high 20-of-24 wins in the Mercyhurst draw. 
 
WHERE THERE IS A WILL...
Senior forward Will Calverley is tied for 16th nationally and tied for first in Atlantic Hockey with eight 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 76 career points on 40 goals and 36 assists in 101 career appearances.
 
BRUCE ALMIGHTY
Senior forward Nick Bruce notched his first career multiple-goal game with two tallies in Saturday's 4-3 win over Holy Cross. In 92 career appearances in an RIT sweater, he has totaled 46 points on 12 goals and 34 assists. He is also one of four Tigers who returned for a fifth year with the program, joining senior defenseman Dan Willett, senior forward Jake Hamacher and senior goalie Ian Andriano in using the additional year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
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.
 
WAYNE'S WORLD
RIT head coach Wayne Wilson is two victories shy of becoming the 49th coach in NCAA men's hockey history to accumulate 400 victories, entering the weekend with a 398-279-75 ledger in 23 seasons - all on the Tiger bench. The only coach in NCAA history to win the Spencer Penrose (D1 National COY, 2001) and the Sid Watson (D3 National COY, 2010), he totaled a 116-31-12 mark in six Division III campaigns (1999-2005) and owns a 282-246-63 record through 17 Division-I seasons. Ranked 50th in wins, he is one win behind Enrico Blasi, who compiled 399 wins in 20 seasons at Miami (Ohio) before recently taking the reins at newly-minted D1 program St. Thomas (Minn.).    
 
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 38 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 66 career assists while ranking second with 75 career points over 142 games played the last five seasons.
 
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.
 
DOT MATRIX
Senior forward Will Calverley entered the week tied for seventh nationally and first in Atlantic Hockey with 161 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 tied for 33rd nationally and sits fifth in Atlantic Hockey with 125 victories as RIT leads Atlantic Hockey winning 50.8 percent of its face-offs.
 
POLL WATCHING
RIT received votes in the USCHO.com poll for the sixth-consecutive week. The Tigers landed six vote after receiving 12 two weeks ago and a season-high 15 on Nov. 2.
 
GREEN EGGS AND HAMACHER
Senior forward Jake Hamacher's tally in Saturday's 4-3 victory over Holy Cross was his Atlantic Hockey-leading 89th career point. He also ranks second for the Tigers (behind Calverley) with 36 career goals, while his 53 assists only rank behind Willett. He tied for the 2020-21 team lead with 14 assists while finishing third with 21 points and seven goals.
 
ABOUT PRINCETON
Winless in its last three outings, Princeton looks to right the ship following a 6-4 setback to visiting St. Lawrence last Friday and an 8-3 home loss to Clarkson on Saturday. Senior forward Finn Evans and sophomore forward Ian Murphy have each scored four goals and three assists for a team-high seven points, while senior forward Corey Andonovski has four goals and two assists. Junior defenseman Pito Walton and senior defenseman Mark Paolini have eached added a goal and five assists apiece. Senior goaltender Jeremi Forget has compiled a .838 save percentage and a 4.41 goals against average in four starts, while junior Aidan Porter checks in with a 3.01 GAA and a .886 save percentage in three starts. The Tigers started the season with a 4-1 loss at Army (Oct. 30) before winning three road games at Brown, 6-3 (Nov. 5), Yale, 6-2 (Nov. 6) and LIU, 2-1 (Nov. 12), before also skating to a 4-4 home tie with LIU (Nov. 13).