ROCHESTER, N.Y. - RIT looks to remain unbeaten in Atlantic Hockey play with a two-game set at AIC this Saturday and Sunday. The Tigers earned five points against visiting Mercyhurst last week with a 3-1 victory on Saturday after a 3-3 tie on Friday. The Yellowjackets return to conference play after a 2-2 tie and a 2-1 overtime loss in a home-and-home series with fifth-ranked Quinnipiac last weekend.

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TIGER TRACKS
RIT took five out of six points in last week's two-game homestand versus Mercyhurst. Junior goaltender Kolby Matthews totaled 29 saves while three RIT goal scorers pushed the Tigers in Saturday's 3-1 win. Freshman Forward Carter Wilkie scored with 13:10 left in the first period before sophomore forward Cody Laskosky put RIT up, 2-0, with 6:16 left in the second. The Lakers got one back in the final minute of the second, but the Tigers re-took a two goal lead on senior forward Jake Joffe's goal with 8:23 left in the third. RIT let a 3-1 third-period lead slip away in Friday's 3-3 draw, but Matthews' 22 saves helped preserve the tie. He also stopped two penalty shots as the Tigers earned the extra conference standings point with a 2-0 shootout win.

PAIN IS JUST WEAKNESS LEAVING THE BODY
Senior Dan Willett was named the Atlantic Hockey Defensive Player of the Month, Tuesday. He currently leads the nation with 28 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 62 career assists while ranking second with 71 career points over 136 games played the last five seasons.

CARTER BLANCHE
Freshman forward Carter Wilkie was named the Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Month, Tuesday. Named the Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week three of the first five weeks of the season, he totaled four goals and two assists in the Tigers first eight games. He scored the road overtime game-winning goal in the Notre Dame upset and notched a goal and an assist in the Tigers' tie versus Mercyhurst last week. He also won 76-of-141 face-offs, including a season-high 20-of-24 in the Mercyhurst draw. Wilkie entered the week tied for second among the nation's first-year players with four goals an tied for 10th with six points.

WHERE THERE IS A WILL...
Senior forward Will Calverley is tied for 14th nationally and second in Atlantic Hockey with five 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 70 career points on 37 goals and 33 assists in 95 career appearances.

KOL-BE GOOD
Junior Kolby Matthews landed his second Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week honor on Monday following his efforts versus Mercyhurst. Matthews entered the week ranked 12th nationally and second in Atlantic Hockey with a .938 save percentage, while sitting 18th in the country and second in the league with a 1.94 goals against average. He was also named the Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week (Oct. 11) following his two starts at Army, totaling 25 saves in the opening 4-3 win before compiling 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).

DOWN FOR WHATEVER
RIT's penalty kill is tied for 13th nationally (and 10th among teams that have played at least five games) at 90.0 percent. The Tigers killed the first 16  power plays it faced  before allowing Notre Dame to convert a third-period, 4-on-3 opportunity during their 3-2 OT victory (Oct. 21).  RIT has only yielded three power play goals in  33 chances, two skating 4-on-3 and one 5-on-4.

POLL WATCHING
RIT received votes in the USCHO.com poll for the third-consecutive week. The Tigers landed 15 votes after receiving four last week and one on Oct. 18.

WE'VE GOT THE POWER
Senior forward Will Calverly's second-period goal in Friday's tie with Mercyhurst was RIT's first power play goal of the season after starting the season 0-for-23.

JUST KEEP SHOOTING
RIT took a season-high 36 shots in Saturday's 3-1 victory over visiting Mercyhurst, eclipsing the 35 it took versus the Lakers the evening before. The Tigers hadn't taken more than 27 shots (vs. St Lawrence) entering the weekend.

DOT MATRIX
Senior forward Will Calverley entered the week tied ninth nationally and first in Atlantic Hockey with 91 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 second on the team with 76 victories as RIT leads Atlantic Hockey winning 50.3 percent of its face-offs.