Men's Hockey | 2/19/2021 9:00:00 AM

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT men's hockey team is scheduled to host Robert Morris for back-to-back Atlantic Hockey contests this Saturday (7:00 p.m.) and Sunday (5:00 p.m.) on the second to last weekend of the regular season. The Tigers look to snap a three-game slide, including a pair of losses at Canisius last week, while the Colonials ride a three-game winning-streak into the Polisseni Center. RIT also looks to avenge a pair of road losses opposite Robert Morris, 3-1 and 4-3, (Jan. 2-3) earlier this season. 
 
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TIGER TRACKS
RIT dropped a pair of contests at Canisius last week, falling, 5-3, on Friday and, 3-0, on Saturday in its first shutout of the season. Sophomore forward Caleb Moretz (Fairbanks, Alaska) scored a pair of goals in Friday's opener, but the Golden Griffins broke open a 1-1 game with a 3-1 second period run before taking a 5-2 lead early in the third to put the game out of reach. Senior forward Alden Dupuis (Edmonton, Alberta) tacked on a late tally for his 30th career goal, while senior forward Jake Hamacher (Corona, Calif.) was credited with an assist for his 80th-career point. Sophomore Kolby Matthews (Coquitlam, British Columbia) totaled 30 saves to take his first career loss.
 
On Saturday, Canisius scored two power-play goals during a three-minutes stretch to take a 2-0 lead with 12:58 left in the second period. The Griffs tacked on a third goal with under three minutes left in regulation to close the night. RIT senior goalie Ian Andriano (Barrie, Ontario/Ottawa Jr. Senators) finished with 30 saves in his third start of the season.
 
SECOND INTERMISSION MISSION
RIT is 7-1-1 this season when either tied or leading after two periods of play, but is 0-6-1 when trailing at the second intermission. The Tigers are also unbeaten in the six games they carried a lead into the third period.
 
CALL IN THE CALVERLEY
RIT looks to get junior forward Will Calverley (Scarborough, Ontario) back in the mix after a two-game absence following an upper-body injury suffered in the first period of the Tigers' 6-2 setback at Mercyhurst (Feb. 6). The team's leading scorer is tied for second in Atlantic Hockey with 20 points and second with 10 goals. He notched his 30th career goal in RIT's 3-2 win over Canisius (Jan. 30) after compiling his second hat-trick of the season in the 6-4 win over Mercyhurst (Jan. 28). The Atlantic Hockey Player of the Month for December was credited with two assists in RIT's 4-3 loss at Robert Morris (Jan. 3) after logging an assist in the 4-4 draw at Colgate (Dec. 29). He was tabbed the Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week on Dec. 16 after notching a goal and an assist in both of the Tigers' games versus LIU. Calverley also won the first Player of the Week honor of the season (Dec. 1) after scoring his first collegiate hat-trick in the Tigers' 8-5 victory over then No. 9 Clarkson (Nov. 27) in the season-opener.
 
STAY OUT OF THE BOX
Despite a season-high 22 PIM on seven penalties during its 6-2 setback at Mercyhurst (Feb. 6), the Tigers still continue to rank among the nation's least penalized teams this season. The Tigers 9.06 PIM per game is the 11th-lowest total in the nation and second-best in Atlantic Hockey. Among teams that have played at least 12 games, RIT's 145 PIM is the fifth-lowest total in the country while its 67 penalties is the ninth-lowest total.
 
GOING GONZO
Sophomore forward Elijah Gonsalves (Scarborough, Ontario) entered the weekend second on the squad with 17 points and seven goals while his 10 assists are tied for the team lead. The 2019-20 Atlantic Hockey All-Rookie Team honoree had a five-game point-scoring streak snapped in last Saturday's shutout at Canisius, marking only the sixth time he had been held off the scoresheet this season. Last year he tied for 15th among freshman nationally as well as second in Atlantic Hockey with 24 points while leading all conference rookies over the final month of the regular season with 10 points.
 
GREEN EGGS AND HAMACHER
Senior forward Jake Hamacher (Corona, Calif.) ranks third for the Tigers with 16 points and is tied for first with 10 assists while only being held scoreless four times this season. Hamacher converted RIT's first regulation penalty shot of the season in the 6-4 victory over Mercyhurst (Jan. 28). He was also the last Tiger to attempt a penalty shot, misfiring opposite visiting Air Force last season in a 3-0 setback (Feb. 28). However, he was also the last RIT player to score on a penalty shot, finding the net in a 4-2 setback to visiting Arizona State (Feb. 2, 2019) two seasons ago.
 
BROKEN RECORDS
RIT senior goalie Logan Drackett (Calgary, Alberta) totaled 23 saves in RIT's 6-4 win over visiting Mercyhurst (Jan. 28) to earn his 42nd career victory and break a tie with Jared DeMichiel '10 for the most wins by a Tiger during the Division I era. Drackett also surpassed Mike Rotolo (Rochester, NY/Cedar Rapids Roughriders) '17 for first place in the Division I era with his 95th appearance in an RIT sweater.  Drackett had already moved to the top of the career saves earlier this season and currently leads all active goalies in the nation with 2,439 saves. He was credited with 18 saves in the Tigers' 3-1 setback at Robert Morris (Jan. 2) to surpass Rotolo atop the career saves list. The 2020 second-team Atlantic Hockey all-star is also on pace to finish in the top-five in program history with a 2.89 goals against average.
 
BRUCE ALMIGHTY
Senior forward Nick Bruce (Fall River, Nova Scotia/Johnstown Tomahawks) is fourth on the team with 13 points and is tied for first with 10 assists this winter. In the Tigers' 6-4 victory over Mercyhurst (Jan. 28), he intercepted a pass at the top of the Mercyhurst zone just inside the blue line and slipped a pass from his knees to senior forward Will Calverley (Scarborough, Ontario) on the right post for what proved to be the game-winning tally 52 seconds into the third period. He also hit senior forward Alden Dupuis (Edmonton, Alberta) with a perfect cross-ice feed earlier in the game to set-up a wide-open one-timer which re-tied the game, 3-3, in the second period.
 
SCOUTING ROBERT MORRIS
Robert Morris swept visiting LIU last Thursday and Friday (Feb. 4-5), earning a 4-1 and 4-0 decisions, respectively. Junior forward Grant Hebert leads the Colonials with 21 points and is second with 14 assists after notching a goal and an assist in both of the LIU wins. Freshman forward Randy Hernandez leads squad with eight goals and is tied for second with 20 points with senior forward Nick Prkusic (five goals, 15 assists). Freshman goalie Noah West is 8-3 with a .923 save percentage while senior goalie Dyllan Lubbesmeyer is 5-2 with a .903 save percentage. West stopped 28 shots in the LIU shutout, including 15 in the third period. Robert Morris entered the weekend with Atlantic Hockey's top scoring offense with 3.95 goals per game along with the top power-play unit, scoring on 26 percent of their extra-man opportunities.
 
START WITH A BANG
RIT opened Atlantic Hockey play with a shoot-out win opposite visiting Niagara (Dec. 5). The Tigers dug out of a 3-0 first-period deficit with three-unanswered goals to salvage the 3-3 home tie, before earning the extra AHA point with a shootout victory. Senior forward Jake Hamacher (Corona, Calif.) converted the winning goal in the shootout while senior defenseman Dan Willett (Bayville, N.Y.) and junior forwards Jake Joffe (Toronto, Ontario) and Andrew Petrucci (Toronto, Ontario) each tallied goals in the comeback. Senior goalie Logan Drackett (Calgary, Alberta) logged 23 saves, including five during the five-minute overtime period, as well as two shoot-out saves.
 
RED LIGHT DISTRICT
It didn't take long for the 2020-21 Tigers to surpass their highest team point total from all of last season. RIT compiled 21 total points (eight goals, 13 assists) in its 8-5 victory over No. 9 Clarkson (Nov. 27), eclipsing the season-high 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) it accumulated during a 7-4 win over visiting Holy Cross last November. Twelve Tigers notched at least one point, led by senior forward Alden Dupui's four (1 goal, 3 assists) and junior forward Will Calverley's hat-trick.
 
DON'T CALL ME SHORTY
Senior forward Alden Dupuis (Edmonton, Alberta) currently leads the nation with six career short-handed goals. He punctuated the Tigers' 8-5 victory over visiting Clarkson with his first empty-netter of the campaign after scoring two shorties last season as well as three as a sophomore.
 
PULLING RANK
RIT's win over then No. 9 Clarkson was its fifth opposite a nationally-ranked team in the last two seasons. The Tigers finished 2-4 in games against teams listed in the USCHO Top-20 last season, defeated then No. 13 UMass-Lowell, 3-2 (Jan. 11), after taking a 3-2 overtime victory opposite then No. 17 Bowling Green (Oct. 11) in the opening game of the Ice Breaker Tournament in Toledo.
 
NON-CONFERENCE, NO PROBLEM
The 2019-20 Tigers compiled their highest non-league win total since moving to the Division I level. RIT's 4-4-0 record last winter was the first time RIT finished the regular season with a .500 non-league mark. The Tigers also finished 2-2-1 (.500) in the five non-conference games on the 2020-21 schedule.
 
BIG SKATES TO FILL
The Tigers will be without standout defenseman Adam Brubacher (Elmira, Ontario/Powell River Kings) for the first time in four years. The two-time Atlantic Hockey all-star graduated after tying for 19th nationally and sixth among defensemen with 24 assists while tying for 10th in Atlantic Hockey with 28 points. He finished his career one of only 35 players (and only six defenseman) in the nation with at least 100 career points while his 80 assists were the 12th-highest total over the last four seasons. Voted the Atlantic Hockey Defensive Player of the week on three occasions last season, Brubacher became the 13th player in RIT's Division I era to hit the 100-point plateau, finishing 10th with 106 points. He didn't miss a game in four seasons, finishing two shy of a tie for third-place in program history with 148 appearances. He signed a contract over the summer with the New York Islanders' AHL affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
 
OH, CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Senior forward Alden Dupuis (Edmonton, Alberta) will serve as team captain for the 2020-21 season while senior defenseman Dan Willett (Bayville, N.Y.) and junior forward Will Calverley (Scarborough, Ontario) were selected assistant captains. Dupuis tied for seventh with 17 points on eight goals and nine assists during 28 games last season and also finished second on the team with 215 face-off victories, including a season-high 13-of-21 in the Tigers' 3-3 tie opposite visiting Holy Cross (Nov. 2). Willett played 35 of 36 games on the Tiger blue line last season and led all Tiger returners with 47 career assists. Calverley finished his sophomore campaign second on the squad with 13 goals as well as sixth with 23 points. He also led the Tigers with 244 face-off victories, including a season-high 16 during a 3-2 OT home victory opposite Niagara (Feb. 22).
 
TIGERS IN THE NHL
Former RIT standout defenseman Chris Tanev enters his 12th season in the NHL, spending the last 11 with the Vancouver Canucks before signing a free agent contract with the Calgary Flames this past offseason. Voted the 2010 AHA Rookie of the Year, Tanev made his NHL debut on Jan. 18, 2011, becoming the first RIT player to appear in an NHL contest. Entering the 2019-20 season, he had played in 467 NHL games with 21 goals and 81 assist for career 102 points. He won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2016 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships. Tanev tallied 28 points (10-18-28) and was plus-33 in 41 games for RIT in 2009-10. Tanev and another former Tiger, Steve Pinizzotto (2005-07), were teammates with Vancouver in 2012-13. Pinizzotto tallied 57 points (20-37-57) in 54 career games for the Tigers and appeared in 36 NHL games with two goals and four assists.
 
RIT's NCAA DIVISION II/III HISTORY
RIT made 16 NCAA Tournament appearances since 1983. RIT won the 1983 National Championship at the Division II level, and 1985 National Championship at the Division III level. RIT earned National Runner-Up honors in 1989, 1996 and 2001. The Tigers made the National Final Four in 1984, 1986, 1999, and 2010. Overall, RIT was 26-15-4 in NCAA contests at the DII/III level and is 3-2 in Division I. RIT made the NCAA Tournament in 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002,  2010, 2015, and 2016.
 
FINAL FOUR FRENZY
RIT was the first team in NCAA history to reach the Frozen Four in a team's first postseason appearance back in 2010. They were also the first team from the AHA to reach the Frozen Four. RIT was one win away from duplicating that feat in 2014-15.