ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT men's hockey team hits the road for an Atlantic Hockey doubleheader this Friday (7:00 p.m.) and Saturday (4:00 p.m.) at Bentley. Currently seventh in the latest league standings, the Tigers look to make an upward move following a home-and-home split with Niagara last Friday and Saturday. The Falcons have split their previous two series with Sacred Heart and Canisius the last two weekends to move into second place in the conference.
 
RIT is 4-5-1 in its previous 10 meetings with Bentley, including a 2-1-1 mark during the 2019-20 season in the teams' most recent meetings. The Tigers picked up 5-1 and 4-1 victories (Feb. 14-15) at the GPC after tying, 2-2 and falling 5-2 (Jan. 18-19) in Massachusetts.
 
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TIGER TRACKS
RIT bounced back from a 5-3 home setback to Niagara last Friday with a 6-5 OT road victory over the Purple Eagles, Saturday. The Tigers led, 5-3, after two periods before Niagara scored twice in the opening minutes of the third to knot the game with 15:47 on the clock. Scoreless the rest of regulation, sophomore defenseman Aiden Hansen-Bukata scored his first goal in a Tiger uniform 48 seconds into overtime to seal the win. He also logged an assist for his second career multi-point game after also assisting two goals in Friday night's loss. Sophomore forward Cody Laskosky was credited with a career-high four assists while senior forward Will Calverley added three. Senior forward Nick Bruce logged his second two-goal game of the year and first since the team's 4-3 win over visiting Holy Cross (Nov. 20). Junior goaltender Kolby Matthews made 26 saves and ranks second in the conference with a 10-5-2 mark this winter.
 
Friday night saw the homestanding Tigers trail, 5-1, entering the final minute of regulation before senior forward Jake Joffe scored with 56 seconds on the clock and again 30 seconds later for his first career multi-goal game. Freshman goaltender Tommy Scarfone totaled 34 saves, including 19 in the first period, for his second career 30-plus save outing and first since a 39-save effort in RIT's 6-0 setback at then No. 13 Notre Dame (Oct. 22).
 
GAME CHANGING VOTE
A proposal was passed at the NCAA Convention last Saturday morning during the Division III Business meeting which will allow RIT to offer scholarships to its Division I men's and women's hockey student-athletes. Multi-divisional intercollegiate athletic programs like RIT, which sponsors 22 Division III teams along with two Division I hockey teams, were previously not allowed to apply all Division I legislation to its Division I teams, including the inability to award athletic grant-in-aid to its players based on a 2004 bylaw. However, with the vote overwhelmingly passing by a 388-18-39 margin, the Tigers will be on the same footing as the rest of its peers across the country with a full 18 scholarships available to each hockey team.
 
WILL POWER
Senior forward Will Calverley's three-assist outing at Niagara was his sixth-career three-point game. It was also his second career game with three assists and first since a 5-4 win at Niagara on Dec. 22, 2020. Nominated for the 2022 Hobey Baker Award, annually presented to the nation's top NCAA men's hockey player, Calverley currently leads Atlantic Hockey with 11 goals and is tied for fifth with 19 points. The Scarborough, Ontario native also leads all Atlantic Hockey players with 43 career goals and is second with 83 career points in 110 games over the last four seasons. Calverley was named only the fourth All-American in Division-I era history (AHCA Second-Team) last season while earning Atlantic Hockey-West Co-Player of the Year and Best Defensive Forward plaudits.
 
GAME ON...AND ON AND ON
Senior defenseman Dan Willett played his 151st career game in last Saturday's win at Niagara, while senior forward Jake Hamacher made his 150th appearance. Willett ranks third during RIT's Division I-era in games played, while Hamacher is currently tied with Adam Hartley (2009-13), Greg Noyes (2010-14) and Brad McGowan (2011-15) for fourth.
 
START ME UP
RIT is 8-1-1 when scoring first this season and 7-0-1 when holding a lead after two periods. However, the Tigers are 1-10-0 when trailing after 40 minutes of play.
 
MAGIC NUMBER
RIT's 2-1 loss to Arizona State marked the first time RIT fell this season when allowing less than three goals.
The Tigers are now 9-1-2 when holding opponents to three goals or less and 7-1-1 when holding opponents under three goals.
 
FOUR THE MOST PART
RIT is 2-9-0 when allowing four or more goals. Last Saturday's 6-5 OT win at Niagara marked the Tigers' first victory of the season when allowing five or more goals.
 
CARTER BLANCHE
Freshman forward Carter Wilkie tallied a goal and an assist in Saturday's overtime win at Niagara for his fourth multi-point game of the season. Named the Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Month for both November and December as well as Rookie of the Week on five occasions, Wilkie entered the weekend tied for ninth in Atlantic Hockey with 18 points and tied for fourth with nine goals. His three game-winning goals were tied for the 16th-highest total in the nation, while he was also tied for fourth among the nation's freshmen in goals and tied for 13th in points. Wilkie was credited with the overtime game-winning goal and assisted the game-tying goal in RIT's 3-2 victory at AIC (Nov. 7) and logged the game-winner in the Tigers' 3-2 win over visiting Holy Cross (Nov. 19). He also scored the overtime game-winning goal in the Tigers' 3-2 upset of Notre Dame (Oct. 21).
 
GREEN EGGS AND HAMACHER
Senior forward Jake Hamacher scored his 39th career goal in Saturday's win at Niagara and currently leads Atlantic Hockey with 96 career points. He sits second in the league with 57 career assists behind teammate Dan Willett (69) and is tied for second in career goals behind Tiger classmate Will Calverley (43).
 
WAYNE'S WORLD
Head Coach Wayne Wilson became the 49th NCAA men's hockey coach to hit the 400-win plateau with the 1-0 OT win at Princeton last month. Wilson ranks 16th among active coaches with a 402-284-75 record the last 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 284-246-63 record through 17 Division-I seasons.
 
DAN THE MAN
Senior Dan Willett was named the Atlantic Hockey Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 29th following his efforts in RIT's Princeton sweep. Also tabbed the Atlantic Hockey Defensive Player of the Month for October, Willet currently ranks fourth in the nation with 56 blocked shots. He knocked down a season-high seven in the Tigers' 2-1 victory over St. Lawrence (Oct. 16) before 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 currently leads all Tiger returners with 69 career assists while ranking second with 79 career points.
 
NON-CONFERENCE, NO PROBLEM
RIT finished the non-conference portion of the 2021-22 schedule with a 4-4-0 record, tying the highest single-season win total in the Division-I era. It was also the Tigers' third-consecutive season finishing with a .500 record in non-league games after finishing 2-2-1 last year and 4-4-0 in 2019-20.
 
BRUCE ALMIGHTY
Senior forward Nick Bruce logged his second two-goal game of the year in last Saturday's 6-5 OT win at Niagara. His second goal was his 50th career point during his 100th career appearance in a Tiger sweater. Bruce also tallied twice in the Tigers' 4-3 win over visiting Holy Cross on Nov. 20 and is 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.
 
ABOUT THE FALCONS
Bentley earned an Atlantic Hockey split at Canisius last week, earning a 7-4 win on Friday before falling 2-1 in OT on Saturday. Sophomore defenseman Drew Bavaro logged a four-point Friday with two goals and two assists, while sophomore forward Ethan Harrison also added two goals to the winning effort. Bavaro is currently tied for third in Atlantic Hockey with 21 points and is tied for fourth in the league with nine goals. Graduate student defenseman Matt Lombardozzi ranks sixth nationally and is tied for first in Atlantic Hockey with six power play goals. Junior forward Lucas Vanroboys leads the conference with 22 penalties and 66 penalty minutes, just ahead of Lombardozzi (62:00). Bentley also earned a 4-3 win over visiting Sacred Heart (Jan. 15) after falling, 5-1, the night before.