ROCHESTER, N.Y. - RIT hosts Union Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. in the annual Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend game played at Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester.

The Tigers are coming off an Atlantic Hockey sweep of visiting Army last weekend in their first two home games of the seasons, while Union dropped a pair of contests at No. 20 Connecticut last Friday and Saturday.

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TIGER TRACKS
RIT earned a 3-2 win over Army last Friday, before taking a 4-1 decision opposite the Black Knights on Saturday in its first two home games of the season. 

Junior Aiden Hansen-Bukata was named the Atlantic Hockey Defensive Player of the Week after notching what proved to be the game-winning goal along with an assist and three blocked shots in the opener before scoring a goal and blocking a career-high six shots the following night.

Sophomore goaltender Tommy Scarfone totaled 32 saves, including 17 in the second period, to preserve Friday's win. Junior Kolby Matthews made 27 stops, holding the Black Knights scoreless over the final 42:35, to earn Saturday's win in his first start of the season. 

Senior forward Elijah Gonsalves gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead on Friday night and later added an assist for his first points of the season. Grad student forward Kobe Walker also scored his first goal of the season, putting RIT on the board with 12:18 left in the second period following a scoreless first. 

Sophomore forwards Carter Wilkie and Grady Hobbs each tallied a goal and an assist in Saturday's win. Wilkie notched a power-play tally with 7:42 left in the first period for what proved to be the game-winner – his first of the season after tying for first nationally a season ago with six. Hobbs later pushed the Tigers to a 3-1 lead less than three minutes into the third period before Hansen-Bukata tacked on an empty-net goal in the closing seconds. The teams combined for 23 penalties and 84 PIM. 

HIT THE BRICKS
RIT hosts Union in its 15th-annual Brick City game, played at the Blue Cross Arena since 2007 in conjunction with Homecoming & Family Weekend.  Unbeaten in their previous six trips downtown, the Tigers will be in the hunt for for their fourth-consecutive win after defeating St Lawrence, 2-1, a year ago to follow up wins over Merrimack, 4-0, in 2019 and Colgate, 6-1, in 2018.

HOME AWAY FROM HOME
RIT has many fond memories of playing at the Blue Cross Arena since joining the Division I ranks. Home to the Atlantic Hockey Tournament Semifinal and Championship games from 2007-18, The Tigers punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament with championship victories in 2010, 2015 and 2016, while finishing runner-up in 2011 and 2012. RIT owns a combined 13-9-4 record at Blue Cross Arena in the Division I era, including an 8-4 mark in Atlantic Hockey Tournament play.

OK. LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN
RIT opened the season with a 4-3 setback at Union two weeks ago and is currently 0-7-1 opposite the Dutchemen during the Division I era. Sophomore forward Tanner Andrew scored the first goal of the season, tipping home a short feed from sophomore forward Evan Miller 10:47 into the first period before Miller found the net off a feed from grad transfer defenseman Matt Kellenberger with 25 seconds on the clock for a 2-0 Tiger lead after 20 minutes of play. The Dutchmen scored less than three minutes into the second before Tiger junior forward Cody Laskosky finished an end-to-end rush with a glove-side finish for a 3-1 lead with 13:01 on the clock. Union pulled back within one less than a minute later and scored two unanswered goals in the third period, including the game-winner with 1:33 remaining to finish the comeback. Sophomore goaltender Tommy Scarfone finished with 29 saves, including 12 during the second period. 

MILLER TIME
Tiger sophomore Evan Miller was named the Atlantic Hockey Player of the week after notching his first collegiate goal and multi-point game against Union. Miller missed all but two games last season due to injury, notching an assist in his collegiate debut during RIT's season-opening 5-2 loss at Colgate (Oct. 2) and also played in the Tigers' 3-2 upset at Notre Dame (Oct. 21). 

CRACKING THE CODY
Junior forward Cody Laskosky has scored a point in all three games to start the season, scoring a goal in the Union decision and adding an assist to each of the winning Army efforts.

MR. BRIGHTSIDE
RIT finished 6-for-6 on the penalty kill, including a pair of 5-on-3 opportunities during the second period, in the Union opener. The Tigers also killed seven of the nine total Army power plays they faced last weekend as the RIT defense only allowed one even-strength goal during the series. 

DON'T LOOK BACK IN ANGER
Before the opening loss to Union, RIT hadn't lost a game when leading after two periods since falling to Holy Cross on Jan. 31, 2020, letting a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes slip away in a 4-3 setback. The Tigers also hadn't lost a game when leading by two or more goals since giving up a 2-0 lead to Long Island University in a 4-3 loss on Dec. 11, 2020. RIT finished 10-0-1 last season when holding a lead after two periods and was also 12-1-1 when scoring first.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
RIT is playing the 60th men's hockey season in program history. After starting as an unofficial club for two years, the team was given a budget of $1,113.20 for the 1961-62 season and named James E. Musker the first head coach. RIT played a 14-game season (all on home ice at the former Rochester War Memorial) with a team originally comprised of over 45 members and, with the new NCAA rules, was required to purchase helmets for the team at a cost of $62.50. Men's hockey later became an intercollegiate sport at RIT in 1964. 

THANKS, YOU TOO
Atlantic Hockey is also celebrating its 20th season in 2022-23. Entering its 17th season in the league, RIT is in the hunt for its fourth conference title and first since winning back-to-back crowns in 2015 and 2016. The Tigers won their first AHA Championship in 2010, before becoming the league's first (and still only) member to advance to the NCAA Frozen Four. RIT finished atop the 2006-07 regular season standings during its first season in the AHA, but was not eligible for postseason play. 

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 (Nov. 27) last season. Wilson currently ranks ninth among active coaches with a 411-291-77 record the last 24 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 295-260-65 record during 18 Division-I seasons. 

BIG RED 
Sophomore forward Carter Wilkie was named the Atlantic Hockey Co-Preseason Player of the Year and a member of the Preseason All-Atlantic Hockey Team. Wilkie returns after leading the Tigers with 30 points and 17 assists, while finishing second with 13 goals during his first season in Orange and Black. He also tied for second in the nation with six game-winning goals, and became just the fifth Division I player in over 10 years to notch three overtime game-winning tallies. The 2022 Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Year and an AHA All-Rookie Team honoree, Wilkie landed seven conference Rookie of the Week honors a season ago, and was also named the league's Rookie of the Month on three occasions.

TENDER LOVING CARE
Sophomore goaltender Tommy Scarfone joined Wilkie on the AHA All-Rookie Team last winter. He finished fourth in the conference with a 2.46 goals against average as well as a .919 save percentage en route to an 8-9-1 record. Starting the final 11 games of the season, he tied a career high with 39 saves in the Tigers' 1-0 shutout of Sacred Heart in the opening game of the AHA Quarterfinals for his eighth 30-plus save outing of the season. He also logged 33 saves on three other occasions during the run, including the 4-4 tie with AIC (Feb. 5) as well as in the 4-2 win at Niagara (Feb. 18) en route to Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week honors. Scarfone closed the regular season with 33 saves in the Tigers' 1-0 OT setback at Air force (Feb. 26). 

GAME CHANGING VOTE
A proposal was passed last January at the NCAA Convention 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.

DEARLY DEPARTED
RIT graduated three of last season's top-five scorers, including Will Calverley, Dan Willett and Jake Hamacher. A Hobey Baker nominee and 2021 second-team All-American, Calverley led the Tigers with 15 goals and was second with 27 points en route to his second-straight First-Team All-Atlantic Hockey award. Hamacher was third with 21 points (9 goals, 12 assists) and tied for 10th in D1-era history with 106 points (43 goals, 63 assists). Willett finished second with 13 assists and fifth with 18 points while ranking fourth nationally with 91 blocked shots. Willett and Hamacher also finished first and second in program history with 166 and 165 games played, respectively. 

SKY WALKER
Fifth-year Kobe Walker returns after finishing second for the 2021-22 Tigers with 11 goals, including three power-play tallies, two game-winners and two short-handed scores. In 29 appearances, the top-line right winger's 19 points ranked fourth on the squad, while his eight assists tied for the sixth-highest total on the team. A three-time Atlantic Hockey All-Academic Team member, Walker entered the season with 111 appearances in an RIT sweater along with 56 career points on 28 goals and 28 assists to date.

ABOUT THE DUTCHMEN
Union dropped a pair of road decisions at No. 20 UConn last weekend, falling 4-1 in Friday's opener and 4-3 in overtime on Saturday. After opening the season with a 4-3 win over visiting RIT, the Dutchmen also tied host Army, 2-2 (Oct. 2) the following day. Nine Dutchmen have scored a goal this season, while first-year forward Carter Korpi is the lone multi-goal scorer with two in the RIT win.  First-year forward Nate Hanley leads the squad with four points and is tied with AIC grad transfer Chris Theodore with three assists. Senior goaltender Connor Murphy has appeared in all four games, including three starts, and has compiled a .902 save percentage and a 2.84 goals against average. He made a season-high 30 saves against Army, sandwiched between 22-save showings opposite RIT and in the UConn opener. 

LET'S JUST RE-LAX
RIT and Union meet regularly in many other sports as the majority of teams in both athletic departments play at the NCAA Division III level and are members of the Liberty League. RIT also faced Union in the men's lacrosse national championship game last spring, marking the first time in the history of the tournament two teams from the same conference played for the title. Union opened a 7-2 lead with less than five minutes left in the second quarter, but RIT scored eight-straight goals to take a 10-7 lead it would not relinquish en route to a 12-10 victory and a second-consecutive national championship.  

BERRY GOOD
Fifth-year Spencer Berry is back for his final season after finishing 2021-22 as one of three Tiger defenseman who appeared in all 38 games during the season, finishing second on the team with 52 blocked shots to go along with three assists. A four-time Atlantic Hockey All-Academic Team honoree, he returned this season with 88 games played and 10 career points (all assists).

ANDREW-BE-DO-BE-DOO
Fifth-year Andrew Petrucci played 35 games last season, notching a goal and an assist. The hard-nosed fourth-line centerman entered the season with 104 games during his RIT career, compiling 15 points on eight goals and seven assists. He is also a four-time Atlantic Hockey All-Academic Team honoree.

GOING GONZO
Senior Elijah Gonsalves returned with 70 career games and 52 points on 20 goals and 32 assists. The 2019-20 Atlantic Hockey All-Rookie Team honoree scored better than 20 points his first two seasons and looks to bounce back after having his season cut short due to injury after 15 appearances last year. Gonsalves is a two-time Atlantic All-Academic Team honoree and was an AHCA All-American Scholar in 2020-21.

MORE IS BETTER
Senior Caleb Moretz entered the season with 40 points in 89 career appearances the last three seasons, including a goal and five assists playing all 38 games last winter. He was third on the team with 244 face-off wins and second with a 52.7 face-off win percentage. A three-time AHCA All-American Scholar and Atlantic Hockey All-Academic Team member, Moretz also finished second among forwards on the team with 24 blocked shots.

PLAYOFFS. PLAYOFFS?
Atlantic Hockey adopted a new format for its 2022-23 postseason tournament -- only the top-eight of the league's 10 teams in the final regular-season standings will qualify for the playoffs and all three rounds will be hosted on campus sites. The top-seed will host the eighth seed, the second-seed will host the seventh seed, etc. in the best-of-three quarterfinals (Mar. 3-5), before the two highest remaining seeds host the two lowest remaining seeds in the best-of-three semifinals (Mar. 10-12). The highest remaining seed will then host the championship game (Mar. 18) with the winner earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. 

WHO'S AFRAID OF A COUPLE EXTRA MINUTES
RIT finished the 2021-22 season with a 6-1-4 record in 11 overtime games, including a 1-0 win over Sacred Heart in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament Semifinal opener. 

MAGIC NUMBER
RIT's was 16-4-3 a season ago when holding opponents to three goals or less, including an 14-3-1 mark when holding opponents under three goals. 

JUST LEAVE THE RED LIGHT ON NEXT TIME
RIT was credited with the fastest consecutive goals by the same team in over 24 years at the end of its 4-2 win at Niagara (Feb. 18) last season. Carter Wilkie broke a 2-2 tie with 10.4 seconds left in regulation before Will Calverley was credited with a goal with 6.9 on the clock after the Purple Eagles won the ensuing draw directly back into their own empty net. According to the NCAA record book, RIT tied the fourth-fastest pair of goals ever scored by the same team, matching UMass-Lowell's Randy LeBrasseur and Bill Dohaney's feat against Minnesota on Jan. 3, 1987. The Tiger goals were also the quickest since Nebraska-Omaha's Andrew Tortorella and Jason Cupp scored in a three-second span opposite Denver on Nov. 15, 1997. New Hampshire's John Gray scored twice in a three-second span versus Colgate on Feb. 6, 1971 for the fastest consecutive goals scored by the same player, while Colorado College's Tony Frasca and Omer Brandt hold the all-time record with goals in a two-second span against Michigan Tech on Feb. 1, 1962.

DO AS I SAY AND DID
Former Tigers standout Shane Madolora is back for his second season with the program as Volunteer Goalie Coach. The 2012 graduate remains the Division I-era program leader with a .932 save percentage, which is tied for 10th in NCAA history. He is also tops with a 1.97 goals against average, which remains tied for 20th in the NCAA record book. Madolora established single-season program records as a junior which still stand, leading the nation with a .935 save percentage to go along with a stingy 1.93. GAA on his way to Inside College Hockey Second-Team All-America honors and Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Year recognition. The following year, he tied his own record with a 1.93 GAA to go along with a .931 save percentage while tying for first nationally with a program-record seven shutouts. Madolora remains first in Tiger history (and tied for 21st in NCAA history) with 13 career shutouts, as well as fourth with 1,727 saves, fifth with 36 wins, and tied for fifth with 65 appearances. His 18-9-5 record during the 2011-12 campaign tied for the second-highest single-season win total by a Tiger, completing his RIT career with a 36-14-2 record. 

OH, CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Five players are skating with letters on their sweaters during the 2022-23 season. Fifth-years Kobe Walker and Andrew Petrucci were elevated to co-captains after serving as alternate captains a season ago, while seniors Spencer Berry, Elijah Gonsalves and Caleb Moretz were named alternate captains. 

TIGERS IN THE NHL
Former RIT standout defenseman Chris Tanev enters his 14th season in the NHL, spending his first 11 with the Vancouver Canucks before signing a free agent contract with the Calgary Flames prior to the 2020-21 season. 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 2022-23 season, he has played in 652 NHL games with 30 goals and 128 assists for 158 career points. He won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2016 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships and was named a finalist for the NHL's Masterson Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Tanev tallied 28 points (10-18-28) and was plus-33 in 41 games for RIT in 2009-10. He 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 has made 16 NCAA Tournament appearances since 1983. RIT won the 1983 Division II National Championship before winning the Division III National Championship in 1985. The Tigers also finished as Division III runner-up in 1989, 1996 and 2001 while making semifinal appearances 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 five Division I tournament showings. The Tigers 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 its first postseason appearance in 2010 and was also the first Atlantic Hockey team to reach the national semifinals. RIT was one win away from duplicating that feat in 2014-15 after upsetting overall top-seed Minnesota State, 1-0, in the Midwest Region Semifinals. 

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 in 2020-21 and 4-4-0 in 2019-20.