ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT men's hockey team closes the regular season with a pair of Atlantic Hockey contests at Air Force, Friday (9:05 PM EST) and Saturday (7:05 PM EST). The Tigers sit in sole possession of fourth place in the league standings and are three points shy of clinching one of the top-four seeds for the Atlantic Hockey Tournament along with a bye to a home best-of-three quarterfinal series (Mar. 11-13).
 
Depending on all of this weekend's league outcomes, RIT could finish as high as the second seed, but is guaranteed to finish no lower than seventh. The top six teams in the final standings earn a bye, while No. 7 hosts No. 10 and No. 8 hosts No. 9 in the first round. In the quarterfinals, the top four teams host the bottom four remaining teams.
 
RIT trails the all-time series with Air Force, 24-33-4, but have not played in two seasons due to the pandemic. The Tigers were scheduled to host the Falcons in the quarterfinals of the 2020 Atlantic Hockey Tournament, but the best-of-three series was cancelled due to the COVID outbreak. RIT took three out of four meetings during the 2019-20 regular season, including 2-1 and 1-0 wins in Colorado (Oct. 24-25), before splitting two home games at the GPC (L, 1-0, W, 5-3) to close the regular season (Feb. 28-29).
 
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TIGER TRACKS
RIT looks to keep momentum going following a home-and-home sweep of Niagara last week, earning a 4-2 road victory on Friday before taking a 3-2 win on Saturday to close the home portion of the 2021-22 regular-season slate.
 
Freshman Tommy Scarfone was named the Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Wee after earning both wins versus the Purple Eagles. Scarfone totaled 33 saves in the opener, including 17 in the third period while not allowing a goal over the final 30 minutes of regulation. It was also his fifth 30-plus save outing of the season. He then made 25 saves, including 12 in the third period, to preserve Saturday's one-goal decision. 
 
Freshman forward Carter Wilkie landed his sixth Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week honor. Wilkie scored the game-winning goal in Friday's victory, notching a power-play tally with 10.6 seconds remaining to seal the win. He then notched two assists on Saturday, logging helpers on both Tiger power-play tallies during a decisive three-minute stretch of the second period at RIT forged a two-goal lead it would not relinquish. He entered the week tied for fifth in Atlantic Hockey with 25 points (11G, 14A).
 
Senior forward Kobe Walker scored three goals during the Niagara series, tallying twice in Friday's road win before scoring what proved to be the game-winner with 6:03 remaining in the second period of Saturday's decision.
 
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 last Friday's win at Niagara. Freshman forward Carter Wilkie broke a 2-2 tie with 10.4 seconds left in regulation before senior forward 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 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.
 
GAME ON...AND ON AND ON
Senior defenseman Dan Willett and senior forward Jake Hamacher broke the Atlantic Hockey record for career games played during last weekend's Niagara series. Also ranked first and second, respectively in the RIT D1-era record books, Willett made his 160th appearance, while Hamacher has played 159 career games in  a Tiger sweater.
 
A DAN-DY AT BOTH ENDS OF THE ICE
Senior defenseman Dan Willett entered the week third in the nation and first in the conference with 81 blocked shots while leading Atlantic Hockey with 74 career assists. He landed his second Atlantic Hockey Defensive Player of the Week award (Feb. 7) after notching what proved to be the game-winning goal along with seven blocked shots during the 5-1 win over Sacred Heart (Feb. 2). He also logged two assists and blocked two shots in the 4-4 tie with AIC (Feb. 5). Willett has blocked at least five shots five times this season, including seven on two occasions - the 5-1 victory over Sacred Heart (Feb. 1) and the 2-1 win over St. Lawrence (Oct. 16).
 
GREEN EGGS AND HAMACHER
Senior forward Jake Hamacher notched an assist for his 100th career point during the Tigers' 4-4 tie versus AIC (Feb. 5), becoming the 14th Division I-era Tiger to achieve the milestone. He leads all current Atlantic Hockey players with 104 career points, while ranking second in both goals (43) and assists (61).
 
START ME UP
RIT is 10-1-1 when scoring first this season and 10-0-1 when holding a lead after two periods. However, the Tigers are 1-13-2 when trailing after 40 minutes of play.
 
MAGIC NUMBER
RIT's is 13-2-3 when holding opponents to three goals or less, including an 11-2-1 mark when holding opponents under three goals.
 
WILL POWER
Senior forward Will Calverley scored his Atlantic Hockey-leading 15th goal in last Saturday's 3-2 win at Niagara after being credited with a goal and an assist in the 4-2 win over the host Purple Eagles the previous night. Nominated for the 2022 Hobey Baker Award, annually presented to the nation's top NCAA men's hockey player, the Scarborough, Ontario native leads all Atlantic Hockey players with 47 career goals and is second with 89 career points in 119 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.
 
RATED ROOKIE
Freshman forward Carter Wilkie is tied for the team lead with 25 points, including a team-high 14 assists, while ranking second with 11 goals. He was named Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Month for both November and December and has also landed conference Rookie of the Week recognition six times this season. Wilkie is tied for 10th among the nation's first-year players in scoring and is also tied for fifth in goals. 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 then No. 13 Notre Dame (Oct. 21).
 
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). Wilson ranks 16th among active coaches with a 406-287-77 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 290-256-65 record through 17 Division-I seasons.
 
YOU MISS 100% OF THE SHOTS YOU CAN'T TAKE
RIT limited Sacred Heart to 15 shots on goal in its 5-1 victory on Feb. 2 - the fewest since limiting Canisius to a D1 era-low 12 in a 2-0 victory on Jan. 20, 2018. Holding the Pioneers without a shot on goal over the final 25:53 of regulation, the game was also the 15th time the Tigers held an opponent under 20 shots on goal during the last five seasons.
 
...BUT QUALITY OVER QUANTITY ALSO COUNTS
RIT registered a season-low 14 shots on goal in its 4-2 win at Niagara (Feb. 18) - the fewest since the 2019 season when the Tigers put 11 pucks on goal in a 2-1 victory at Air Force (Oct. 24) and then again the following night in a 1-0 win (Oct. 25) over the Falcons. 
 
ABOUT THE FALCONS
Air Force is 5-4-1 in its last 10 games, earning a 4-1 victory last Friday at Bentley, before tying, 4-4, the following night. The Falcons sit in sixth place in the latest Atlantic Hockey standings, only four points behind RIT, and could finish anywhere from fourth to ninth entering the final weekend. Sophomore forward Will Gavin ranks second in the conference with 14 goals and has scored a team-high 23 points. Junior defenseman Brandon Koch leads the conference with 21 assists and is tied for second on for the Falcons with 22 points. Junior forward Willie Reim has also totaled 22 points on nine goals and 13 assists while freshman forward Clayton Cosentino has 20 points on six goals and 14 assists.