ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Four members of the RIT men's hockey program will return to use their fifth year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the coronavirus pandemic. Forwards Elijah Gonsalves and Caleb Moretz, along with defensemen Gianfranco Cassaro and Ryan Nicholson will be back for the 2023-24 campaign.
 
"We look forward to having these players back for another year," said Head Coach Wayne Wilson. "They were major pieces to our regular-season championship team last season and will bring valuable experience and leadership as we look to make a deeper postseason run next year."
 
Gonsalves returns after finishing eight on the squad with 18 points on seven goals and 11 assists. The alternate captain has made 109 appearances for the Tigers over the last four years, including all 39 last season, and has scored 70 points on 27 goals and 43 assists.
 
Moretz finished seventh for the Tigers with 19 points on five goals and 14 assists in 31 games last winter. The alternate captain will return with 21 goals, 38 assists and 59 points in 120 appearances over the last four seasons.
 
Cassaro landed First-Team Atlantic Hockey All-Conference honors last season after finishing the season first nationally among defensemen with 14 goals and tied for sixth with 32 points. He was also named the Atlantic Hockey Defensive Player of the Week a league-high four times during the campaign while breaking the Tigers' single-season program record for goals by a defenseman.
 
Nicholson totaled nine points on two goals and seven assists in 29 games last season while finishing fifth on the squad with 32 blocked shots. He owns 25 points on five goals and 20 assists during his time in a Tiger sweater.
 
RIT finished the 2022-23 season with a 25-13-1 record, including an 18-7-1 Atlantic Hockey mark to win the inaugural Robert DeGregorio Trophy, along with its first regular-season championship since 2011. Seeded first for the Atlantic Hockey Tournament, the Tigers swept Mercyhurst in the best-of-three quarterfinal series, before falling to Holy Cross in three games in the semifinals to wrap up the second-winningest Division I-era campaign in program history.