ROCHESTER, N.Y. – RIT first-year forward Christian Catalano totaled two goals and an assist while first-year forward Matthew Wilde added two goals to lead the No. 20 Tigers to a 9-2 victory over visiting Canisius in their final regular home game of the season.
 
RIT was awarded their second-consecutive Bob DeGregorio Cup following the victory after clinching its league-best sixth Atlantic Hockey regular-season title. The top-seeded Tigers earned a first-round bye to a home best-of-three quarterfinal series March 8-10 against an opponent to be determined and would have home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs should they advance.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Canisius got on the board first after Matteo Giampa intercepted a pass at the top of the Canisius zone and headed the other way with Trey Funk for a 2-on-1 break. Giampa centered a pass to Funk, who deked Tiger junior goaltender Tommy Scarfone for a goal inside the left post at 5:08 of the first.
• RIT responded at 8:48 after Catalano took a shot from the right halfboards that caromed off a crowd in front of the Canisius crease. Wilde jumped on the loose puck in front and scored past Canisius goaltender David Fessenden in the low slot.
• RIT scored twice in a 25 second span for a 3-1 lead at 5:56 of the first. Junior forward Grady Hobbs scored on a long shot from the point past a screened Fessenden, before junior forward Tanner Andrew pounced on a loose puck at the top of the Griffin zone and flipped a backhanded shot over Fessenden's stick.
• RIT scored three more times in the second. Catalano took a shot from the left faceoff circle that deflected in the slot. Wilde got a stick on the rebound that made its way to the middle of the slot where Catalano scored inside the left post at 5:58.
• RIT made it a 5-1 game at 16:25 of the second after Gonsalves finished a nice feed from Cassaro in the slot after a series of tape-to-tape passing through the Griffin zone.
• The Tigers made it a 6-1 game with under a minute left in the period after Tyler Mahan stole a puck at the top of the RIT zone and skated back for a shot on goal from the slot. Fessenden made the initial save, but Mahan popped the rebound inside the left post with 50.6 on the clock.  
• RIT put the game away with three more goals in the third. Wilde cleaned up a rebound inside the left post at 8:54 before Catalano scored in the slot off a feed from behind the goal by Gonsalves during a power play at 14:13. First-year defenseman Crossley Stewart finished an odd-man rush with a goal from the slot at 15:54 to finish the RIT scoring. 

GAME NOTES

• RIT put together its highest scoring game since a 10-4 win at Canisius on Dec. 3, 2022.
• The Tigers finished with 53 shots on goal for their 13th game with better than 40 shots this season, including their fourth with more than 50.
• Gonsalves ended the night with his team-leading 15th goal of the season along with two assists while first-year forward Tyler Fukakusa was credited with a career-high three assists as 14 Tigers finished with at least one point.
• Gonsalves moved up to a tie for 18th place on the D1-era scoring list with 97 points on 42 goals and 55 assists.
• Laskosky logged his team-best 24th assist of the year on Gonsalves' goal for his team-leading 37th point this winter and 80th career point.
• Scarfone finished with 21 saves to improve to 19-8-2 this season and win his 49th career game.
• Senior defenseman Aiden Hansen-Bukata notched his 66th career assist and 74th career point in his 125th appearance. 
• Fifth-year defenseman Gianfranco Cassaro logged two assists for 30 points this winter on 13 goals and 17 assists.
• RIT held Canisius scoreless on six power-play attempts, while finishing 1-for-4 with the extra man for their fifth-straight game with a power-play goal.
• RIT entered the night ranked ninth nationally with 3.59 goals per game, and has averaged 4.7 goals over its last 10 games. 

WHAT'S NEXT
RIT closes the regular season with a trip to Canisius on Saturday (Feb. 24) for a 7:05 p.m. faceoff.