BOSTON - The RIT Men's Hockey team will take part in the 2025 Friendship Four in Belfast, Northern Ireland, announced Tuesday at the Massachusetts State House.
 
Set to take place in November of 2025 on the Friday and Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, the Tigers will join fellow Atlantic Hockey member Sacred Heart, along with Miami-Ohio and Union for a four-game tournament at the SSE Arena - home of the Belfast Giants – with the coveted Belpot going to the winner.
 
"We are very excited to showcase our program on a new international stage," said RIT Executive Athletic Director Jacqueline Nicholson. "This will be a great opportunity for our student-athletes to serve as ambassadors for our institution abroad while playing in a first-class tournament."
 
Next year's games will mark the first time RIT has ever played a games outside the country.
 
RIT and Sacred Heart will be the first two Atlantic Hockey teams to play in the event. Union will be making its second appearance in the tournament after defeating Boston University, 2-1, in the 2018 final.
 
"Playing internationally will be a completely unique opportunity for our program that not everyone gets to experience during their career," said Head Coach Wayne Wilson. "I'm excited we were invited to take part in such an outstanding event and it will something our players will remember long after the trip."
 
The only NCAA intercollegiate ice hockey tournament to take place outside of the United States, The Friendship Four men's tournament has been played six times since the inaugural event in 2015. A field featuring Boston University, Notre Dame, Harvard and Merrimack is scheduled for this November.
 
Also announced Tuesday was an all-women's field for the 2026 series, including Boston University, Harvard, Quinnipiac and Minnesota-Duluth. Two-team women's series were played in 2019, 2020, and 2024, while 2026 will be the first time four women's teams will comprise the field.
 
Further details about tickets and travel packages for the 2025 event will be released at a later date. More information can also be found at belfastgiants.com/friendship-four.
 
The Friendship Four is designed to promote education, social welfare, and community interaction, building on the "Sister Cities" agreement between Belfast and Boston signed over a decade ago. The agreement aims to foster stronger economic development, trade and investment, tourism, youth, cultural, faith-based exchanges, and educational linkages between the two cities, as well as to increase awareness of Belfast and Boston being growth cities in the connected health and life sciences, creative industries, tourism, financial services, and knowledge economy sectors.
 
FRIENDSHIP FOUR MEN'S PARTICIPANTS
2025 – RIT, Union, Miami-Ohio, Sacred Heart
2024 – Boston University, Notre Dame, Harvard, Merrimack
2022 – Quinnipiac*, UMass-Amherst, UMass-Lowell, Dartmouth
2019 – Northeastern*, Colgate, New Hampshire, Princeton
2018 – Union*, Boston University, Yale, UConn
2017 – Clarkson*, Providence, Maine, RPI
2016 – Vermont*, Quinnipiac, UMass-Amherst, St. Lawrence
2015 – UMass-Lowell*, Brown, Northeastern, Colgate
 
* - Previous Belpot Champion


(L-R) Former Miami hockey player Pat Leahy, RIT Executive AD Jackie Nicholson, CEO at the Odyssey Trust Robert Fitzpatrick, Sacred Heart Director of Athletics Judy Ann Riccio and Union Director of Athletics Jim McLaughlin, pose at the Massachusetts State House during Tuesday's announcement.