ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT Men's Hocke team heads to Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) rival Niagara for a rare Tuesday night showdown with the Purple Eagles. The Tigers ride a nine-game winning streak---tied for the nation's longest streak with top-ranked Michigan State--into the contest following a doubleheader sweep at Robert Morris on Friday, 2-1, and Saturday, 3-2. Niagara snapped a four-game slide with two victories over visiting Army, 6-4 on Friday and 4-1 on Saturday.

FOLLOW LIVE
Watch: FloHockey.tv/watch
Local Audio: WITR 89.7 FM or FOX Sports 1280 AM
Web Audio: witr.rit.edu or foxsports1280.iheart.com
PxP/Color: Ed Trefzger, Scott Biggar
Live Stats: purpleeagles.com/sidearmstats/mhockey

TIGER REWIND
RIT swept its fifth-straight two-game series of year with back-to-back wins at Robert Morris last week. 

On Friday, junior defenseman Ben Roger tallied 1:25 into the game while first-year forward Zach Wigle scored what proved to be the game-winning power-play goal with 3:31 left in regulation. Senior defenseman Crossley Stewart was credited with assists on both goals.

On Saturday, junior forward Christian Catalano scored the game-winning goal with 46.5 seconds left in regulation and added an assist to lead the Tigers to the 3-2 win.

Trailing, 2-1, after the first period, sophomore forward Ty Whyte tied the game early in the second, with his first goal of the season to set up Catalano's late game heroics. Senior forward Tyler Mahan scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season while senior forward Simon Isabelle notched two assists. Stewart and Roger also logged assists to extend team-best four-game point streaks.

KRBECEK APPEAL
Sophomore Jakub Krbecek extended his winning streak to nine games after backstopping both Robert Morris wins over the weekend.  After stopping 18 of 19 shots in Friday's opener, he logged 20 saves in Saturday's victory. Among qualifying goaltenders, he currently ranks third nationally with a .942 save percentage and fourth with a 1.51 goals against average, while his 9-1-0 record puts him third in wins this season. Krbecek was named the AHA Goaltender of the Month after compiling a 4-1-0 record in five October starts, highlighted by a season-high 39-save performance during the 7-3 win over Air Force (Oct. 25) and 28 saves in the 6-2 win over Clarkson (Oct. 18) in the Brick City Homecoming game. He also landed his first career AHA Goaltender of the Week honor after combining to stop 42 of 44 shots versus Colgate, including 28 saves in the 4-1 win after stopping 14 of 15 shots in the opening 3-1 win. 

MORE IS BETTER THAN LESS
RIT entered the week leading the AHA and ranked among the national leaders in four categories. The Tigers were 14th in the country with 3.45 goals per game, seventh in scoring defense only allowing 1.91 goals per game, and eighth in scoring margin, out-scoring their opponents by 1.55 goals per game. Additionally, only one team in the country had both scored more goals and given up fewer goals than RIT. In 12 games, Denver had scored 44 goals (RIT 38) while only allowing 20 (RIT 21).  

THE KILLERS
RIT also entered the week ranked fourth nationally and first in the AHA with a .917 penalty killing percentage, only allowing three goals in 36 opponent power play attempts. 

WE'RE GOING STREAKING!
RIT's nine-game winning streak is the third-longest Division I-era run in program history and is the second-longest regular season run.

EVERYBODY EATS
Through 11 games to start the season, 17 Tigers have scored at least one goal, while 20 of the 23 total skaters have notched at least one point. Junior defenseman Ben Roger notched his first goal of the season in Friday's 2-1 win at Robert Morris before sophomore forward Ty Whyte notched his first goal and point of the season in Saturday's 3-2 win at Robert Morris to become the latest two players to get into the goal scoring action. 

TIGERS VS. NIAGARA
Tuesday's game will mark the 60th all-time meeting between RIT and Niagara. The Tigers trail the all-time series, 20-24-15, including a 9-13-7 record on the road. The Purple Eagles are 6-3-1 in the last 10 meetings after sweeping all three meetings last winter, including 7-0 and 6-3 road victories in January. RIT's last wins came in the 2024 AHA Tournament Semifinals, 4-2 and 4-1, at the Polisseni Center as the top-seeded Tigers advanced past the seventh-seeded Purple Eagles into the AHA Championship game. RIT will also host Niagara later this season for a single game on Tuesday, Feb. 10. 

RIT SELECTED TO PLAY IN 2025 FRIENDSHIP FOUR
After playing at Bentley this Friday, RIT will head across the Atlantic Ocean for the 2025 Friendship Four in Belfast, Northern Ireland month. The Tigers will square off with Miami (Ohio) on Friday (Nov. 28) before taking on either Union or Sacred Heart on Saturday (Nov. 29) at the SSE Arena - home of the Belfast Giants – with the coveted Belpot going to the winner. 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. RIT and Sacred Heart will be the first two Atlantic Hockey teams to play in the event.