ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT Men's Hockey Team opens the 65th season in program history with an Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) home-and-home series with Niagara, Friday and Saturday. 

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TIGER REWIND
RIT Head Coach Matt Thomas guided the 2025-26 Tigers to a 17-17-2 record -- a seven-win improvement over the 2024-25 campaign – in his first season on the bench leading his alma mater. 

The Tigers earned the fifth seed for the AHA Tournament after finishing with a 13-11-2 conference mark, closing the season with a pair of overtime losses at Holy Cross in the best-of-three AHA Quarterfinals, 2-1 and 5-4.

AHA PRESEASON POLL
RIT was picked third in the 2026-27 Atlantic Hockey America Preseason Coaches' Poll. Sacred Heart was voted first with 59 points, including three first-place votes, followed by two-time defending champion Bentley (58 points, five first-place votes) and the Tigers (51 points, one first-place vote). Holy Cross (42), Air Force (34), Robert Morris (27), Army (25), Canisius (14) and Niagara (14) rounded out the nine-team poll, respectively.

OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT
RIT will look for a victory to start the season for the first time in five seasons. The Tigers last started the year with a win in 2020, upsetting No. 9 Clarkson, 8-5, at the Gene Polisseni Center. 

• RIT is opening the season at home for the first time in four seasons, starting the 2021-22 campaign with a 5-2 loss to visiting Colgate.
• The Tigers begin with a conference game for only the second time in the D1 era after falling at Sacred Heart, 1-0, to open last season.
• RIT is 11-6-3 in AHA openers all-time, including an 8-3-1 mark over the last 12.
• RIT finished 2-1-1 with a shootout win versus Niagara last season, but trails the all-time series, 22-25-16. The Tigers are 11-10-8 in home contests but 10-14-7 on the road versus the Purple Eagles.

HOW SOPHOMORIC 
RIT returns seven of its top 10 scorers from a season ago – four of which are sophomores. 

Sophomore forward Zach Wigle tied for the team lead with 25 points while leading the way with 17 assists on his way to AHA Rookie of the Year honors. He led all AHA first-year players in points and assists while ranking fourth in time on ice (19:55/game). Wigle also led the team and finished fifth in the AHA with 363 faceoff wins, including 18 games with double-digit wins, while his .561 winning percentage ranked second among all skaters with at least 200 faceoff attempts. 

Sophomore forward Evan Konyen led RIT with 12 goals while finishing third with 24 points en route to AHA All-Rookie Team honors. Also named a finalist for AHA Rookie of the Year, he tied for first among all AHA first-years in goals and ranked second in points behind Wigle. Sophomore William Moore finished fifth for the Tigers with 17 points and was second with 11 goals while sophomore forward Caleb Elfering tied for fourth on the team with eight goals and sixth with 15 points. 

CAPTAIN, OH CAPTAIN
Thomas recently announced the leadership group for the 2026-27 season. Senior defenseman Kevin Scott was named captain, while senior forward Christian Catalano, senior defenseman Ben Roger, senior forward Matthew Wilde and junior defenseman Tristan Allen were tabbed alternate captains.

GREAT SCOTT
Senior defenseman Kevin Scott traded in the "A" from his sweater for a "C" this season. He returns after compiling a team-high 34 blocked shots in 34 appearances last winter. A three-time Atlantic Hocky America (AHA) All-Academic Team honoree and a two-time American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) All-American Scholar, Scott has compiled 78 blocked shots and 11 points – all assists – in 98 career games.
 
CATALANO-LIKE REFLEXES
Senior forward Christian Catalano returns to the Tigers with 62 points on 26 goals and 36 assists over 105 games the last three seasons. Nominated for the Hobey Baker Award last winter, he finished fourth on the team with 22 points and tied for third with 10 goals without missing a game. The three-time AHA All-Academic team honoree is also an AHCA All-American Scholar.
 
ROGER THAT
Senior defenseman Ben Roger played 35 games during his first year with the squad after transferring from St. Mary's University (Nova Scotia) before last season. A Hobey Baker Award nominee last winter, he tied for sixth on the squad with 11 assists while totaling 14 points and finishing third with 32 blocked shots.
 
WILDE TIMES
After playing his first two collegiate seasons with the Tigers, senior forward Matthew Wilde transferred back to RIT following a season at UMass. During his first stint in Rochester, he totaled 67 points on 37 goals and 30 assists over 67 games and landed AHA First-Team All-Conference honors in 2024-25 after leading the conference with 0.69 goals per game and finishing second with 1.23 points per game.
 
TRISTAN THE NIGHT AWAY
Junior defenseman Tristan Allen played 69 games during his first two seasons at RIT, compiling 30 points on three goals and 27 assists. A two-time AHA All-Academic Team member and an AHCA All-American Scholar a season ago, he finished second on the squad with 14 assists last winter, while also finishing eighth with 15 points and second with 33 blocked shots in 35 games.  

KRBECEK APPEAL
Junior goaltender Jakub Krbecek is back after landing AHA Second-Team All-Conference honors a season ago. Also named a finalist for AHA Goaltender of the Year and a Hobey Baker Award nominee, he ended the season tied for 11th in the country in victories, finishing with a 17-15-1 record, while also ranking 20th with a .916 save percentage and a 2.32 goals-against average. Krbecek's 33 appearances tied for the sixth-most in single season program history, while 17 wins tied for sixth, highlighted by tying a career-high with 44 saves in a 1-0 win over eighth-ranked Penn State (Jan. 3) for his first career shutout.

TRANSFER OF POWER
Along with senior forward Matthew Wilde returning to RIT after a season at UMass, Head Coach Matt Thomas added three other players to the roster out of the transfer portal. Sophomore defenseman Matthew Mania played 15 games at Michigan during the Wolverines' run to the BIG 10 Championship and Frozen Four appearance. Sophomore defenseman Nick De Angelis appeared in 27 games at New Hampshire last winter while sophomore forward and Rochester native Nick Peluso logged seven appearances at Maine.

ONCE A TIGER, ALWAYS A TIGER
When Matt Thomas looked to fill out his coach staff alongside returning Associate Head Coach Dave Insalaco, he welcomed former RIT standouts Shane Madolora '12 and Josh Mitchell '16 back the program. An All-American goaltender during his time in Rochester, Madolora graduated as RIT's Division I-era career leader with a .932 save percentage, which is still tied for 11th in NCAA history. He is also tops with a 1.97 goals against average, which remains tied for 20th in the NCAA record book. One of only five D1-era RIT players to eclipse 120 career points, Mitchell remains fifth all-time with 121 points. He also graduated with 90 career assists—one of only two Tigers who have ever hit the milestone and played 154 career games, which ranks fifth in program history and the most ever by a four-year player. 

A BIT DRAFTY IN HERE
RIT has two NHL draft picks on the roster this season. Senior defenseman Ben Roger was picked in the second round (49th overall) of the 2021 draft by the Ottawa Senators, while sophomore transfer defenseman Matthew Mania was taken in the fifth round (150th overall) in 2023 by the Los Angeles Kings. They join two previous Tiger draft picks. Anthony Hamburg, who was taken in the seventh round (193rd overall) by the Minnesota Wild in 2009, played two seasons (2012-14) at RIT after transferring from Colgate. Tiger All-American Bill Gall was taken in the fifth round (104th overall) by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1987 before playing four seasons with the Division III Tigers from 1987-91.

ROAD TO THE NATTY WILL GO THROUGH ROCHESTER
RIT was selected to host one of four regional championships to start the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament in 2028. RIT will host two opening-round contests as well as second-round game at the Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester, N.Y. The games will either be played on Thursday, March 23rd and Saturday, March 25th or on Friday, March 24th and Sunday, March 26th, to be announced the Sunday prior to the tournament. The winner of the regional championship will advance to the Frozen Four, to be played at the United Center in Chicago.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Last season, RIT defeated then No. 8/9 Penn State in front of a sellout crowd of 4,233 fans on Jan. 3, marking the eighth sellout in 12 seasons of the Gene Polisseni Center and first since defeating AIC, 5-2, to win the 2024 Atlantic Hockey Championship. 

TIGERS IN THE NHL
Former RIT standout defenseman Chris Tanev enters his 18th season in the NHL. Entering his second season with the Toronto Maple Leafs after signing a free agent contract prior to the 2025-26 campaign, he spent his first 11 with the Vancouver Canucks before signing with the Calgary Flames prior to the 2020-21 season. The Flames  traded him to the Dallas Stars for the 2024 playoffs. Voted the 2010 AHA Rookie of the Year, Tanev made his NHL debut on Jan. 18, 2011, becoming the first RIT player to appear in an NHL contest. Entering the 2026-27 season, he has played in 879 NHL games with 36 goals and 174 assists for 210 career points along with a career +/- of plus-161. He won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2016 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships and later was named a finalist for the NHL's Masterton Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey in 2022. Tanev tallied 28 points (10-18-28) and was plus-33 in 41 games for RIT in 2009-10. He and another former Tiger, Steve Pinizzotto (2005-07), were teammates with Vancouver in 2012-13. Pinizzotto tallied 57 points (20-37-57) in 54 career games for the Tigers and appeared in 36 NHL games with two goals and four assists. 

RIT's NCAA DIVISION II/III HISTORY
RIT has made 16 NCAA Tournament appearances since 1983. RIT won the 1983 Division II National Championship before winning the Division III National Championship in 1985. The Tigers also finished as Division III runner-up in 1989, 1996 and 2001 while making semifinal appearances in 1984, 1986, 1999, and 2010. Overall, RIT was 26-15-4 in NCAA contests at the DII/III level and is 3-2 in five Division I tournament showings. The Tigers made the NCAA Tournament in 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2010, 2015, and 2016.

FINAL FOUR FRENZY
RIT was the first team in NCAA history to reach the Frozen Four in its first postseason appearance in 2010 and was also the first Atlantic Hockey team to reach the national semifinals. RIT was one win away from duplicating that feat in 2014-15 after upsetting overall top-seed Minnesota State, 1-0, in the Midwest Region Semifinals.