ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT Men's Hockey Team hosts two games versus Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Friday and Saturday nights at the Gene Polisseni Center.
 
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The Tigers look to get back in the win column after a three-game winless streak opposite ranked opponents, including a 5-1 setback to now second-ranked Michigan State last Saturday in the 19th-annual Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend game at Blue Cross Arena.
 
Receiving votes in both of this week's national polls, the Engineers hit the road for the first time this season after winning three of four games in Troy to open the campaign. RPI earned a two-game sweep of Long Island University (3-2, 2-1) last weekend and a split with Ohio State (W 3-0, L, 3-2) two weeks ago.
 
TIGER REWIND
RIT fell, 5-1, to unbeaten Michigan State last Saturday night in front of a sellout Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend crowd of 10,556 at Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester.
 
The Spartans converted and early power play to open the scoring 2:25 into the contest for the lone goal of the first period and later took a 2-0 lead six minutes into the second.
 
First-year forward Lucas Romeo got the Tigers on the board with a power play tally at 12:52 of the second, but Michigan State scored three unanswered tallies in the final period, including a short-handed goal at 13:34 and an empty-netter with 2:23 remaining, to close the win. Junior defenseman Tristan Allen and sophomore forward Caleb Elfering were credited with assists on Romeo's second goal of the season.
 
RIT junior goaltender Jakub Krbecek finished with 32 saves for his 20th career game with at least 30 stops as Michigan State finished with a 37-26 shot advantage.
 
RANK AND FILE
Then third-ranked Michigan State was the highest ranked team RIT has played in the regular season since falling 6-2 at No. 2 Boston College on Nov. 28, 2015. RIT's last win over a ranked team was a 1-0 shutout of No. 8/9 Penn State on Jan. 3 of last season.
 
ALL IT TAKES IS ONE SPARK
After starting the season scoreless on their first 12 power play attempts, the Tigers converted their first extra-man goal of the season last Saturday against Michigan State.
 
YOU AGAIN
RPI head coach Eric Lang enters his second season leading the Engineers. Lang previously served as head coach at former Atlantic Hockey-rival American International College from 2016-25, leading the Yellowjackets to three conference championships and three NCAA Tournament appearances during his nine seasons on the bench. AIC left the AHA and dropped their program down to the NCAA Division II level prior to the 2025-26 season.
 
TENDER LOVING CARE
• Junior goaltender Jakub Krbecek's 48 saves in the 2-2 tie versus No. 18 UMass (Oct. 9) were the third highest single-game total in RIT D1-era history and the most since Jocelyn Guimond made 53 in 3-1 loss at No. 8 Cornell (Jan. 7, 2006) during the Tigers' first season as a D1 program. Guimond also made a D1-era record 66 in a 3-2 win versus St. Lawrence (Oct. 28, 2005) that same season.
• Krbecek's 48 saves are the second-highest total in the nation so far this season. Lake Superior first-year Anders Miller totaled 49 stops in a 4-3 win over Lindenwood the same night.
• Krbecek notched his fourth career game with at least 40 saves, eclipsing his previous career-high 44 stops he made on two previous occasions, including a 1-0 shutout of visiting Penn State (Jan. 3) last season.
• Sophomore goaltender Collin Mackenzie totaled a career-high 41 saves the following night in a 5-1 setback, becoming the 11th RIT goaltender to register at least 40 saves in a game while tying for the 20th-highest total in the Tiger record book. His save total is also tied for the 10th most in the country this year.