ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT Men's Hockey Team hits the road for two games at nationally-ranked Massachusetts this Friday and Saturday in the first-ever meetings between the teams.
 
The Tigers opened the 65th season in program history with an Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) home-and-home split with Niagara, bouncing back from a 4-1 road setback last Friday with a 4-2 victory at the Gene Polisseni Center last Saturday.  The Minutemen look to rebound from a pair of losses at Colorado College, 2-0 and 6-1, to kick off their season last Friday and Saturday.
 
FOLLOW LIVE
Watch: ESPN+ - Friday | Saturday
Watch (International): hockeyeast.tv
Local Audio: WITR 89.7 FM or FOX Sports 1280 AM
Web Audio: witr.rit.edu or foxsports1280.iheart.com
PxP/Color: Ed Trefzger, Matt Campbell
Live Stats: ritathletics.com/sidearmstats/mhockey
 
TIGER REWIND
RIT sophomore forward Will Moore notched a career-high two goals to lead the Tigers to a 4-2 victory over Niagara last Saturday in the home opener.
 
After trading goals in the first three minutes of regulation, including the first of sophomore defenseman Matthew Mania's career in a RIT sweater 41 seconds into the contest, RIT took a 3-1 lead on second-period goals by first-year forward Julian Demiglio and Moore. Niagara pulled back within one 1:20 into the third, but Moore put the game away with an empty-netter in the final minute to seal the first win of the season. Nine Tigers were credited with at least one point, including senior defenseman Kevin Scott (2A) and sophomore forward Caleb Elfering (2A).
 
Friday's opener saw Niagara break a 1-1 tie after 20 minutes of play with three-unanswered goals the rest of the way to secure the win. Sophomore forward Camden Bajzer scored RIT's first goal of the season to knot the score, 1-1, at 11:50 of the first period, but the Purple Eagles tallied 1:17 into the second for a lead they would not relinquish. First-year forward Ryan Shaw and Mania  were each credited with assists on the Tiger goal for their first points for RIT.
 
Junior goaltender Jakub Krbecek stopped 27 shots in the opener as Niagara out-shot the Tigers, 31-18. He made 28 saves in Saturday's rematch, including 13 in the second period, as RIT finished the night with a 33-30 shot advantage.
 
BACKWARD GLANCE
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.
 
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.
 
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.