ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT Men's Hockey team hosts Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) rival Niagara on Tuesday for its only game of the week. Currently in second place in the AHA standing with only four regular season games remaining, the Tigers look to solidify their claim for a first-round postseason bye and a home quarterfinal series to open the conference tournament with a win.
 
RIT bounced back from a 6-2 setback at Army last Friday with a 3-2 overtime decision in Saturday's rematch. Niagara split its second-straight AHA doubleheader, following up a 2-1 OT setback to visiting Air Force on Friday with a 4-2 win on Saturday.
 
FOLLOW LIVE
Watch: FloHockey.tv/watch
Stream: Amazon Prime, Fubo, Bell Fibe, YouTube (via FAST)
PxP/Color: Gene Battaglia, John DiTullio
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, Matt Campbell
Live Stats: ritathletics.com/sidearmstats/mhockey
 
TUESDAY'S GAME TO BE BROADCAST ON FLOHOCKEY FAST CHANNEL
Tuesday night's game will be broadcast on FloHockey and FloHockey's FAST (Free Ad-Supported Telvision) channel as an initial test run to explore future opportunities between the AHA and FloHockey. The game will be carried nationally on FAST platforms via Amazon Prime Video, Fubo, Bell Fibe TV in Canada and YouTube.
 
The FloHockey 24/7 FAST Channel provides hockey fans direct access to rising talent and competitive leagues under the NHL level, including the AHA, and is currently the only FAST channel airing live hockey games nationally during the season. The channel is available on platforms with significant reach, including Amazon Prime Video (78 million), Fubo (6.2 million), Bell (4.6 million) and YouTube. This test run will help evaluate the potential for expanded collaboration and broader exposure opportunities moving forward.
 
TIGER REWIND
RIT senior forward Simon Isabelle scored the game-winning goal with 1:06 left in overtime to lead the Tigers to a 3-2 win at Army last Saturday. First-year forward Evan Konyen logged a goal and the game-winning assist while first-year forward Caleb Elfering also found the net in the victory. Sophomore goaltender Jakub Krbeck ended the game with 31 saves, including 18 during the third period and three in overtime.
 
Elfering broke a 1-1 tie with 6:05 left in regulation, but Army later converted a penalty shot with 14.9 left in regulation after a RIT player was deemed to have covered a puck on the crease during a melee around the Tiger goal. In the 3-on-3 overtime, Isabelle took a feed from Konyen in the slot and one-timed the deciding tally inside the left post.
 
On Friday, Army scored the lone goal of the first period before out-scoring RIT 2-1 in the second and 3-1 in the third for a 6-2 decision -- only the third victory over the visiting Tigers in the history of the series dating back to 2006 and first since 2019. Senior defenseman Xavier Lapointe and sophomore Tristan Allen scored goals for the Tigers.
 
KING KONYEN
First-year forward Even Konyen was named the AHA Rookie of the Month for January. Konyen leads RIT with 12 goals and 22 points. In 10 games last month, Konyen totaled nine points on five goals and four assists, including two game-winning tallies. He scored the game-winning goal in RIT's 1-0 shutout of Penn State (Jan. 3) on his way to AHA Rookie of the Week honors and was also credited with the game-winner, along with an assist and two blocked shots in the Tigers' 3-2 overtime win over Robert Morris (Jan. 10).
 
THE KILLERS
RIT currently ranks inside the top-20 nationally in penalty killing and scoring defense. The Tigers sit 14th killing 83.7 percent of opponent power plays while only allowing 2.53 goals per game -- 17th best in the country.
 
ZACH ATTACK
First-year forward Zach Wigle is ranked second for the  RIT with 21 points on six goals and a team-best 15 assists. He has at least a point in nine of RIT's last 12 games, totaling 12 points on two goals and 10 assists. Over the same span, he has also notched double-digit faceoff wins on nine occasions, winning 58.8 percent (163-277) of his draws. He scored a goal and won a career-high 19 faceoffs on 25 attempts for a .760 winning percentage--also a personal best--in the 3-3 home tie versus Niagara (Jan. 24) and most recently won 28 of 43 draws (65.1) during the two games at Army.
 
BRIMMING WITH CONFIDENCE
Senior forward Austin Brimmer ranks fourth for the Tigers with 20 points on seven goals and 13 assists.  Brimmer was named the AHA Player of the Week (Jan. 27) after logging back-to-back multi-point games during RIT's home-and-home series versus Niagara. He started with a goal and an assist in Friday's 4-2 victory as the Tigers won at Niagara for the first time since 2018. He then logged two assists to help the Tigers come back for a 3-3 tie on Saturday that ended in a shootout victory.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• RIT is currently 14-2-1 when scoring at least three goals but is 2-10-1 when scoring fewer than three goals
• RIT is 15-2-1 when holding opponents under three goals, but 1-10-1 when allowing three or more goals.
• The Tigers are 16-2 when holding at least a share of the lead after two periods this season, including an 11-0 mark when leading after 40 minutes of play. However, RIT is 0-10-2 when trailing entering the third period.
 
TIGERS VS. NIAGARA
Friday's game will mark the 61st all-time D1-era meeting between RIT and Niagara. The Tigers trail the all-time series, 21-25-15, including a 10-10-8 home record and a 10-14-7road mark. RIT snapped a four-game slide versus the Purple Eagles with a 4-2 road win last month (Jan. 23), before returning to the GPC for a 3-3 tie the following night that ended in a 1-0 shootout win for the Tigers.