ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT Men's Hockey wraps up the regular season with two road games opposite Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) foe Holy Cross, Friday and Saturday.
 
The Tigers look to bounce back from a 4-3 setback to Bentley last Friday in the final home game of the regular season, while Holy Cross dropped both ends of a road doubleheader at Sacred Heart, falling, 5-1, last Friday and, 5-2, last Saturday.
 
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Live Stats: ritathletics.com/sidearmstats/mhockey
 
PLAYOFF UPDATE
RIT enters the final weekend of the regular season having clinched no lower than the sixth seed and a first-round bye to the AHA Tournament quarterfinals. Currently tied for second place in the AHA standings with Sacred Heart (42 pts.), the Tigers need three points to wrap up no lower than the third seed and could finish as high as second based on other results.
 
Of the teams currently within six points of second place in the standings, RIT owns the tiebreaker over Robert Morris (39), while Sacred Heart (42) and Canisius (36) would win tiebreakers with the Tigers based on head-to-head winning percentage. RIT also enters the weekend with the tiebreaker over Holy Cross (39) based on having one more conference win.
 
TIGER REWIND
RIT looks to bounce back from a 4-3 setback to visiting Bentley last Friday, in its final home game of the regular season. The Tigers opened a 1-0 first-period lead on a goal by junior forward Christian Catalano, but the Falcons outscored the Tigers, 4-1, in the second for what proved to be a decisive lead. RIT first-year forward William Moore pulled the Tigers within one with a 6-on-5 goal with 49.0 left in regulation to complete the night. Senior defenseman Xavier Lapointe logged a goal and an assist, while sophomore goaltender Jakub Krbecek totaled 21 saves in the loss. RIT finished with a 32-25 shot advantage, holding the Falcons without an attempt on goal in the third period.
 
ZACH ATTACK
First-year forward Zach Wigle is tied for the team lead with 22 points on seven goals and a team-best 16 assists. He has at least a point in 10 of RIT's last 15 games, totaling 14 points on three goals and 11 assists. Over the same span, he has also notched double-digit faceoff wins on 10 occasions, winning 57.9 percent (179-309) 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 won 28 of 43 draws (65.1) during the two games at Army.
 
KING KONYEN
First-year forward Evan Konyen was named the AHA Rookie of the Month for January. Konyen leads RIT with 12 goals and is tied for first with 23 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).
 
BRIMMING WITH CONFIDENCE
Senior forward Austin Brimmer is tied for the team lead with a career-high 23 points on eight goals and 15 assists. He recently notched a goal and an assist the Tigers' 2-1 win over Niagara (Feb. 10) for his sixth multi-point game of the season. 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, including a goal and an assist in the opening 4-2 victory to mark the Tigers' first road win versus the Purple Eagles since 2018.
 
THE KILLERS
RIT currently ranks in the top-20 nationally in penalty killing and scoring defense. The Tigers sit 11th killing 83.7 percent of opponent power plays while only allowing 2.53 goals per game -- 20th best in the country.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• RIT is currently 14-3-1 when scoring at least three goals but is 3-10-1 when scoring fewer than three goals
• RIT is 16-2-1 when holding opponents under three goals, but 1-11-1 when allowing three or more goals.
• The Tigers are 17-2 when holding at least a share of the lead after two periods this season, including an 12-0 mark when leading after 40 minutes of play. However, RIT is 0-11-2 when trailing entering the third period.
 
TIGERS VS. HOLY CROSS
Friday's game will be RIT's 60th D1-era meeting with Holy Cross. The Tigers lead the series, 34-17-8, including a 20-9-5 home record and a 14-8-3 mark on the road. The Crusaders have won five of the last eight meetings, sweeping both matchups in Rochester last season, 9-2 and 3-0 (Feb. 7-8). The Tigers have won six of their last 10 trips to Worcester, sweeping both games, 3-2 and 3-2 in overtime, in October of the 2023-24 season during their most recent visit.