Courtesy of RITAthletics.com
ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men’s hockey team opens Atlantic Hockey play with its first two road games of the season at Army West Point on Friday, Oct. 27 and Saturday, Oct. 28. Both games from Tate Rink in West Point begin at 7:05 p.m.
The Tigers (0-2-1) are looking for their first win of the 2017-18 season after dropping a pair of home games last weekend, 6-1 to Union and 8-3 to Rensselaer. Erik Brown(Keene, Ontario/Kemptville 73’s) scored RIT’s lone goal on Friday, while Christian Short (Vaughan, Ontario/Surrey Eagles) made 26 saves. On Saturday, Abbott Girduckis(Belleville, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) scored a pair of first period goals and added an assist, while Jordan Peacock (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Cougars) scored and Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals) dished out a pair of assists. Logan Drackett (Calgary, Alberta/Calgary Canucks) got the start in net, making 15 saves, while Ian Andriano (Barrie, Ontario/Ottawa Jr. Senators) played the final 10 minutes, stopping two shots.
Brown, Girduckis and Powell leads the team in scoring with three points apiece.
Army West Point comes into the weekend having played all four of its games in league play. The Black Knights are 3-1-0, good for six points and the early lead in the league standings. Last weekend Army West Point went on the road and split a pair of games at Robert Morris. The Black Knights lost the opener last Friday, 4-2, but rebounded to win on Saturday, 3-1. Army is out-scoring its opponents, 12-7 this season. Dominic Franco leads the team in scoring with seven points on two goals and five assists, while Michael Wilson is right behind with a team-best three goals and three assists for six points. In net, Cole Bruns has played in all four games, recording a 1.77 goals against average and a .947 save percentage.
RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 17-3-6 and is 8-1-3 against Army West Point at Tate Rink. RIT swept the only two meetings between the two schools last season at the Gene Polisseni Center by scores of 6-2 and 2-1. The Tigers are a remarkable 16-1-4 against Army over the last 21 meetings.
The Tigers were picked to finish fourth in the 2017-18 Atlantic Hockey Association preseason poll, while Army West Point was predicted to finish third.
A live stream for both games will be available, as will audio and live stats. In Rochester, the games will be carried over the radio on WITR 89.7 FM and WHTK 1280 AM with Scott Biggar and Ed Trefzger on the call.
Follow the Tigers as they attempt to win a third Atlantic Hockey Championship in four seasons. RIT won league titles in 2010, 2015 and 2016.
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