Courtesy of RITAthletics.com
ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men’s hockey team returns home to host Atlantic Hockey foe American International College for a pair of league games on Friday, Nov. 3 and Saturday, Nov. 4. Both games from the Gene Polisseni Center get underway at 7:05 p.m.
Friday, RIT will look to black out the Gene Polisseni Center, as the first 3,000 fans in attendance receive a free black RIT t-shirt. In addition, there will be a ticket giveaway throughout the week for the first 1,000 RIT students, courtesy of Student Auxiliary Services. Saturday is American Sign Language Appreciation night.
RIT enters the weekend looking to extend its winning streak to three games. Last weekend, the Tigers won their first two games of the season, opening Atlantic Hockey play with 5-4 and 3-1 wins over Army West Point. On Friday, Matt Abt (Leduc, Alberta/Whitecourt Wolverines) scored two goals, while Abbott Girduckis (Belleville, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) dished out a career-high three assists. Jordan Peacock (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Cougars), Adam Brubacher (Elmira, Ontario/Powell River Kings) and Gabe Valenzuela (Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers) also scored, while Logan Drackett (Calgary, Alberta/Calgary Canucks) earned his first collegiate win in net, stopping 26 shots. Saturday, Peacock snapped a 1-1 tie with 2:49 left in regulation, while Drackett made 30 saves. Ryan Kruper (Sherwood Park, Alberta/Sherwood Park Crusaders) and Erik Brown (Keene, Ontario/Kemptville 73’s) also scored for the Tigers in Saturday’s victory.
Girduckis leads the team in scoring with seven points on two goals and five assists, all in the last three games. Brown has a team-high four goals and five points, while Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals) has a goal and team-best four assists. Drackett is 2-1-1 in goal with a 3.83 goals against average and an .882 save percentage.
On Tuesday, Abt was named the Atlantic Hockey Defensive Player of the Week, while Drackett was honored as the Rookie of the Week for the second time this season.
American International enters this weekend’s contests with a 1-5-2 record, including a 0-2-2 mark in conference play. The Yellow Jackets are riding a two-game unbeaten streak after a 3-2 win in overtime over No. 11 Penn State on Oct. 20 and a 2-2 tie versus Bentley on Nov. 24. Patrik Demel and Brennan Kapcheck are tied for the team lead in scoring with six points apiece, while Shawn McBride has a team-best four goals. In net, Zackarias Skog is 1-3-2 with a 3.24 goals against average and an .888 save percentage. Alex Murray has also played a pair of games in net.
RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 29-5-3. The Tigers are 17-2-2 all-time against the Yellow Jackets on home ice. Last season, the two teams split a pair of games in Springfield, Mass., with RIT rolling to a 5-0 win in the opener and AIC rebounding with a 5-3 victory the next day.
Both games will air on CW Rochester (Digital – 13.2, DirecTV – 14 and Spectrum – 16) and stream live on RIT Sports Zone with Gene Battaglia and John DiTullio on the call from the Polisseni Center. The pregame show with host Kevin Roche airs at 6:30 p.m. In addition, both contests will be broadcast over the airwaves on WITR 89.7 FMand WHTK 1280 AM, while live stats will also be available.
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