Courtesy of RITAthletics.com
ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men’s hockey team is back in action this weekend with a pair of road games at Atlantic Hockey rival Air Force Academy. Both Friday and Saturday’s games from Cadet Ice Arena get underway at 9:05 p.m. EST.
The Tigers (5-3-1, 5-1-0 Atlantic Hockey) head into this weekend having won five of their last six games and currently sit tied for third in the Atlantic Hockey standings with 10 points. Last weekend, RIT won both games against league foe Robert Morris, 5-3 on Friday and 5-2 Saturday. Friday, RIT scored three times in the third period to rally from a 3-2 deficit. Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals), Max Mikowski (Cheekotwaga, NY/Buffalo Jr. Sabres), Jake Hamacher (Corona, CA/Dubuque Fighting Saints), Erik Brown (Keene, Ontario/Kemptville 73’s) and Alden Dupuis (Edmonton, Alberta/Bonnyville Pontiacs ) scored for the Tigers, while Logan Drackett (Calgary, Alberta/Calgary Canucks) made 19 saves. Saturday, Matt Abt (Leduc, Alberta/Whitecourt Wolverines), Abbott Girduckis (Belleville, Ontario/Wellington Dukes), Brown, Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) and Shawn Cameron (Sherbrooke, Quebec/Cumberland Grads) scored, while Drackett made 34 saves. Gabe Valenzeula added four assists in the weekend sweep.
Girduckis leads the team in scoring with 12 points (4-8-12) in nine games this season, while Valenzuela (4-7-11) and Powell (2-9-11) are right behind with 11. Brown has a team-best six goals, as the Tigers are currently tied for eighth nationally, averaging 3.56 goals per game. In net, Drackett is 5-2-1 overall this season and has a 2.65 goals against average and .910 save percentage in league play.
Air Force (5-5-2, 1-4-1 Atlantic Hockey) is looking to snap a five-game winless streak and currently sit tenth in the league standings with three points. Air Force, the defending Atlantic Hockey Champions, earned one point on the road last weekend at conference foe Holy Cross, losing 3-0 on Friday, while skating to a 3-3 tie Saturday. Evan Giesler leads the team in scoring with a goal and seven assists for eight points in 12 games. Matt Serratore has a team-high five goals and seven points, while Matt Koch and Jordan Himley also have seven points apiece. In net, Billy Christopoulous has played in all 12 games and has a 5-5-2 mark, 2.25 goals against average and a .917 save percentage.
Air Force leads the all-time series between the two schools, 27-20-4. A remarkable 28 of 46 meetings since RIT moved to Division I in 2005 have ended in ties or one-goal. RIT and Air Force also meet for a pair of meetings at the Gene Polisseni Center on Jan. 12-13, 2018.
Both games will be aired online. Ed Trefzger and Matt Campbell will bring you the call of the game on both WITR 98.7 FM and Fox Sports 1280 AM. In addition, there will be live stats for both Friday and Saturday’s games.
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