Courtesy of RITAthletics.com
ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men’s hockey team will host Atlantic Hockey rival Holy Cross in its final two home games of the 2017 calendar year this weekend, Dec. 1-2. Both Friday and Saturday’s contests from the Gene Polisseni Center begin at 7:05 p.m.
On Friday, RIT will hold a Tiger Teddy Bear Toss. Fans are urged to bring a new stuffed animal to throw on the ice after RIT’s first goal. All stuffed animals will be donated to the Rochester Regional Health’s Children’s Unit. Saturday is Holiday Sweater Night and RIT’s Tiger Den event. Fans who wear a holiday sweater receive a free food voucher. Also on Saturday, Rick Mislan, author or the children’s book “RITchie Finds His Stripes” will hold a pregame signing. Copies of the book will be available for sale at the RIT SpiRIT store.
There will also be a holiday skate at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 3. Fans will receive a free team photo for autographs and can skate with their favorite players. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted for Hockey Coaches Care. Tickets for both games are available at the Gene Polisseni Center and Gordon Field House Box Offices, or by calling (585) 475-4121 or by visiting www.rittickets.com.
RIT is currently 6-5-1 in 2017-18, with a 6-2-0 mark in Atlantic Hockey play. The Tigers are looking to get back in the win column after suffering a 2-1 loss at Connecticut on Saturday. Erik Brown (Keene, Ontario/Kemptville 73’s) scored RIT’s lone goal midway through the first period off a feed from Abbott Girduckis (Belleville, Ontario/Wellington Dukes). Christian Short (Vaughan, Ontario/Surrey Eagles) was strong in net, tying a career-high by stopping 32 of 34 shots.
Brown, Girduckis and Gabe Valenzuela (Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers) are tied for the team lead with 14 points, while Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals) is right behind with 13. Brown has a goal in five straight games and leads the team with nine tallies in 12 games. Powell has a team-best 11 assists. In net, Logan Drackett (Calgary, Alberta/Calgary Canucks) is 6-3-1 with a 3.32 goals against average and an .889 save percentage.
Holy Cross enters the weekend with a 5-4-6 record, including a 4-1-5 mark in conference play. Last weekend, the Crusaders hosted Arizona State for a pair of non-conference contests, falling 3-1 on Friday and skating to a 3-3 tie the next night. Scott Pooley is tied for the lead among all Division I skaters with 13 goals and has 16 points to pace the Crusaders in scoring. T.J. Moore leads the team with eight assists and is second with 11 points. Eight different Crusaders have at least eight points. In goal, Paul Berrafato has played all 15 games and is 5-4-6 with a 2.33 goals against average and a .926 save percentage to go along with three shutouts.
This weekend will mark games one and two of a four-game series between the two teams this season. The Tigers and Crusaders will also meet at Holy Cross on Jan. 26-27, 2018.
RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 25-13-7, including a 21-8-7 edge since moving to Division I in 2005. Last season, RIT and Holy Cross split the season series, with Holy Cross earning a 4-0 win and RIT winning 2-1 on an overtime goal by Adam Brubacher (Elmira, Ontario/Powell River Kings) the next evening.
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 Saturday at 6:30 p.m. In addition, both contests will be broadcast over the airwaves on WITR 89.7 FM and Fox Sports 1280 AM, while live stats will also be available. Friday’s game will air on CW Rochester at 10 p.m.
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