Courtesy of RITAthletics.com
ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men’s hockey team heads to No. 9 Providence College for its final two non-conference games of the regular season on Friday, Dec. 8 and Saturday, Dec. 9. Friday’s game gets underway at 7:15 p.m., while Saturday’s contest begins at 7:05 p.m.
RIT heads into the two-game series with a 7-6-1 record, including a 7-3-0 mark in Atlantic Hockey play. Last weekend, the Tigers split a pair of home games against Holy Cross, falling 4-2 on Friday, while rebounding to win 5-3 on Saturday. Erik Brown (Keene, Ontario/Kemptville 73’s) and Abbott Girduckis (Belleville, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) scored for RIT, while Logan Drackett (Calgary, Alberta/Calgary Canucks) made 14 saves. Saturday, Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals) scored twice, while Adam Brubacher (Elmira, Ontario/Powell River Kings), Mark Logan (Calgary, Alberta/Brooks Bandits) and Brown added goals in a 5-3 win. In net, Christian Short (Vaughan, Ontario/Surrey Eagles) earned his first win of the season, stopping 27 shots.
Brown is riding a seven-game goal scoring streak, which ties a Division I team record originally set by Matt Crowell during the 2008-09 season. It is the longest current goal-scoring streak in Division I. Brown leads the team and is tied for seventh nationally with 11 goals. Brown also leads the Tigers with 17 points. Abbott Girduckis(Belleville, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) and Powell are right behind with 16 points, while Gabe Valenzuela (Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers) has 15. In net, Drackett is 6-4-1 with a 3.21 goals against average and an .886 save percentage.
Providence enters the weekend with a 9-6-1 overall record and 6-4-1 mark in Hockey East. Last weekend, the Friars split a home-and-home series with New Hampshire, winning 5-2 on Friday, while falling 1-0 on the road Saturday. Erik Foley leads the team in scoring with 18 points on nine goals and nine assists. Jacob Bryson leads the Friars with 11 assists. In net, Hayden Hawkey is 9-6-0 with a 2.47 goals against average and a .912 save percentage. The Friars have nine NHL draft picks on their roster.
Providence won both previous meetings between the two schools, last season at the Gene Polisseni Center by scores of 5-1 and 3-1. Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) scored RIT’s goal in the first contest, while Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals) scored in game two. Hawkey made 65 saves on 67 shots in the two wins for the Friars.
Both games will be available on WITR 89.7 FM or Fox Sports 1280 AM, with Ed Trefzger and Scott Biggar on the call. There will also be a live video stream and live statistics for both Friday and Saturday’s games.
After this weekend, RIT will play its final 18 regular season games against Atlantic Hockey opponents, starting Dec. 29-30 at Mercyhurst. RIT is back on home ice on Jan. 12-13, 2018 vs. Air Force.
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