Courtesy of RITAthletics.com
ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men’s hockey team returns home to play its final two games of the regular season, as Atlantic Hockey leader Mercyhurst University comes to the Gene Polisseni Center for a pair of games on Friday, Feb. 23 and Saturday, Feb. 24. Both games will get underway at 7:05 p.m.
Friday is Fan Appreciation Night, while Saturday is Senior Night. The Tigers will honor seniors Matt Abt (Leduc, Alberta/Whitecourt Wolverines), Liam Kerins (Caledon, Ontario/North York Rangers), Max Mikowski (Cheekotwaga, NY/Buffalo Jr. Sabres), Brady Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers), Chase Norrish(Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) and Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals) before Saturday’s contest. 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.
The Atlantic Hockey playoff picture is still quite muddled as the final weekend of the regular season arrives. Mercyhurst is the current AHA leader with 32 points and is the only team to have clinched a first round bye. RIT enters the final weekend tied for fourth with 27 points. The top five teams receive a first round bye into the Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals, while teams 6-11 will play in the first round next weekend, March 2-4.
RIT (14-16-2, 13-12-1 AHA) enters the weekend having won four of its last five games. The Tigers were in action three times on the road last week, going 2-1. On Monday, Alden Dupuis (Edmonton, Alberta/Bonnyville Pontiacs ) scored two goals, including the game winner 1:50 into overtime, as RIT knocked off Mercyhurst, 6-5. Erik Brown (Keene, Ontario/Kemptville 73’s) recorded his first hat-trick in the win. On Saturday, Brown tied a Division I team record with four goals, while Christian Short(Vaughan, Ontario/Surrey Eagles) stopped all 18 shots he faced for his second shutout in RIT’s 5-0 win over Sacred Heart. Sunday, Sacred Heart broke a late third period tie to snap RIT’s four-game winning streak, 5-3. Mark Logan (Calgary, Alberta/Brooks Bandits), Brown and Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals) scored for RIT.
Brown, named the NCAA First Star and Atlantic Hockey Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday, has eight goals over his last three games (most in RIT’s DI era). He recorded his first collegiate hat-trick in RIT’s 6-5 overtime win at Mercyhurst last Monday and followed that up with a Division I team record tying four goals in Saturday’s 5-0 win at Sacred Heart. Sunday, he scored once and added an assist. Brown is second nationally with 25 goals this season. He is two goals shy of the RIT Division I single-season record, set by Matt Smith in 2007-08.
Powell is just one point shy from becoming the 10th player in RIT’s Division I history to reach 100 career points.
Mercyhurst (17-11-4, 14-8-4 AHA) has surged ahead in the Atlantic Hockey standings thanks to a 9-1-2 run over their last 12 games. Mercyhurst’s lone loss during the run came to RIT on Feb. 12, but they rebounded to earn a home-and-home sweep over Robert Morris last weekend, winning 2-1 and 3-2 in overtime. Derek Barach leads the Lakers in scoring with 33 points on 14 goals and 19 assists, while Jack Riley is right behind with 28 points, including a team-best 15 goals. Defenseman Zach Todd leads the team with 21 assists. The Lakers feature eight players with at least 20 points. In goal, Brandon Wildung is 16-9-4 with a 2.80 goals against average and a .918 save percentage.
This weekend marks the third and fourth meetings between RIT and Mercyhurst this season. The two teams were originally scheduled to play on Dec. 29-30, but the games were postponed due to excessive snow in Erie. Mercyhurst defeated RIT, 6-3 on Jan. 16. Derek Brach scored two goals and added an assist to lead the Lakers. Adam Brubacher (Elmira, Ontario/Powell River Kings) had a goal and an assist for RIT. Most recently, RIT earned a 6-5 overtime win over the Lakers on Feb. 12.
RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 40-21-6.
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 Fox Sports 1280 AM, while live stats will also be available. Friday’s game will air on CW Rochester at 10 p.m.
Come out and pack the Gene Polisseni Center this weekend as the Tigers make their final push towards the postseason.
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