Courtesy of RITAthletics.com
ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men’s hockey team begins the 2018 postseason by hosting Sacred Heart University in a best-of-three first round series on Friday, March 2, Saturday, March 3, and if necessary, Sunday, March 4. All weekend contests from the Gene Polisseni Center will begin at 7:05 p.m.
Tickets for all three games are available at the Gene Polisseni Center and Gordon Field House Box Offices, or by calling (585) 475-4121 or by visiting www.rithockey.com.
RIT is the No. 6 seed in the 2018 Atlantic Hockey Tournament, while Sacred Heart is the No. 11 seed. The winner of this weekend’s series will advance to the best-of-three Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals, which will take place from Friday, March 9 to Sunday, March 11. The league semifinal and championship will be at Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester March 16-17.
RIT (14-18-2, 13-14-1 AHA) heads into the weekend looking to snap a three-game losing streak after winning the previous four games before that. The Tigers dropped their final regular season games of the season last weekend at home to Mercyhurst by identical 4-3 scores. Max Mikowski (Cheekotwaga, NY/Buffalo Jr. Sabres), Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) and Erik Brown (Keene, Ontario/Kemptville 73’s) scored on Friday. Brown added two more goals, while Matt Abt(Leduc, Alberta/Whitecourt Wolverines) also tallied on Saturday.
Brown has 11 goals over his last five games and is second nationally with a RIT Division I team record 28 goals. Brown also leads the Tigers with 39 points. Senior Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals) is right behind with 34 points on 11 goals and a team-best 23 assists. Powell became the 10th player in RIT’s Division I history to reach 100 career points on Saturday. Junior Gabe Valenzuela (Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers) has 31 points on 10 goals and 21 assists. Defensemen Adam Brubacher (Elmira, Ontario/Powell River Kings), Matt Abt (Leduc, Alberta/Whitecourt Wolverines), Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) and Dan Willett (Bayville, NY/Bloomington Thunder) have combined for 71 points this season.
Sacred Heart (11-19-4, 9-15-4 AHA) wrapped up the regular season with a pair of losses at Army West Point last weekend, 6-0 and 4-3. Sacred Heart’s top-nine scorers are all freshmen and sophomores. Vito Bavaro leads the Pioneers in scoring with 29 points on 16 goals and 13 assists, while Mark Johnstone is right behind with 26 points. Johnstone and Matt Tugnutt leads the squad with 16 assists apiece. In goal, Brett Magnus is 11-13-2 with a 3.36 goals against average and an .894 save percentage.
RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 23-7-2. The two teams met just two weeks ago in Connecticut, as RIT earned a 5-0 win on Feb. 17 and Sacred Heart responded with a 5-3 victory the following day. Brown tied a Division I team record with four goals in the 5-0 win, while goaltender Christian Short (Vaughan, Ontario/Surrey Eagles) made 18 saves for the shutout. The next day, Sacred Heart’s Mike Crocock scored with 52 seconds left in regulation to break a 3-3 tie. Brown had a goal and an assist to lead the Tigers, while Powell and Mark Logan (Calgary, Alberta/Brooks Bandits) also scored.
Overall, the Tigers are 29-15 in the postseason at the Division I level, while appearing in their 11th Atlantic Hockey Tournament. RIT has won three Atlantic Hockey Championships, played in five title games, and made seven semifinal appearances. The Tigers are going for their third Atlantic Hockey Championship in the last four years.
Video for all weekend games are available online. In addition, each game will be aired on WITR 89.7 FM and Fox Sports 1280 with Ed Trefzger and Scott Biggar on the call. Live stats are also available.
Come out and support the Tigers as they attempt to win the 2018 Atlantic Hockey Championship.
Leave a Reply