Courtesy of RITAthletics.com
ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men’s hockey team unveiled its 2018-19 season schedule on Tuesday, June 19. The Tigers will play 34 regular season games and one exhibition contest. RIT will play 16 regular season home games at the Gene Polisseni Center, and one contest at Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester in addition to 17 away games.
On Saturday, Oct. 6, RIT will kick off the season with an exhibition contest against Wilfrid Laurier University from the Gene Polisseni Center at 7:05 p.m.
RIT opens the regular season on the road with a pair of games against UMass Lowell of Hockey East on Oct. 12-13. The River Hawks won the 2017 Hockey East Championship and have made five NCAA Tournament appearances over the last seven seasons.
The Tigers will host Colgate University at Blue Cross Arena during Brick City Homecoming & Family Weekend on Saturday, Oct. 20, at 7:05 p.m. It is the 12th straight year RIT will play downtown during its annual homecoming weekend. RIT has drawn sellout crowds of 10,556 fans seven times at Blue Cross Arena, making it one of the most sought-after tickets in Rochester.
“We are excited to welcome our alumni back and host Colgate downtown in one of the best college hockey environments around,” said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson, who enters his 20th season behind the bench at RIT in 2018-19. “Colgate returns one of the best goaltenders in the country (Colton Point), who could be a Hobey Baker Award candidate, along with Erik Brown (Keene, Ontario/Kemptville 73’s). It’s always fun to play downtown and we have played very well there.”
On Nov. 24, the Tigers head east to play a single game at 2018 Beanpot Tournament Champion and NCAA Tournament participant Northeastern University and wrap up the non-conference slate with a pair of home contests against Arizona State University on Feb 1-2.
“I really like our non-conference schedule,” said Wilson. “UMass Lowell has been at the top of Hockey East for a long time, so that will be a great challenge right away. We played Northeastern to 3-3 tie in a great game downtown last year and Arizona State has earned instant credibility in their first few years, which should make for two good games later in the year.”
RIT will play 28 of its 34 regular season games against Atlantic Hockey foes. Last season, just 14 points separated all 11 teams. This year, the Tigers will play four games against American International College, Niagara University, Robert Morris University, Sacred Heart University, Air Force Academy and two each versus Air Force Academy, Army West Point, Bentley University, Canisius College, The College of the Holy Cross and Mercyhurst University.
The Tigers open league play with four straight road games over back-to-back weekends, first at Robert Morris on Oct. 26-27 and Mercyhurst, Nov. 2-3.
RIT returns home to play eight straight home games against league foes to close out the 2018 calendar year. The Tigers play their first home games of the 2018-19 season against American International on Nov. 9-10 and welcome Canisius for a rare mid-week game on Wednesday, Nov. 13. Two-time defending league champion Air Force comes to the Polisseni Center for its only two matchups of the year, Nov. 30-Dec. 1, while Sacred Heart is in town the following weekend. RIT hosts Niagara in its final game of the fall semester on Dec. 15.
After the holiday break, RIT rings in 2019 with a home-and-home series against Niagara. The Tigers are at the Purple Eagles on Jan. 4 and return home for a game the following night. RIT will make consecutive weekend trips to Massachusetts to face AIC on Jan. 11-12 and Bentley on Jan. 18-19. The Falcons opened their new building in Feb. 2018. RIT returns home to take on Army for two key games on Jan. 25-26.
After opening February with their final two non-conference games against Arizona State, the Tigers hit the road for two tough series, first at Holy Cross on Feb. 8-9 and at Sacred Heart the following weekend. RIT returns home to play a pair of games against Robert Morris on Feb. 22-23 before heading to Niagara for its final road game at Niagara on Feb. 27. The Tigers wrap up the regular season with a home game against Canisius on Saturday, March 2.
RIT will play three Saturday matinee home contests this season against American International on Nov. 10, Sacred Heart on Dec. 8 and Army West Point on Jan. 26. All three contests will begin at 5:05 p.m.
“Our league continues to improve, year-in and year-out, and every game is a battle,” said Wilson. “I don’t know how much tighter our league can get, top to bottom. Points will be valuable throughout and whoever comes out of our league has proven to do well in the NCAA Tournament. As Atlantic Hockey continues to progress, we hope to have more teams make the national tournament.”
The Atlantic Hockey playoffs begin with a best-of-three series for the sixth through 11th place finishers from March 8-10. The top five teams get a first round bye. Quarterfinal action will be held at the top four sites from March 15-17. The Atlantic Hockey Tournament Semifinals and Championship will be held on March 22-23 at the Blue Cross Arena for the 13th straight season.
RIT will look to earn its third league title in five seasons and fourth berth in the NCAA Tournament as a Division I program. The 2019 NCAA Division I Tournament begins on March 29 and ends with the Frozen Four on April 11 and April 13 at the Key Bank Center in Buffalo.
RIT, the 2010, 2015, and 2016 Atlantic Hockey Champions, won 15 games during the 2017-18 season.
Season and single game ticket information will be released in the near future at www.ritathletics.com and www.rittickets.com. Season ticket package renewals begin July 9, while new season ticket sales start for the RIT community July 23 and general public on July 27. Single game, flex pack, and group tickets will go sale on Aug. 6 For more information, contact the Gene Polisseni Center box office at 585-475-2516 or visit www.rittickets.com.
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