By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
As RIT’s Brick City Homecoming game has grown into an annual can’t-miss event in downtown Rochester, some of the biggest names in college hockey have come to town.
In successive years, between 2013 and 2015, Penn State, Michigan and Boston College played the Tigers at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.
Next year, one of the biggest names in collegiate sports — Notre Dame — will be the opponent. The date for October 2020 is pending.
The Tigers planned to make the announcement during tonight’s 2019 Brick City game against Merrimack, which drew 9,805 fans.
In scheduling an opponent for homecoming, RIT coach Wayne Wilson has wanted the game to not only be special for fans, yet also to provide a measuring stick for his club.
But it’s not always easy to convince one of the elite programs to visit Rochester in October, since they’ll be playing only one game. If a team is going to travel, it prefers to play two games.
This year, Merrimack was able to play a non-conference game against Holy Cross on Thursday.
The lure, however, can be the atmosphere of a sold-out arena with 10,000-plus fans, as well as knowing it should be a game an elite program should win. Playing in front of a rowdy, unfriendly crowd can be good preparation for tournament time.
RIT and the Irish have never played. The Tigers only brush with the school came in 2015, when the NCAA Midwest Regional was played at Compton Family Ice Arena on the Notre Dame campus. RIT upended top overall seed Minnesota State-Mankato before losing in the finals to Nebraska-Omaha.
The Irish have played in the Frozen Four two of the previous three seasons (2017 and 2018) and earned an NCAA tournament berth in six of the past seven years.
To return the favor, RIT will travel to South Bend, Ind., to play the Irish twice in October of 2021.
Leave a Reply