As regular season comes to a close, RIT gears up for playoff run

By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA

The old adage says you want to be playing your best hockey heading into the playoffs.

But after going through a bit of a February funk, the Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers would be much happier if they’re playing their best during the playoffs.

Having officially wrapped up Atlantic Hockey’s regular season championship last weekend, and having been atop the league standings since October, you can understand how the Tigers were perhaps tempted to play on cruise control this month.

“It’s a bit weird because we gave ourselves enough room to be able to be in this position,” sophomore winger Tanner Andrew said.

But don’t worry, RIT is well aware of what’s at stake come Friday, March 3, when the best-of-three AHA quarterfinals begin at the Gene Polisseni Center against either Niagara or Mercyhurst.

They proved that on Friday night. With only pride at stake, RIT played an efficient, smart game and defeated visiting Air Force 3-1.

Andrew scored two goals, Gianfranco Cassaro scored one and goalie Tommy Scarfone was terrific in making 30 saves as the Tigers improved to 21-11-1, 17-6-1 heading into Saturday’s rematch and regular-season finale.

“I think we’re very relaxed, I think we’re very confident,” captain Andrew Petrucci said. “If we can play five-on-five, I don’t think there is a team in our division that can handle us.”

Ah, yes, playing five-on-five. It definitely has been more a luxury than the norm. RIT is the most penalized team in the country. No team has been short-handed more times than the Tigers (159), who at least are good at killing penalties (86.8 percent effective).

But against an Air Force team also proficient at taking penalties (the Falcons are the fifth-most penalized team in the NCAA), the Tigers were smart. They took just two minors while converting on one of their two power plays.

The overall performance was the type the coaching staff was hoping to see with the postseason just a week away, especially with how the Tigers closed January and played in February.

They lost five of seven games, all to AHA opponents. Two losses came at Niagara which will finish either seventh or eighth in the standings.

“Between Dec. 31 and last weekend, we only played three home games (along with 10 road games),” coach Wayne Wilson said. “I just thought we looked a little tired. We were on the road a lot, and then there’s the whole student piece to it as well.

“So we just needed to get home and get energized.”

If they play it right – and play well – they’ll be at home for three consecutive weekends. If the Tigers keep winning, they’ll keep hosting. Atlantic Hockey scrapped the neutral-site final four format and this year the top-seeded teams will host the best-of-three semifinals, and then the winner-take-all title game.

“There’s not a big difference between teams, so being at home, whatever advantage that gives us, we’ll take it,” Wilson said.

The Tigers haven’t won a regular-season AHA championship since 2011. They did win playoff championships in 2015 and 2016.

Still, this entire roster – other than Cassaro, a transfer from 2021 NCAA-champion UMass-Amherst, and Calvon Boots, who transferred from 2019-2020 regular season champ American International College – has never won any title.

Winning either a regular-season title or post-season crown was once the norm for every freshman class at RIT. Before a class had finished their four years, they always won hardware. The streak ended in 2020 and 2021. This current team is hoping to reestablish the tradition and turn the regular-season/post-season daily double for this senior class.

“It’s a big goal for us for them to leave with that,” Andrew said.