Unbeaten at 5-0-1 in their previous six games, the Tigers look to keep things rolling following a two-game sweep at Arizona State, while Holy Cross is 2-1-2 in the New Year after a 2-2 tie and a 4-1 loss at Sacred Heart last week.
The Atlantic Hockey-leading Tigers play the first of five-consecutive conference doubleheaders to close the regular season while looking to complete a season sweep of Holy Cross after defeating the visiting Crusaders, 5-2 and 3-2 (OT) on Oct. 28-29.
Watch: FloHockey.tv/events
Local Audio: WITR 89.7 FM or FOX Sports 1280 AM
Web Audio: witr.rit.edu or foxsports1280.iheart.com
PxP/Color: Ed Trefzger, Scott Biggar
Live Stats: goholycross.com/sidearmstats/mhockey
Twitter: @RITMHKY
TIGER TRACKS
RIT earned a pair of victories at Arizona State last week, starting with a 5-1 win on Friday, before coming back for a 5-3 decision on Saturday. The Tigers were winless in six previous meetings with the Sun Devils.
Friday saw RIT build a 4-0 lead, including three unanswered second-period tallies, before sophomore forward Carter Wilkie scored at the 11:43 mark for a five-goal lead. Arizona State scored a power-play tally with 1:35 left in regulation to spoil sophomore goaltender Tommy Scarfone's (24 saves) shutout bid.
Arizona State built a 2-0 lead early in the second period and later retook a 3-2 lead 27 seconds into the third, but sophomore forward Tanner Andrew found the net 18 seconds later for the first of three unanswered Tiger goals en route to the victory. Wilkie finished a five-point weekend with two more assists, while Andrew, graduate student forward Andrew Petrucci, junior forward Cody Laskosky and junior defenseman Dimitri Mikrogiannakis all finished with a goal and an assist each. Junior goaltender Kolby Matthews totaled 32 saves in his fourth start of the season.
POLL WATCHING
RIT moved up on spot to No. 18 in this week's USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine rankings as well as one spot to No. 19 in the USCHO.com poll. The Tigers received their first USCHO ranking earlier this season since finishing No. 20 in the final 2016 poll after winning their second-straight Atlantic Hockey Championship. RIT also had not appeared in the USA Today poll since finishing No. 10 in the final 2010 rankings following its first Atlantic Hockey Championship and a run to the Frozen Four.
IN THE RANKINGS
The Tigers entered the week tied for 10th nationally and first in Atlantic Hockey with 3.50 goals per game. RIT was also 12th in the country with a +1.00 scoring margin and tied for 16th in scoring defense (2.50 goals per game), leading the league in both categories. The Tigers' power play ranked sixth (.864) while their power play was 16th (.236).
SILKY WILKIE
Sophomore forward Carter Wilkie was named the Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week for the third time this season. Wilkie currently leads Atlantic Hockey with 28 points and 1.17 points per game, while his 18 assists are tied for tops in the conference with junior teammate Aiden Hansen-Bukata and his 10 goals are tied for third. Currently 18th nationally in scoring, he also entered the week 10th with 285 faceoff victories.
• The Atlantic Hockey November Player of the Month scored a career-high four points on two goals and two assists in the Tigers' 10-4 win at Canisius (Dec. 3). He also led all of Atlantic Hockey with eight points in November, including two goals and an assist in the 5-3 win over Princeton (Nov. 25) and a goal and two assists in the 3-1 win over Sacred Heart (Nov. 12).
• Wilkie entered the week tied for 18th nationally with 285 faceoff wins while winning 54.3 percent of his draws.
SAINT TOMMY
Sophomore goaltender Tommy Scarfone is currently 15th nationally and first in Atlantic Hockey with a .923 save percentage and is third in the country and tops in the conference with a .775 winning percentage.
• Seventh nationally in wins with a 15-4-1 record, Scarfone is 12-1-1 with a 1.83 goals against average and a .935 save percentage in 14 conference games this year.
• He stopped a career-high 41 shots in RIT's 6-1 setback to No. 5 Penn State (Dec. 30) before tying his fourth-highest total with 37 the following night. Named the Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week on three occasions this year, he has totaled at least 30 saves in eight games this season.
ROOKIE COOKIES
First-year forward Tyler Mahan leads RIT and is tied for ninth in the country among first-year players with 11 goals. He also entered the week in a four-way tie for first nationally with three short-handed tallies. Mahan had a season-high six-game point streak snapped in the 1-0 victory over Mercyhurst (Jan. 14) after totaling five goals and three assists during the run.
BEST DEFENSE IS GOOD OFFENSE
Senior Gianfranco Cassaro and junior Aiden Hansen-Bukata rank among the nation's highest scoring defensive pairings this season.
• Cassaro ranks fourth in Atlantic Hockey with 21 points (9G/12A) and tied for seventh with nine goals. The Atlantic Hockey October Player of the Month and three-time Player of the Week scored a career-high four points on a goal and three assists during the Tigers' 10-4 win at Canisius (Dec. 3). He also scored two goals on two occasions, including a three-point night in the 5-2 win over Holy Cross (Oct. 28).
• Hansen-Bukata is tied for 12th in the country with 0.82 assists per game and is tied for first in Atlantic Hockey with 18 assists and fifth with 20 points. He registered three assists three times this season, including the 8-5 win over Union (Oct. 15), the 4-3 win at AIC (Nov. 5) and the 10-4 win at Canisius (Dec. 3).
BLOCK PARTY
Graduate student defenseman Spencer Berry entered the week ninth nationally and first in Atlantic Hockey with 51 blocked shots this season. He knocked down a career-high seven shots in the 5-3 win over Princeton (Nov. 25) and has logged at least one block in all but two games this season, including four on four occasions - the latest in last Saturday's win at Arizona State.
WAYNE'S WORLD
Last Saturday, Head Coach Wayne Wilson became the 48th coach in NCAA Men's Hockey history to coach 800 career games. He also moved up to 41st with his 426th victory and currently ranks ninth among active Division I coaches with a 426-296-78 record the last 24 seasons - all on the Tiger bench. The only coach in NCAA history to win the Spencer Penrose (D1 National COY, 2010) and the Edward Jeremiah (D3 National COY, 2001) awards, he totaled a 116-31-12 mark in six Division III campaigns (1999-2005) and owns a 310-265-66 record during 18 Division-I seasons. Last season, he became the 49th NCAA men's hockey coach to hit the 400-win plateau with the 1-0 OT win at Princeton (Nov. 27).
REAL POWER PLAYERS
Six of graduate student forward Kobe Walker's seven goals this season are power-play tallies - tied for the seventh-highest total in the nation. Sophomore forward Carter Wilkie was also tied for 20th with five power play goals, while senior defenseman Gianfranco Cassaro was tied for 41st with four entering the weekend.
ABOUT HOLY CROSS
Holy Cross fell at Sacred Heart, 4-1 last Saturday after playing to a 2-2 tie on Friday. The Crusaders swept visiting Air Force the previous week, 5-2 and 4-1 (Jan. 13, 15), respectively. Junior forward Jack Ricketts leads the squad with 16 points and is tied for first with nine goals, including two tallies in the opening win over Air Force. Junior forward Matt Guerra is second with 11 points, including a team-high eight assists, while sophomore forward Liam McLinskey is third with 11 points and tied for first with nine goals. Sophomore goaltender Thomas Gale is 1-8-2 in 11 starts with a .903 save percentage and a 2.72 goals against average while junior goaltender Jason Grande is 6-3-1 in 10 starts with a .912 save percentage and a 2.47 goals against average. Gale saved a season-high 39 shots in the Sacred Heart tie whle Grande backstopped both Air Force wins, including 29 saves in game-one.
"cros" - Google News
January 26, 2023 at 02:06AM
https://ift.tt/X3L4OES
No. 18/19 Men's Hockey continues road swing at Holy Cross ... - RIT Athletics
"cros" - Google News
https://ift.tt/rzl0YHb
https://ift.tt/mxycrqQ
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "No. 18/19 Men's Hockey continues road swing at Holy Cross ... - RIT Athletics"
Post a Comment