ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men’s hockey team will begin its quest for a second straight Atlantic Hockey Championship as the No. 5 seed, heading to No. 4 seed Mercyhurst for a best-of-three quarterfinal series from the Mercyhurst Ice Center from Friday, March 11 to Sunday, March 13. All games will begin at 7:05 p.m.
The Tigers are 24-12 all-time in the postseason at the Division I level, including a 5-1 mark last season en route to winning the league title and advancing to the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship game. Along the way, RIT defeated Air Force in the Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinal series, Canisius in the semifinal, and Mercyhurst to claim the league championship. RIT knocked off overall No. 1 seed Minnesota State, 2-1 in the NCAA Midwest Regional Semifinal, before falling to Nebraska-Omaha.
This will be just the second time that RIT has traveled to play an Atlantic Hockey quarterfinal series (2012-13 at Niagara). The Tigers have advanced to the league semifinals six times, played in four championship games and won the 2010 and 2015 Atlantic Hockey titles. RIT is 12-4 all-time in Atlantic Hockey quarterfinal games.
The Tigers enter the postseason with a 14-14-6 record, having posted a 14-9-5 mark in Atlantic Hockey play, identical to last season. Senior forward Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) leads the team in scoring with 32 points on six goals and 26 assists. Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals) is right behind with 12 goals and 15 assists, while Gabe Valenzuela (Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers), who was recently named to the Atlantic Hockey All-Rookie Team, also has 12 goals to go along with 13 assists. In net, Christian Short (Vaughan, Ontario/Surrey Eagles) is 8-6-3 with a 2.76 goals against average and an .889 save percentage, while Mile Rotolo has four victories in 2015-16.
Mitchell leads all active Tigers with 14 points in 13 postseason games, while Alexander Kuqali(Pittsburgh, PA/Sioux City Musketeers) has seven points (1-6-7) in 12 games and Brady Norrish(Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) has six assists in six postseason contests. In last season’s postseason run, Mitchell had 10 points (4-6-10) in six games.
Mercyhurst (17-13-4, 13-9-4 Atlantic Hockey) enters the postseason riding a seven-game unbeaten streak. Derek Barach leads the team in scoring with 31 points on 10 goals and 21 assists. Jonathan Charbonneau has a team-best 15 goals. Barach has 21 assists and Lester Lancaster, 20, to lead the Lakers. Both were named to the Atlantic Hockey All-Rookie Team. In goal, Brandon Wildung is 10-7-1 with a 3.04 goals against average and a .915 save percentage, while Adam Carlson is 7-6-3 with a 2.90 goals against average and a .918 save percentage.
RIT and Mercyhurst ended the regular season against each other on Feb. 26-27. On Feb. 26, Mercyhurst skated to a 4-3 win at the Gene Polisseni Center and won the next night, 3-2 at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.
The Tigers and Lakers met four teams earlier in the season, with each team winning twice, by weekend sweeps. RIT won the first two meetings by scores of 4-2 and 7-3 on Jan 2-3, while the Lakers took a pair of one-goal games, 4-3 and 3-2 on Feb. 26-27. RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 35-20-6, including a 19-11-3 mark in the Division I era. Both teams were Division III rivals in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Valenzuela leads the Tigers with six points on a goal and five assists in four games against the Lakers this season. Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) has a goal and four assists in three contests, while Powell and Mitchell each have five points as well. Liam Kerins(Caledon, Ontario/North York Rangers) leads RIT with three goals against the Lakers this season.
It will be the third time the two teams will meet in the postseason in the Division I era. In 2009, Mercyhurst defeated the Tigers in the Atlantic Hockey Semifinal at Blue Cross Arena. Last year, RIT won the Atlantic Hockey Championship, 5-1 over the Lakers.
All three games will be on WITR 89.7 FM and witr.rit.edu, with Ed Trefzger and Scott Biggar on the call. Online video is also available, along with live stats.
The top-five teams received a first round bye, as in addition to RIT and Mercyhurst, No. 1 Robert Morris, No. 2 Air Force, and No. 3 Holy Cross earned the bye. Robert Morris will take on No. 8 Bentley, Air Force will host No. 7 Canisius, and Holy Cross competes against No. 6 Army West Point in the other quarterfinal series.
Head to Erie and support your Tigers as they make their push towards a second consecutive Atlantic Hockey Championship.
