ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men’s hockey team wraps up the 2015-16 regular season with a home-and-home series against Atlantic Hockey foe Mercyhurst on Friday, Feb. 26 and Saturday, Feb. 27. Friday’s game will be played at the Gene Polisseni Center, Saturday’s from the Mercyhurst Ice Center, with both starting at 7:05 p.m.
On Friday, RIT will honor seniors Greg Amlong (O’Fallon, MO/UMass Lowell), Alexander Kuqali (Pittsburgh, PA/Sioux City Musketeers), Andrew Miller (Chicago, IL/Chicago Steel), Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs), Dan Schuler (Webster, NY/Powell River Kings), and Brad Shumway (Lafayette, CO/Chicago Steel). Tickets are available for Friday’s game online at www.rithockey.com, the Gene Polisseni Center Box Office, or by calling (585) 475-4121.
RIT (14-12-6, 14-7-5 Atlantic Hockey) enters the weekend tied for second with Air Force and Holy Cross in the Atlantic Hockey standings with 33 points apiece. Mercyhurst is right behind in fifth with 30 points. The top five teams have all clinched a bye for the first round of the Atlantic Hockey Tournament, which starts March 4. RIT needs one point this weekend to clinch home ice for a quarterfinal series, which starts March 11.
Last weekend, the Tigers earned three points last weekend vs. Niagara, skating to a 4-4 tie on the road Friday, while returning home for a 5-2 win Saturday. Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) scored with the extra attacker with 47 seconds left in regulation to vault RIT to the tie on Friday. On Saturday, RIT trailed 2-0 after one period before exploding for a season-high equaling five goals in the second period to win 5-2. Gabe Valenzuela (Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers) had two goals and an assist, while Liam Kerins (Caledon, Ontario/North York Rangers) and Erik Brown (Keene, Ontario/Kemptville 73’s) added a goal and an assist apiece. Nick Amato (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Northern Cyclones) made 23 saves in the win.
Mitchell added three more points over the weekend and moved into fifth place all-time in scoring at RIT’s Division I level with 116 career points. He leads all Division I players with 19 assists and is tied for fourth with 23 points in the 2016 calendar year. Overall, Mitchell leads the Tigers in scoring with 31 points on six points on 25 assists. Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals) has a team-best 12 goals and is second with 25 points, while Valenzuela has 22 points on 11 goals and 11 assists.
Kerins was named the Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week on Tuesday.
Mercyhurst (15-13-4, 13-9-4 Atlantic Hockey) enters the weekend riding a five-game unbeaten streak. Last weekend, the Lakers earned three points at Army West Point, skating to a 2-2 tie on Friday, and a 3-1 win on Saturday. Derek Barach leads the team in scoring with 29 points on 10 goals and 19 assists. Jonathan Charbonneau has a team-best 13 goals. Barach and Lester Lancaster have 19 assists apiece to lead the Lakers. In goal, Brandon Wildung is 9-7-1 with a 3.10 goals against average and a .913 save percentage, while Adam Carlson is 6-6-3 with a 2.89 goals against average and a .919 save percentage.
It will be the third and fourth meetings between the two schools this season, as RIT won both previous meetings by scores of 4-2 and 7-3 on Jan 2-3. RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 35-18-6, including a 19-9-3 mark in the Division I era. RIT has won the last five meetings by a combined score of 26-7.
Friday’s game will be aired live on Time Warner Cable Sports in Rochester, with Gene Battaglia and John DiTullio on the call from the Polisseni Center. In addition, both contests will be broadcast over the airwaves on WITR 89.7 FM and witr.rit.edu. Online video is also available, along with live stats Friday and Saturday.
Come out and support the Tigers as they look to repeat as Atlantic Hockey Champions.
