ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men’s hockey team returns to home ice to host two-time defending Atlantic Hockey Champion Air Force Academy on Friday, Nov. 30 and Saturday, Dec. 1. Both games from the Gene Polisseni Center begin at 7:05 p.m.
Tickets for both games are available at the Gene Polisseni Center Box Office or online at www.rittickets.com. Friday is American Sign Language Appreciation night. On Saturday, RIT will hold a Tiger Teddy Bear Toss. Fans are urged to bring a new stuffed animal to throw on the ice after RIT’s first goal. All stuffed animals will be donated to the Rochester Regional Health’s Children’s Unit.
RIT is in the midst of playing eight out of nine games on home ice to end the fall semester. The Tigers won the first three home games during that stretch and will host Sacred Heart on Dec. 7-8 and Niagara, Dec. 15.
RIT (6-4-1, 4-2-1 AHA) is looking to extend its winning streak in league play to four games. The Tigers were in action last Saturday, falling on the road at No. 13 Northeastern, 4-3 in a non-league contest. RIT trailed 2-0 before scoring three second period goals. Brody Valette (Calgary, Alberta/Whitecourt Wolverines), Adam Brubacher (Elmira, Ontario/Powell River Kings) and Alden Dupuis (Edmonton, Alberta/Bonnyville Pontiacs) scored for the Tigers, while Logan Drackett (Calgary, Alberta/Calgary Canucks) made 27 saves.
Abbott Girduckis (Belleville, Ontario/Wellington Dukes) leads the team in scoring through 11 games this season with 11 points on five goals and six assists. Jake Hamacher (Corona, CA/Dubuque Fighting Saints) is right behind with 10 points, while Erik Brown (Keene, Ontario/Kemptville 73’s) has a team-best six goals. Drackett has played in all 11 games in net and has a 2.17 goals against average and a .927 save percentage.
Air Force (6-6-0, 6-4-0 AHA) was off last weekend, but will look to get back in the win column after suffering back-to-back shutout losses at American International, 5-0 and 4-0 on Nov. 16-17. Before that, Air Force had won five straight games, all in league play. Matt Koch leads Air Force in scoring with eight points, all assists in 11 games. Evan Feno and Kieran Durgan are right behind with five goals and seven points apiece. Billy Christopoulos and Zack LaRocque have split time in goal this season. Christopoulos is 4-4-0 with a 2.97 goals against average and an .889 save percentage to lead the squad.
Air Force leads the all-time series between the two schools, 30-21-4. Since 2005, 31 of the last 50 meetings between the two schools have ended in ties or a one-goal difference. RIT and Air Force have combined to win 11 of the last 13 Atlantic Hockey Championships.
Both games will air on CW Rochester (Tape delay on Friday at 10 p.m., and Saturday live on Digital – 13.2, DirecTV – 14 and Spectrum – 16) and stream live with Gene Battaglia and John DiTullio on the call from the Polisseni Center. The pregame show with host Kevin Roche airs Saturday at 4:30 p.m. In addition, both contests will be aired on WITR 89.7 FM and Fox Sports 1280 with Ed Trefzger and Scott Biggar on the call. Live stats are also available.
