ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Twentieth-ranked RIT hosts Atlantic Hockey-rival Air Force for two games on the second to last weekend of the regular season, Friday and Saturday.

The first-place Tigers had a seven-game unbeaten streak broken during a split at Mercyhurst last week, while the Falcons split a home series with Sacred Heart - falling, 3-2, before winning, 2-0.
 
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PLAYOFF UPDATE

• With four games left in the regular season, RIT is assured of no lower than the sixth seed for the Atlantic Hockey Tournament.
• RIT needs one point to clinch no lower than the fifth seed and a first-round bye to the quarterfinals, while three points would clinch no lower than the second seed.
• Entering the weekend, RIT's magic number to clinch first place for the AHA Tournament is nine points.
• RIT (45 pts.) has a game-in-hand versus second-place Sacred Heart (44) and third-place Holy Cross (40) who play a home-and-home series against each other this weekend. 

TIGER TRACKS

• RIT came back for a 7-6 overtime win at Mercyhurst last Friday before falling, 3-2, on Saturday for its first loss in four weeks.
• The Tigers trailed on Friday, 5-3, with under five minutes left in the second period and later, 6-4, with 12:25 left in the third, before finishing with three unanswered goals, including the game-tying goal by senior defenseman Aiden Hansen-Bukata with 36.2 seconds left in regulation and the game-winner by sophomore forward Simon Isabelle with 12.7 seconds left in overtime.
• In Saturday's rematch, Mercyhurst scored the lone goal of the first period before first-year Matthew Wilde scored a power-play goal 33 seconds into the second. The Lakers later scored back-to-back goals in a 1:30 span for a 3-1 lead at 16:11 of the third. Graduate-student forward Elijah Gonsalves got one back with 1:54 left in regulation, but it wasn't enough in the setback. 
• Junior forward Carter Wilkie was credited with a secondary assist on Wild's goal on Saturday for his 100th career point, becoming the 14th D1-era Tiger to total triple-digit points. Tied for fifth in Atlantic Hockey with 30 points this season, he is only the fifth D1-era player with three seasons of at least 30 points and first since Cameron Burt '12. Wilkie also entered the week ranked second nationally with 414 faceoff wins. 
• Hansen-Bukata scored his fourth goal of the season and third in the Tigers' last four games. He also notched the game-tying goal with 41.6 seconds left in regulation of the Tigers' 2-1 OT win opposite Bentley (Jan. 27) and netted what proved to be the game-winner in last Saturday's 4-2 comeback win over Niagara.
• Fifth-year defenseman Gianfranco Cassaro finished Friday's game with three points, including his 13th goal of the season – two more than any other defenseman in the country. Tied for third among all skaters with five game-winning goals and tied for 14th with seven power play goals, he is tied for fourth in Atlantic Hockey in goals.
• Gonsalves' goal was his 13th of the season – tied with Cassaro for the team lead – and 40th in a Tiger sweater. His 23 points are one short of the single-season career-high 24 (9G/15A) he tallied as a first-year in 2019-20, while his 93 career points rank 18th in D1-era program history.
• Senior forward Cody Laskosky leads RIT and ranks fourth in Atlantic Hockey with 32 points, including a team-high eight (2G/6A) over the last four games. He notched his 30th career goal and added an assist in last Friday's victory, before assisting both of Saturday's goals for 75 points over the last four years.
• Junior goaltender Tommy Scarfone was named a semifinalist for the Richter Award on Wednesday after picking up his 17th victory of the season last Friday – tied for fifth nationally this winter – while becoming only the third D1-era goalie to appear in 80 games. He entered the week tied for seventh nationally with a .924 save percentage, while his 2.35 goals against average was 15th. In 18 Atlantic Hockey contests this season, he has compiled a 13-4-1 record with a .918 save percentage and a 2.36 goals against average. Scarfone has been named the HCA Goaltender of the Month as well as the Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the month twice this season, and has been named Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week a league-best four times this winter. He was also nominated for the Hobey Baker Award for the second-straight season.
• RIT entered the week ranked 10th nationally with 3.53 goals per game, including 4.38 over its last eight games. The Tigers were also 13th in scoring defense allowing 2.47 goals per game and 12th with a 1.07 scoring margin. RIT's power play ranked 11th at .849 while the power play was 18th at .225.
• RIT was ranked in the USCHO.com national poll for the 13th-consecutive week, sitting 20th after climbing as high as No. 18 last month. The Tigers were also the first team outside the top-20 of the USA Hockey rankings after being ranked eight of the last nine weeks. 
• Graduate student defenseman Ryan Nicholson made his 150th appearance for the Tigers last Saturday, becoming only the eighth D1-era player to achieve the milestone. His classmate Caleb Moretz is poised to join the list this weekend.