ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The RIT Men's Hockey team defeated visiting Mercyhurst, 3-2, in Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) action, Saturday.
 
Coupled with Friday's 4-1 victory over the Lakers, the Tigers extended their winning streak to seven, while tying the best start in D1-era history with a 7-2-0 record.
 
Junior forward Christian Catalano, senior forward Simon Isabelle and first-year Zach Wigle tallied the RIT goals, while senior defenseman Crossley Stewart and first-year forward William Moore logged two assists apiece.
 
Sophomore goaltender Jakub Krbecek made 33 saves, including 20 in the third period, to improve to 7-1-0 on the season, including all seven victories during the current winning streak.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
RIT got on the board at of the first 6:32 after Stewart threaded a pass from the right faceoff circle through the low slot to Catalano for a finish inside an open left post.

RIT GOAL - Stewie threads the needle and Cat doesn't miss from there. #roartech pic.twitter.com/pyo05Ed82K

— RIT Men's Hockey (@RITMHKY) November 8, 2025

Mercyhurst answered 26 seconds later after Tyler Nasca threw a puck from the left faceoff circle into the slot that deflected off a Tiger skate and inside the right post.
 
RIT scored the lone goal of the second period to build a 2-1 lead. Moore dug a puck off the right boards and sent a pass to Stewart at the left point. Stewart took a wrist shot that Isabelle tipped past Laker goaltender Charles-Edward Gravel with 3:37 left in the second.

RIT GOAL - Moore digs one out of the corner and finds Stewie for a shot from North Henrietta. Izzy with the redirect and the Tigers are in the lead. #roartech pic.twitter.com/O9gypVEav5

— RIT Men's Hockey (@RITMHKY) November 8, 2025

RIT made it a 3-1 game 41 seconds into the third. Wigle won a faceoff to the left of the Laker goal before firs-year forward Evan Konyen chipped a puck behind the Mercyhurst net. Moore grabbed the loose puck and wrapped a shot around the right post that deflected off Gravel's pads to Wigle in the slot for a shot inside an open left post.

RIT GOAL - Wrap around chance by Moore ends up on the stick of Wigle for a snap inside the left post 41 seconds into the 3rd. #roartech pic.twitter.com/QfDyO8ojYH

— RIT Men's Hockey (@RITMHKY) November 8, 2025

Mercyhurst tallied with 5:52 remaining in regulation. Jacob LeBlanc battled a puck off the boards to Spencer Smith deep in the left corner. Smith slid a short pass to Barrett Brooks in the faceoff circle, who beat Krbecek with a wrist shot, far post.

COACH THOMAS SAID
"I thought we had a lot of good performances, but you have to give Mercyhurst a lot of credit. They gave us everything we could handle. There's a lot of pride in that locker room, and they certainly wanted it tonight, maybe even a little bit more than us. But we did enough to win the game and I guess that's the positive.
 
"Obviously, we've been winning, and we're learning different things about ourselves. And sometimes you've got to learn things a little bit of the hard way, and I think tonight was a good example of that. We mismanaged the puck a ton, but like I said earlier in the year, they're not all perfect and they're not all pretty, but they count. And for us, we're finding different things out about ourselves and we've got to continue to do that.
 
"We're just continuing to build our identity, finding out more about ourselves, finding out how to manage games, and that's probably the biggest thing. You create a lead and you have to manage that lead. You can't give the other team momentum and we're learning that a little bit of the hard way at times, but that's all right. That's what the first half of the season's about. You need to learn those lessons to know how to do it at the end."
 
GAME NOTES

• Mercyhurst finished the game with a 35-21 advantage in shots on goal.
• RIT killed two Mercyhurst power-play opportunities while finishing 0-for-1 with the extra man.
• Wigle extended a team-best five-game point-scoring streak.
• Konyen logged an assist for his team-leading seventh game and, along with Wigle, has scored at least one point in a team-high seven games this season.
• Krbecek logged his second game of the season with better than 30 saves to go along with a 39-save effort in the 7-3 win over Air Force (Oct. 25).
• During the seven-game winning streak, RIT has not been outscored in a period, while outscoring its opponents, 32-11.
• RIT also started the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons with a 7-2-0 record. 

WHAT'S NEXT
RIT travels to Robert Morris next Friday and Saturday (Nov. 14-15) for a pair of 7:05 p.m. AHA matchups.