Men's Hockey welcomes AIC for weekend AHA twinbill

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT Men's Hockey team welcomes AIC to the Gene Polisseni Center this weekend for the second of three-consecutive home doubleheaders to finish the regular season. The teams will meet for the first time since the Tigers defeated the visiting Yellow Jackets, 5-2, in last season's Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) Championship game to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
 
RIT looks to bounce back following a two-game sweep at the hands of visiting Holy Cross last weekend, 9-2 on Friday and 3-0 on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets have won three-straight games, including 5-0 and 4-1 victories at Mercyhurst last weekend. 
 
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PLAYOFF UPDATE
RIT is assured of playing a first-round game in the Atlantic Hockey America Tournament on March 1st against an opponent and at a site still to be determined. The top five teams in the final standings receive a first-round bye, while the sixth, seventh and eighth-seeded teams host the 11th, 10th and ninth-place teams, respectively in the first round. Sitting in 10th place with four games to play, two regulation wins over AIC this weekend would keep RIT alive to host a playoff game entering the final weekend of the regular season, while a regulation loss would assure a road game.
 
TIGER REWIND
RIT dropped two AHA contests to visiting Holy Cross last week, falling 9-2 on Friday and 3-0 on Saturday. Friday saw the Crusaders open a 7-1 first-period lead, including three power play goals in the final three minutes during a five-minute major penalty on the Tigers. Holy Cross finished with five total power play goals as the teams combined for 19 penalties and 92 penalty minutes. Sophomore forward Matthew Wilde scored his team-leading 14th goal of the season, while sophomore forward Tyler Fukakusa added an assist for his 29th point and 22nd assist - both team highs. Senior forward Grady Hobbs tallied a late short-handed goal off an assist by senior forward Tanner Andrew.
 
Holy Cross completed the sweep on Saturday, holding the Tigers scoreless while tallying one each period. First-year goaltender Ethan David stopped 27 shots for his second-highest save total of the season. He also totaled 19 saves in 40 minutes of action off the bench on Friday, including 13 saves in the second period.
 
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP
Sophomore forward Tyler Fukakusa entered the week tied for sixth nationally with 22 assists and tied for 29th with 29 points.

• A 2025 Hobey Baker Award nominee, Fukakusa entered the week first in Atlantic Hockey America with 22 assists and ninth with 0.97 points per game, including at least one point in all but 10 games this season.
• He notched a career-high four assists in the 6-2 win at Bentley (Nov. 9) and also scored a goal and an assist in back-to-back games versus Army (Nov. 16) and Sacred Heart (Nov. 22) before adding two assists opposite Air Force (Feb. 1) for one of his seven multi-point games this winter.
• Fukakusa also entered the week fifth nationally with 349 faceoff victories while winning 54.9 percent of his draws this season. He tied a career-high winning 18-of-31 faceoffs versus Robert Morris at home in December and also won 13-of-15 draws (.867) in the New Hampshire opener. Fukakusa won 16-26 draws last Saturday against Holy Cross for his 22nd game this season with double-digit wins. 

WELCOME MATT
Sophomore forward Matthew Wilde entered the week first in Atlantic Hockey with 0.64 goals per game and fifth with 1.05 points per game. Also tied for third with 14 goals, he only trailed two players who have played seven or eight more games.

• After missing the first eight games with a preseason injury, Wilde has scored at least one point in 15 of 22 games since his return and is second on the squad with 23 points.
• A 2025 Hobey Baker Award nominee, he scored a career-high four points on two goals and two assists in the 6-2 win at Bentley (Nov. 9) for the first of three multi-point games in November.
• Wilde was credited with four points during the two-game set at Sacred Heart, starting with two assists in the opener before logging a goal and an assist the following night.
• Wilde was named to the 2024-25 Atlantic Hockey Preseason All-Conference Team after finishing his rookie season tied for fifth nationally among first-year players with 19 goals while tying for 10th among all freshmen with 35 points. He also broke the Division I-era record for goals by a Tiger first-year by five. 

THINK PINK
RIT wore special pink jerseys for last Saturday's game versus Holy Cross in support of breast cancer education and awareness. An online auction also started where fans can bid on the game-worn jerseys, as well as the ones the women's team will wear during this Friday's home game versus Penn State. In partnership with Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, proceeds from the auction, as well as the sale of pink t-shirts throughout the weekend, will benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
 
MILESTONE GAMES PLAYED
Graduate student defenseman Dimitri Mikrogiannakis played his 150th game last Saturday to become only the 10th Tiger in program history to achieve the milestone and rank tied for seventh overall. Junior forwards Simon Isabelle and Tyler Mahan also eclipsed the 100-game plateau earlier this month, along with graduate transfer Nick Cafarelli, who logged 80 appearances at New Hampshire before pulling on a Tiger jersey 28 times so far this season.