Men's Hockey takes on Boston University in NCAA Tournament Sioux Falls Regional

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Atlantic Hockey champion RIT takes on first-time opponent Boston University in the NCAA Tournament Sioux Falls Regional Semifinals on Thursday in South Dakota. Faceoff is set for 5:00 p.m. EDT.

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QUICK HITS

• The Tigers defeated American International, 5-2, in last Saturday's Atlantic Hockey Championship game to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in program history and for the first time since making back-to-back appearances in 2015 and 2016 to follow up a run to the Frozen Four in 2010.
• RIT is currently ranked sixth nationally in scoring offense with 3.92 goals per game, fifth in scoring defense, only allowing 2.31 goals per game, and fifth with a 1.61 scoring margin. The Tiger penalty kill is ranked fourth (.864) while the power play is 13th (.236). 
• RIT was ranked nationally for the 19th consecutive week, moving up to No. 17 in the USCHO.com poll and No. 18 in the USA Hockey poll. Both are the highest marks of the season. 
• RIT rides a season-high seven-game winning streak into the NCAA Tournament.
• RIT won its second-straight Bob DeGregorio Trophy as the top-seed for the Atlantic Hockey Tournament and won five-straight postseason tournament games en route to the Jack Riley Trophy.

AHA CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP

• RIT graduate student forward Elijah Gonsalves totaled two goals and two assists while first-year forward Matthew Wilde scored twice to lead Tigers to a 5-2 victory over American International and the 2023-24 Atlantic Hockey Tournament Championship.
• AIC opened the scoring 4:06 into the game before RIT scored twice during a four minutes stretch for a 2-1 lead at 16:06 of the first on goals by senior defenseman Dimitri Mikrogiannakis and Gonsalves. 
• AIC tied the game with 1:01 left in the period, but RIT took advantage of a Yellow Jacket high-sticking whistle 24 seconds into the second. First-year forward Matthew Wilde cleaned up a rebound in the slot at 1:48 off a shot from the left point by senior defenseman Aiden Hansen-Bukata for what proved to be the game-winner.
• Gonsalves and Wile each added empty-net goals in the last 1:26 of regulation to close the victory.  
• Gonsalves was named the Atlantic Hockey Tournament MVP after leading all players with 10 points on four goals and six assists the last three weekends. He joined first-year forward Tyler Fukakusa (4G/4A), senior defensemen Gianfranco Cassaro (3G/2A) and junior goaltender Tommy Scarfone (5-0, 1.20 GAA, .954 save percentage) on the All-Tournament Team. 
• RIT made its sixth Atlantic Hockey Championship game appearance - second most in league history to Air Force's eight. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• RIT is 19-0-1 when leading after the first period and 23-2-2 when leading after the second period this season.
• The Tigers are also 22-0-1 when leading by multiple goals and 22-1-1 when allowing less than three goals. 
• RIT has scored five or more goals 14 times this season and is undefeated in those games. 
• RIT has averaged 5.20 goals per game during the postseason, building a 26-6 scoring advantage in five games.
• RIT averaged 3.92 goals in its 26 Atlantic Hockey games this winter, totaling 102 tallies in conference play. Air Force finished second with 88 goals and 3.38 goals per game. 

AHA SEMIFINAL RECAP

• RIT swept seventh-seeded Niagara, 4-1 and 5-2, in the Atlantic Hockey Semifinals.
• Junior goaltender Tommy Scarfone totaled 38 saves, - including 18 in the third period - to backstop the opening victory, only surrendering an exta-man goal with the Purple Eagles playing without a goalie in the closing minutes. 
• RIT opened a 3-0 lead on goals by sophomore forward Tyler Mahan in the first, senior defenseman Aiden-Hansen Bukata in the second and first-year forward Matthew Wilde at 13:53 of the third. 
• The Tigers scored three unanswered first-period goals and led 4-0 with 1:03 left in the second on Saturday. Graduate student forward Elijah Gonsalves scored two goals while junior forward Carter Wilkie added a goal and two assists in the series clincher.
• Fifth-year defenseman Gianfranco Cassaro landed his league-best fifth Atlantic Hockey Defensive Player of the Week award after scoring his AHA single-season record 17th goal during Friday's game and adding an assist on Saturday. Wilde was also named the Rookie of the Week after opening Friday's game with his 17th goal of the season and adding an assist on Saturday.

AHA QUARTERFINAL RECAP

• RIT swept 11th-seeded Robert Morris, 7-0 and 5-1 to open the Atlantic Hockey Tournament. 
• First-year forward Tyler Fukakusa logged two goals and an assist in the opener and then added a goal and two assists during the rematch en route to his second AHA Rookie of the Week honor of the season. Scoring on all three shots on goal he registered, he also won 20-of-33 faceoffs (.606) during the series. 
• Fifth-year defenseman Gianfranco Cassaro was named the AHA Defensive Player of the Week for the fourth time this winter after logging a goal and an assist in the opener before adding his 16th goal of the season the following night.
• Junior goaltender Tommy Scarfone stopped 37 of 38 shots he faced on the weekend, including 21 in the opener for his fourth shutout of the season and ninth of his career. 

REGULAR SEASON RECAP

• RIT won its second-straight Bob DeGregorio Trophy and top-seed for the Atlantic Hockey Tournament. The Tigers completed the regular season with a 22-10-2 record, including an 18-7-1 conference mark for 54 points to out-pace the rest of the conference by eight points.
• RIT put together the seventh 20-win campaign in 19 years at the Division-I level. Coupled with a 25-win season in 2022-23, the Tigers notched back-to-back 20-win seasons for only the second time in the Division-I era and first since finishing with a 23-13-2 record in 2008-09 and a 28-12-1 mark in 2009-10.
• RIT only lost back-to-back games once during the regular season, falling 3-1 at Niagara (Jan. 11) and 3-2 in a home overtime loss to Canisius (Jan. 16) before going 6-0-1 in its next seven games. 

BIG RED
Junior forward Carter Wilkie was voted first-team all-conference for the second-straight season after finishing the regular season fifth in the conference in scoring, tied for fourth in goals and seventh in assists. 

• Wilke has scored a team-high 41 points on 16 goals and 25 assists, he is only the third D1-era Tiger to post back-to-back 40-point seasons and first since Andrew Favot did it in 2009-10 and 2010-11. 
• Wilkie became the fourth-fastest D1-era Tiger to score 100 points, and was the 15th RIT player to eclipse the 100-point plateau. The two-time Hobey Baker Award nominee is currently eighth on the Tigers' D1-era scoring list with 111 points on 43 goals and 68 assists to date.
• He currently ranks second in the country with 554 faceoff wins and is tied for second with three shorthanded goals.
• The 2022-23 Atlantic Hockey Player of the Year has also been named the Atlantic Hockey Preseason Player of the Year the last two seasons.
• Wilkie notched back-to-back shorthanded goals in the 7-3 win over Air Force (Feb. 16) en route to his first career hat trick. He was only the second D1-era Tiger to score two short-handed goals in a game and first since Myles Powell did it in a 6-3 win at Bentley on Oct. 29, 2016. 
• Wilkie tied for 17th nationally last season with 40 points on 14 goals and 26 assists after finishing the regular season leading Atlantic Hockey in points and points per game. He was only the 13th player to hit the 40-point plateau in a single season in the Division I era and first since Erik Brown totaled 42 points (including a single-season program record 29 goals) in 2017-18. 

TENDER LOVING CARE
Junior goaltender Tommy Scarfone was named the Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Year after being named First-Team All-Atlantic Hockey for the second-straight season. 

• Scarfone is currently third nationally with a 25-8-2 record after finishing the regular season as one of only four goaltenders in the nation with at least 20 wins. Also named an Atlantic Hockey First-Team all-star for the second-straight season, he compiled a 16-5-1 record in conference play this winter.
• One of 10 semifinalists for the Richter Award as well as a Hobey Baker Award nominee for the second-straight season, the four-time Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week is currently tied for third nationally with a .928 save percentage and tied for eighth with a 2.18 goals against average. His four shutouts this season are tied for the third-best total. 
• Named the Hockey Commissioners Association and Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Month on two occasions, Scarfone became the first D1-era Tiger with multiple 20-win seasons as well as the first with multiple 900-save campaigns, moving atop the program's all-time wins list with a 55-28-4 record to date.
• Scarfone is one save short of Logan Drackett '21 for first place in the D1-era record books with 2,467 saves to date, including a single-season program record 988 this season. 
• Scarfone finished the 2022-23 campaign tied for fourth nationally in wins with a 22-11-1 record and tied for 15th with a .918 save percentage. He also broke the Tigers' Division I-era single-season program record with 934 saves.

CRACKING THE CODY
Senior forward Cody Laskosky was named All-Atlantic Hockey for the first time in a Tiger sweater, garnering first-team recognition. 

• Laskosky finished the regular season second in Atlantic Hockey in scoring and tied for second in assists, totaling a team-high 40 points on 13 goals and 27 assists.
• Named the Atlantic Hockey Player of the Month for February, Laskosky finished the regular season with a team-best eight-game point streak, compiling 14 points on three goals and 11 assists during the run. He also added two assists in the opening AHA Quarterfinal win over Robert Morris before going scoreless in game-two after sustaining an upper-body injury on the first shift of the game that held him out of the AHA Semis and Championship game.
• He notched his second-career hat trick to go along with an assist in the 7-1 regular-season win at Robert Morris (Jan. 20) for one of his team-high 11 games this season with multiple points.
• In 123 appearances the last four years, Laskosky is 25th in D1-era program history with 83 points on 31 goals and 52 assists, while becoming only the 12th 40-point scorer.
• Laskosky was voted the 2022-23 Atlantic Hockey Best Defensive Forward after finishing fourth for the Tigers with 28 points and third with 13 goals while registering 66 defensive zone takeaways. 

GIANNI BE GOOD
Fifth-year defenseman Gianfranco Cassaro was named a first-team Atlantic Hockey all-star for the second straight season. 

• The country's top goal scoring defenseman with 17 tallies to date, the two-time Hobey Baker Award nominee finished the regular season ranked first nationally in goals among defensemen for the second-straight season.
• A league-best five-time Atlantic Hockey Defensive Player of the Week, he has also scored a team-high eight power play goals this season - tied for 14th in the country among all skaters entering the NCAA Tournament.
• Also totaling 19 assists this winter, he is currently the sixth-highest scoring defenseman in the country with a career-high 36 points.
• Cassaro hasn't missed a game in three seasons at RIT, totaling 76 points on 34 goals and 42 assists in 116 appearances, including 32 points (14G/18A) a season ago to finish sixth nationally among all blueliners.
• Cassaro transferred following 38 appearances and three points (1G/2A) over two seasons at UMass-Amherst, including 10 during the Minutemen's run to the 2021 national championship. 

FIRST AIDEN
Senior defenseman Aiden Hansen-Bukata was voted First-Team All-Atlantic Hockey for the second-straight season. 

• Ending the regular season ranked second in Atlantic Hockey in assists and 11th in points, he currently has 31 points on five goals and 26 assists for his second-straight 30-point campaign.
• He was named Atlantic Hockey Defensive Player of the Week two of the final four weeks of the season, including after the Bentley series that saw him score the game-tying goal with 41.6 seconds left in regulation of the 2-1 OT win (Jan. 27) before assisting what proved to be the game-winner and blocking five shots in a 3-0 shutout the following night.
• Hansen-Bukata was named the 2022-23 Atlantic Hockey Best Defenseman as well as First-Team All-Conference after finishing the season ranked 10th nationally with 30 assists and tied for sixth among defensemen with 32 points. He was the first RIT player to hit the 30-assist mark in a season since 2015-16 and also ended the campaign 12th nationally with 69 blocked shots.

GOING GONZO
Fifth-year forward Elijah Gonsalves landed his first career all-conference honor after being named Third-Team All-Atlantic Hockey.  

• Gonsalves is tied for the team lead with 19 goals this season and is tied fourth with a career-high 37 points. 
• Gonsalves landed his first all-conference honor after finishing the regular season tied for sixth in the conference in goals and tied for 10th in points.
• He scored his 100th career point in the AHA Quarterfinal game-two win over Robert Morris to become the 16th D1-era Tiger to hit the century mark and currently sits 11th all-time with 107 points on 46 goals and 61 assists to date.
• An Atlantic Hockey All-Rookie Team honoree in 2019-20, the two-time alternate captain bounced back from an injury-shortened junior campaign to play in all 39 games a season ago and has appeared in all but four games this season.
• He is also a two-time Atlantic Hockey All-Academic Team honoree as well as an AHCA All-American Scholar.

WILDE FIRST SEASON
First-year forward Matthew Wilde is currently tied for the team lead with 19 goals and tied for fourth nationally among first-year players.

• He enters the NCAA Tournament with a team-high 10-game scoring streak, including two goals n last Saturday's Atlantic Hockey Championship victory.
• Also fifth with 34 points, Wilde is only the second first-year to compile 30 points in the last 13 seasons and first since current junior forward Carter Wilkie (13G/17A) in 2021-22. 
• He was named the Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Month for February after notching a team-best six goals to go along with three assists as RIT clinched the top seed for the AHA Tournament. 
• He entered the postseason with the nation's longest goal-scoring streak, finishing the regular season with a tally in five consecutive games. He scored a goal and added an assist in the AHA Quarterfinal opener versus Robert Morris, before going scoreless the following night.  
• Wilde scored two goals in the 9-2 win over Canisius (Feb. 23) and tallied a goal and an assist the following night in a 3-2 road win over the Golden Griffins, tying the game in the final minute of the first period and assisting what proved to be the game-winning goal in the third. 
• Wilde finished the regular season tied for fourth in the conference in goals.

WAYNE'S WORLD
Head Coach Wayne Wilson was named the Atlantic Hockey Coach of the Year for the second-straight season. He became the 37th coach in NCAA men's hockey history to hit the 450-win plateau during the 3-0 win over Bentley (Jan. 26) earlier this season. Currently 34th in NCAA Men's Ice Hockey history with 461 victories, he is also 10th among active Division I coaches with a 461-313-80 record the last 25 seasons - all on the Tiger bench. The only coach in NCAA history to win the Spencer Penrose (D1 National COY, 2010) and the Edward Jeremiah (D3 National COY, 2001) awards, he totaled a 116-31-12 mark in six Division III campaigns (1999-2005) and owns a 345-282-68 record during 19 Division-I seasons. Wilson coached his 850th career game in the AHA Tournament opening win over Robert Morris - only the 42nd NCAA coach to achieve the milestone.

A-PLUS
Twenty-one of the 23 non-goaltender Tigers have a positive plus-minus rating this season, including 12 players with a double-digit number. Senior defenseman Aiden-Hansen Bukata leads the way at plus-24 rating, followed by fifth-year defenseman Gianfranco Cassaro and junior forward Carter Wilkie (+21), graduate student forward Elijah Gonsalves (+20), first-year forward Tyler Fukakusa (+19) in the top-five. Senior defenseman Dimitri Mikrogiannakis is next at plus-18.

FAMILIAR FACES
Graduate student defenseman Ryan Nicholson appeared in his 160th game last Saturday, becoming only the third player in program history to hit the milestone, while graduate student captain Caleb Moretz played his 158th game. Nicholson ranks third in appearances in a Tiger sweater, followed by Moretz in fourth.

CAPTAIN CALEB
Fifth-year forward Caleb Moretz was named captain for the 2023-24 season, trading in the "A" from his sweater for a "C" this season. In 158 games over the last five years, Moretz has totaled 65 career points on 22 goals and 43 assists, finishing seventh on the team last season with 19 points on five goals and 14 assists as well as second with 246 faceoff wins and a .532 winning percentage. Moretz is a four-time AHCA All-American Scholar as well as a four-time Atlantic Hockey All-Academic Team honoree. 

TAKING IT OUTSIDE
With the 1-1 tie versus St. Lawrence (Jan. 6), RIT completed the non-conference portion of the 2023-24 season with a 4-3-1 record, marking the fifth-consecutive season the Tigers went .500 or better outside of league play. RIT also owns a 15-12-2 mark the last five years versus the other five conferences with at least a .500 record versus the ECAC (8-5-2), CCHA (2-0) and Hockey East (3-3), while going 2-4 versus the Big 10. 

GAME CHANGING VOTE
A proposal was passed in January of 2021 at the NCAA Convention during the Division III Business meeting which allowed RIT to offer scholarships to its Division I men's and women's hockey student-athletes. Multi-divisional intercollegiate athletic programs like RIT, which sponsors 22 Division III teams along with two Division I hockey teams, were previously not allowed to apply all Division I legislation to its Division I teams, including the inability to award athletic grant-in-aid to its players based on a 2004 bylaw. However, with the vote overwhelmingly passing by a 388-18-39 margin, the Tigers are now on the same footing as the rest of its peers across the country with a full 18 scholarships available to each hockey team. 

TIGERS IN THE NHL
Former RIT standout defenseman Chris Tanev enters his 15th season in the NHL. He spent his first 11 with the Vancouver Canucks before signing a free agent contract with the Calgary Flames prior to the 2020-21 season and recently being traded to the Dallas Stars. Voted the 2010 AHA Rookie of the Year, Tanev made his NHL debut on Jan. 18, 2011, becoming the first RIT player to appear in an NHL contest. Entering the 2023-24 season, he has played in 758 NHL games with 32 goals and 150 assists for 182 career points. He won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2016 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships and was named a finalist for the NHL's Masterson Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Tanev tallied 28 points (10-18-28) and was plus-33 in 41 games for RIT in 2009-10. He and another former Tiger, Steve Pinizzotto (2005-07), were teammates with Vancouver in 2012-13. Pinizzotto tallied 57 points (20-37-57) in 54 career games for the Tigers and appeared in 36 NHL games with two goals and four assists. 

RIT's NCAA DIVISION II/III HISTORY
RIT has made 16 NCAA Tournament appearances since 1983. RIT won the 1983 Division II National Championship before winning the Division III National Championship in 1985. The Tigers also finished as Division III runner-up in 1989, 1996 and 2001 while making semifinal appearances in 1984, 1986, 1999, and 2010. Overall, RIT was 26-15-4 in NCAA contests at the DII/III level and is 3-2 in five Division I tournament showings. The Tigers made the NCAA Tournament in 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2010, 2015, and 2016.

FINAL FOUR FRENZY
RIT was the first team in NCAA history to reach the Frozen Four in its first postseason appearance in 2010 and was also the first Atlantic Hockey team to reach the national semifinals. RIT was one win away from duplicating that feat in 2014-15 after upsetting overall top-seed Minnesota State, 1-0, in the Midwest Region Semifinals.