ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT Men's Hockey team hosts Mercyhurst for a pair of Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) contests this Friday (7:05 p.m.) and Saturday (5:05 p.m.) looking to extend a five-game winning-streak. 

The Tigers earned a pair of wins over Colgate last week in their first two road games of the season, taking the opener, 3-1, before winning, 4-1, in Saturday's rematch. The Lakers come to Rochester in search of their first victory of the season after dropping an AHA home doubleheader to Bentley, 3-1 and 7-2, last week.

FOLLOW LIVE
Pregame Live: Friday | Saturday
Watch: FloHockey.tv/watch
Watch: SportsNet Pittsburgh (Saturday only)
PxP/Color: Gene Battaglia, John DiTullio
Local Audio: WITR 89.7 FM or FOX Sports 1280 AM
Web Audio: witr.rit.edu or foxsports1280.iheart.com
PxP/Color: Ed Trefzger, Scott Biggar, Matt Campbell
Live Stats: ritathletics.com/sidearmstats/mhockey

TIGER REWIND
RIT swept both ends of a non-league doubleheader at Colgate last week

First-year William Moore scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in Friday's 3-1 victory, breaking a 1-1 tie with six minutes remaining in regulation before senior forward Simon Isabelle tacked on an empty-net goal with 9.9 remaining to seal the win. Senior forward Tyler Mahan opened the scoring at 6:49 of the first with his fourth goal of the season. 

The Tigers completed the sweep on Saturday, 4-1. Colgate opened the scoring midway through the first, but RIT answered less than two minutes later on sophomore defenseman Ryan Williams' first tally in a Tiger uniform. First-year forward Evan Konyen scored a power-play goal midway through the second for what proved to be the game-winner before Mahan and senior forward Austin Brimmer tacked on empty-net goals in the final three minutes of regulation to seal the weekend.

KRBECEK APPEAL
Sophomore Jakub Krbecek was honored twice this week by the AHA, landing Goaltender of the Month honors on Monday and Goaltender of the Week recognition on Tuesday. Krbecek compiled a 4-1-0 record in five October starts, highlighted by a season-high 39-save performance during the 7-3 win over Air Force (Oct. 25) and 28 saves in the 6-2 win over Clarkson (Oct. 18) in the Brick City Homecoming game. He also combined to stop 42 of 44 shots during last weekend's Colgate sweep, totaling 28 saves in Saturday's 4-1 win after stopping 14 of 15 shots in Friday's 3-1 win. Krbecek entered the week sixth nationally among qualifying goalies with a .945 save percentage and tied for seventh with a 1.50 goals against average. 

ELF OFF THE SHELF 
First-year forward Caleb Elfering was honored by the AHA for the second-straight week. Voted the AHA Rookie of the Month on Monday, Elfering entered the week tied for third in the AHA among first-year players with five points on two goals and three assists. He totaled three points during the Air Force sweep, starting with an assist and two blocked shots in the 5-1 win before adding a goal and two assists in Saturday's 7-3 victory to land AHA Rookie of the Week recognition. He also scored his first goal in a Tiger sweater during the homecoming victory over Clarkson. 

MORE IS BETTER THAN LESS
RIT entered the week leading the AHA and ranked 12th nationally with 3.71 goals per game as well as a plus-1.57 scoring margin. The Tigers were also tops in the league and 14th nationally in scoring defense, only allowing 2.14 goals per game. 

LIGHT THE LAMP
RIT scored 26 goals through its first seven games to start the season--the fifth-highest total through that same stretch in 20 years at the Division I level--despite only scoring one goal in its first two games. The  2020-21 and 2006-07 squads totaled 30 goals through seven games, while the 2022-23 (29 goals) and the 2016-17 (27) teams also got off to hot starts. None of those teams were shutout in their first seven games. 

THE KILLERS
RIT entered the week ranked fifth nationally and first in the AHA with a .920 penalty killing percentage, only allowing two goals in 25 opponent power play attempts. The Tigers yielded a power play goal to Sacred Heart in the season-opener but killed the next 16 penalties over five games before allowing Colgate to score with the extra man last Friday.  

EVERYBODY EATS
Through seven games to start the season, 15 Tigers have scored at least one goal, while 19 of the 23 total skaters have notched at least one point. Sophomore defenseman Ryan Williams notched his first collegiate goal in last Saturday's Colgate victory, while junior defenseman Kevin Scott logged an assist for his first point of the season to become the latest two players to get into the scoring action. 

TIGERS VS. MERCYHURST
RIT leads the all-time series opposite Mercyhurst, 37-21-6, including a 19-9-4 record at home. Winners of seve of the last 10 meetings, the Tigers took three of four matchups with the Lakers last season, splitting two games in Erie by identical 4-2 scores in October, before taking 3-2 and 6-2 wins at the GPC last February to close the regular season. 

ALL HE DOES IS SCORE GAME WINNERS
First-year forward William Moore's two goals this season were back-to-back game-winners. He was credited with what proved to be the deciding tally in the 7-3 win over Air Force (Oct. 25) before breaking a 1-1 tie with six minutes remaining in last Friday's 3-1 decision at Colgate.

MEET THE NEW BOSS
RIT Head Coach Matt Thomas is off to a solid start to his first season behind the bench in Rochester. The former RIT captain took the reins at his alma mater last spring, becoming only the eighth head coach in program history dating back to 1962-63. Thomas jumped right into coaching after graduating in 1998 and has over 26 years of experience at both the NCAA Division I and professional ranks, including the last four seasons as an assistant coach with the Providence Bruins – the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the NHL Boston Bruins. RIT was one of a record 11 Division I men's hockey teams that made a coaching change this offseason – the most in the 78-year history of NCAA Division I men's hockey.