Men's Hockey hosts AIC in Atlantic Hockey Championship Game

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT Men's Hockey team hosts American International College in the Atlantic Hockey Championship game this Saturday with the Jack Riley Trophy and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Tournament going to the winner.
 
The top-seeded Tigers swept seventh-seeded Niagara, 4-1 and 5-2, in last week's tournament semifinals, while the Yellow Jackets came back from a 5-2 opening loss at second-seeded Holy Cross to win, 3-0 and 3-1, in Worcester.
 
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TIGER TRACKS

• 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 is currently ranked sixth nationally in scoring offense with 3.89 goals per game, fifth in scoring defense, only allowing 2.32 goals per game, and fifth with a 1.58 scoring margin. The Tiger penalty kill is ranked fourth (.860) while the power play is 14th (.232). All are also ranked first in Atlantic Hockey.
• RIT was ranked in the USCHO.com national poll for the 18th consecutive week, moving back up to No. 18 for the third time this season after sitting either 19th or 20th the last 10 weeks. The Tigers also ranked in the USA Hockey top-20 for the 12th time this season, ranking 19th for the second-straight week.
• 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. 

AHA SEMIFINAL RECAP

• RIT swept seventh-seeded Niagara, 4-1 and 5-2, in last week's 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. 

RIT IN THE ATLANTIC HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

• RIT is making its sixth Atlantic Hockey Championship game appearance - second most in league history to Air Force's eight.
• The Tigers are back in the final for the first time since winning back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016.
• RIT also won its first Atlantic Hockey crown in 2010 on the way to an appearance in the Frozen Four.
• The Tigers defeated Sacred Heart, 6-1, in the 2010 final, Mercyhurst, 5-1, in 2015 and Robert Morris, 7-4, in 2016. 

AIC REWIND

• RIT is 4-0 versus AIC in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament, sweeping a 2011 quarterfinal series, 5-0 and 5-1, as well as a 2013 first-round series, 2-1 and 7-1. Both were played at Ritter Arena.
• RIT split a pair of regular-season games in Springfield this year against AIC, falling in overtime, 3-2, before earning a 5-2 win the following afternoon (Dec. 8-9).
• RIT led, 2-1, late into the third period of the opener on goals by sophomore forward Philippe Jacques and junior forward Tanner Andrew. The Yellow Jackets tied the game with 1:20 left in regulation and scored the game-winner with 57.9 remaining in OT.
• Tied, 2-2, at 14:19 of the second the following day, the Tigers finished the game with three unanswered goals, including graduate-student forward Elijah Gonsalves' second of the day, to clinch the win.
• Junior goaltender Tommy Scarfone totaled 43 saves in the opener, before stopping 29 save in the rematch.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• RIT is 18-0-1 when leading after the first period and 22-2-2 when leading after the second period this season.
• The Tigers are also 21-0-1 when leading by multiple goals and 20-1-1 when allowing less than three goals.
• RIT has scored five or more goals 13 times this season and is undefeated in those games.
• RIT is averaging 5.25 goals per game during the postseason, building a 21-4 scoring advantage in four 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. 

SIX TIGERS NAMED ATLANTIC HOCKEY ALL-CONFERENCE
A league-best six RIT Men's Hockey players were named to the 2023-24 All-Atlantic Hockey Team, Tuesday. Fifth-year defenseman Gianfranco Cassaro, senior forward Cody Laskosky, junior goaltender Tommy Scarfone and junior forward Carter Wilkie landed first-team recognition, while senior defenseman Aiden Hansen-Bukata and graduate student forward Elijah Gonsalves were named second and third-team honorees, respectively.
 
BIG RED

• Junior forward Carter Wilkie was voted first-team all-conference for the second-straight season. The two-time Atlantic Hockey Player of the Year finished the regular season fifth in the conference in scoring, tied for fourth in goals and seventh in assists.
• Currently second on the team with 39 points on 16 goals and 23 assists, he is only the fifth D1-era Tiger to post three 30-point seasons.
• 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 10th on the Tigers' D1-era scoring list with 109 points on 43 goals and 66 assists to date.
• He currently ranks second in the country with 535 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 on Tuesday after being named First-Team All-Atlantic Hockey for the second-straight season.
• Scarfone is currently tied for third nationally with a 24-8-2 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 also 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 ninth with a 2.19 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. He moved atop the program's all-time wins list with a 54-28-4 record to date as well as into second place with 2,443 career saves, including a single-season program record 964 this season. Scarfone is 25 saves short of the D1-era record established by Logan Drackett from 2017-21. 
• 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 to date.
• 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.
• 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 10th in the country among all skaters entering the postseason.
• 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 115 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 five goals and 25 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 17 goals this season and is tied fourth with a career-high 33 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 15th all-time with 44 goals and 59 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 17 goals - the highest total by a first-year player in the Tigers' D1 era.
• Also fifth with 32 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 tied for 34th in NCAA Men's Ice Hockey history with 460 victories, he is also 10th among active Division I coaches with a 460-313-80 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 344-282-68 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-23 rating, followed by fifth-year defenseman Gianfranco Cassaro and junior forward Carter Wilkie (+20), graduate student forward Elijah Gonsalves (+19), first-year forward Tyler Fukakusa (+18) in the top-five. Senior forward Cody Laskosky and senior defenseman Dimitri Mikrogiannakis are next at plus-17.
 
FAMILIAR FACES
Graduate student captain Caleb Moretz played his 150th career game in the regular season finale versus Canisius – the ninth Tiger to hit the milestone – joining graduate student defenseman Ryan Nicholson who also made his 150th appearance in RIT's 7-6 OT win at Mercyhurst (Feb. 9). Nicholson is third all-time with 159 appearances, followed by Moretz at 157.
 
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 157 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. 
 
WASH, RINSE, REPEAT
RIT received a league-high 105 points in this year's Atlantic Hockey preseason poll, including seven of 11 first-place votes. Sacred Heart was picked to finish second with 99 points, including two first-place votes, followed by AIC (90 votes, one first), Holy Cross (82, one first) and Canisius (79) in the top-five.