No. 18 Men's Hockey heads to Niagara for final two regular-season road games

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - With three weeks remaining before the start of the postseason, RIT closes the road portion of the 2022-23 regular season with a pair of Atlantic Hockey games at Niagara, Thursday (7:05 p.m.) and Saturday (7:05 p.m.). The Tigers look to shore up their grip on first place in the Atlantic Hockey standings following a four-point weekend versus Canisius, while Niagara looks to get back on track following overtime and shootout losses at Army last Friday and Saturday. 

The only team to have clinched a postseason berth in Atlantic Hockey, RIT sits atop the latest standings with 48 points and is assured of no lower than a third-place finish. The Tigers would sew up no lower than second place with four points over their final six games and remain in the driver's seat for first place, leading second-place Sacred Heart by nine points entering the Thursday's game. The top-four seeds will host a best-of-three quarterfinal series (Mar. 3-5), while the top overall seed receives home-ice advantage throughout the postseason. 

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TIGER TRACKS
RIT came back to defeat Canisius, 3-2, on the road last Friday before falling, 3-2, in overtime at home on Saturday. The Tigers took eight out of 12 points during the season series versus the Golden Griffins, also earning a 10-4 victory on Dec. 3 in Buffalo after falling, 2-1 in overtime the previous night at home. 

• Friday saw senior defenseman Ryan Nicholson score the game-winning goal with 8.6 left in regulation to clinch the victory. The Tigers trailed, 2-0, at the 11:16 mark of the second period but came back to knot the game with a pair of goals in the next five minutes by junior forward Cody Laskosky and graduate student forward Andrew Petrucci, setting up the eventual game-winner at the end of regulation. Sophomore goaltender Tommy Scarfone totaled 26 saves to preserve his 17th victory of the season as the Tigers came back to win their fourth game of the season after falling behind by two or more goals. 
•  RIT opened Saturday's scoring 3:10 into the game on a tally by senior forward Calvon Boots and later took a 2-1 lead with 1:53 left in the first period on a goal by graduate student forward Kobe Walker, but Canisius later tied the game with 3:38 on the second-period clock and eventually won the game with a power-play goal with 1:21 remaining in overtime. Scarfone totaled 28 saves while Nicholson finished with a game-high five blocks in the loss.   

POLL WATCHING
RIT remained No. 18 for the second-straight week in the USCHO.com rankings, while moving back into the top-20 of the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll at No. 18. The Tigers received their first USCHO ranking earlier this season since finishing No. 20 in the final 2016 poll after winning their second-straight Atlantic Hockey Championship. RIT also had not appeared in the USA Today poll since finishing No. 10 in the final 2010 rankings following its first Atlantic Hockey Championship and a run to the Frozen Four. 

IN THE RANKINGS
The Tigers entered the week 13th nationally and first in Atlantic Hockey with 3.43 goals per game.  RIT was also 12th in the country and tops in the conference with a +0.86 scoring margin and 19th nationally in scoring defense (2.57 goals per game). The Tigers' penalty kill ranked fifth (.859) despite facing 135 opponent power play attempts - the most in the nation.

SILKY WILKIE
Sophomore forward Carter Wilkie leads Atlantic Hockey and is tied for 16th nationally with 32 points while sitting 17th nationally and first in the conference with 1.14 points per game. He is also tied for third in the league with 13 goals and fourth with 19 assists. 

• Wilkie entered the week tied for eighth nationally with 334 faceoff wins while winning 54.0 percent of his draws. He is only the 11th player in RIT's Division I era to score 30 points in multiple seasons after totaling 30 points (13 goals/17 assists) as a first-year.  
• Wilkie is a two-time Atlantic Hockey Player of the Month (November, January) and four-time Player of the Week honoree this season. 

SAINT TOMMY
Sophomore goaltender Tommy Scarfone was named the Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Month for January. Finishing 5-1-1 in seven starts, including a pair of Atlantic Hockey shutouts, he compiled a .930 save percentage and a 1.83 GAA. In his six conference starts, he was 4-1-1 with a .926 save percentage and a 1.96 goals against average.

• A three-time AHA Goaltender of the Week, Scarfone is currently 20th nationally with a .920 save percentage and is fourth in the country and tops in the conference with a .729 winning percentage. 
• Tied for fourth nationally in wins with a 17-6-1 record, Scarfone is 14-3-1 with a 2.08 goals against average and a .927 save percentage in 18 conference games this year. 
• Leading Atlantic Hockey with 28.13 saves per game, he stopped a career-high 41 shots in RIT's 6-1 setback to No. 5 Penn State (Dec. 30) before tying his fourth-highest total with 37 the following night for another of his nine games with at least 30 saves this season. 

ROOKIE COOKIES
First-year forward Tyler Mahan is second for RIT and is tied for 10th in the country among first-year players with 11 goals. He also entered the week in a four-way tie for first nationally with three short-handed tallies. Mahan had a season-high six-game point streak snapped in the 1-0 victory over Mercyhurst (Jan. 14) after totaling five goals and three assists during the run. 

BEST DEFENSE IS GOOD OFFENSE
Senior Gianfranco Cassaro and junior Aiden Hansen-Bukata rank among the nation's highest scoring defensive pairings this season. 

• Hansen-Bukata is 14th in the country with 0.81 assists per game and leads Atlantic Hockey with 21 assists. He's also tied for fifth in the league (with Cassaro) with 23 points. He registered three assists three times this season, including the 8-5 win over Union (Oct. 15), the 4-3 win at AIC (Nov. 5) and the 10-4 win at Canisius (Dec. 3). 
• Cassaro is tied for fifth (with Hansen-Bukata) in Atlantic Hockey with 23 points (9G/13A). The Atlantic Hockey October Player of the Month and three-time Player of the Week scored a career-high four points on a goal and three assists during the Tigers' 10-4 win at Canisius (Dec. 3). He also scored two goals on two occasions, including a three-point night in the 5-2 win over Holy Cross (Oct. 28). 

BLOCK PARTY
Graduate student defenseman Spencer Berry entered the week tied for sixth nationally and first in Atlantic Hockey with 58 blocked shots this season. He knocked down a career-high seven shots in the 5-3 win over Princeton (Nov. 25) and has logged at least one block in all but two games this season, including four on four occasions - the latest in the 5-3 win at Arizona State (Jan. 21). 

ABOUT NIAGARA
Niagara currently sits seventh in the Atlantic Hockey standings with a 7-10-3 league mark after falling, 3-2 in overtime and tying, 3-3 (SO L, 1-0), at Army last weekend. Graduate student forward Ryan Cox is tied for first for the Purple Eagles with 20 points, including a team-high 10 goals, but only has three points in his last 10 games. Senior forward Casey Carreau also has 20 points (6G/14A), followed by sophomore forward Shane Ott with 19 points, including a team-high 15 assists. Senior goaltender Chad Veltri is 12-10-3 with a .904 save percentage and a 2.90 goals against average in 25 appearances this season. He is second in Atlantic Hockey (behind Scarfone) with 26.60 saves per game.