Men's Hockey travels to Bowling Green for final game of 2024

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT Men's Hockey team travels to Bowling Green on Sunday (Dec. 29) for its final contest of 2024. Faceoff is set for 3:00 p.m.
 
The Tigers are back in action following a three-week holiday hiatus looking to keep things rolling after snapping out of an 0-7-1 streak with a 4-3 overtime victory versus Atlantic Hockey foe Robert Morris (Dec. 7) at the Gene Polisseni Center. The Falcons are also back at it after a two-week break that followed a two-game sweep of visiting Northern Michigan, 2-0 and 4-3, (Dec. 13-14) in CCHA play.
 
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TIGER REWIND
RIT split an Atlantic Hockey doubleheader with visiting Robert Morris three weeks ago, earning a 4-3 OT win after falling 7-3 in the opener. Sophomore forward Christian Catalano notched the game-winner 2:14 into the extra period to seal the victory, while junior defenseman Xavier Lapointe logged his first career two-goal game in a Tiger sweater. First-year forward Ty Whyte scored his first two collegiate points with a goal and an assist, while sophomore forward Tyler Fukakusa extended his team-best eight-game point-scoring streak with an assist. First-year goaltender Ethan David totaled 24 saves to backstop his first RIT victory.
 
Friday's opener saw the Colonials break open a 3-1 lead after two periods with a four-goal third en route to snapping an eight-game losing streak opposite RIT while winning in Rochester for the first time since 2019. Senior defenseman Douglas Scott score his first career goal while first-year defenseman Ryan Williams notched his first career point with an assist.
 
First-year defenseman Tristan Allen was named the AHA Rookie of the Week on Dec. 9. He tallied a power-play goal and an assist in the 6-4 setback to visiting Canisius (Dec. 3) and also logged an assist in both ends of the Robert Morris series, including the primary assist on Catalano's overtime game-winner.
 
YOU AGAIN?
RIT pays a visit to Bowling Green this Sunday after the Falcons won a 2-1 overtime decision earlier this season in front of a sold-out Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend crowd of 10,566 at Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester (Oct. 19). Tiger first-year goaltender Jakub Krbecek made a career-high 43 saves, while junior forward Simon Isabelle opened the scoring at 14:43 of the second period.  The Falcons tied the game less than two minutes later to force the eventual overtime. Bowling Green's Gustav Stjernberg scored the deciding goal with 47.4 left in overtime.
 
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP
Sophomore forward Tyler Fukakusa entered the holiday break tied for eighth nationally in scoring with 21 points and tied for second with 16 assists.
• Riding a team-best eight-game point-scoring streak, he totaled a team-high 12 points on three goals and nine assists during the month of November, including a career-high four assists in the 6-2 win at Bentley (Nov. 9).
• Fukakusa 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 the Pioneers (Nov. 17) for his fourth multi-point game of the month.
• Fukakusa also entered the holiday break ranked eighth nationally with 215 faceoff victories while winning 54 percent of his draws this winter. He tied a career-high winning 18-of-31 faceoffs in the Robert Morris opener and also won 13-of-15 draws (.867) in the New Hampshire opener during his current eight-game streak with double-digit faceoff wins.
 
WELCOME MATT
Sophomore forward Matthew Wilde entered the break leading Atlantic Hockey with 1.27 points per game, including at least one point in eight of the last 11 games since missing the Tigers' first eight games with a preseason injury.  He is tied for the team lead with seven goals and is also tied for second with 14 points.
• 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.
• He scored a goal and an assist in the Canisius setback to open his current three-game point streak.
 
SPREAD THE LOVE
First-year forward Ty Whyte became the 17th RIT player to score a goal this season during the Robert Morris series. He also became the 21st of the Tigers' 23 total skaters to notch at least one point through 19 games this winter. First-year goaltender Jakub Krbecek also tallied an assist in the 6-2 win at Bentley (Nov. 9).
 
SIMON SAYS DROP THE PUCK
Junior forward Simon Isabelle entered the holiday break fourth nationally with 223 faceoff victories and, of the 11 players in the country that currently have at least 200 faceoff wins, ranked first with a .596 winning percentage. Isabelle won a career-high 18-of-26 (.692) draws in the 3-2 win at Clarkson, before winning 18-of-23 (.783) faceoffs in the 2-1 Bowling Green setback. Isabelle won 11-of-19 faceoffs in the Robert Morris game for his 15th double-digit faceoff win performance in 19 games this season. During the Canisius game, he also won 10-of-19 draws and scored his seventh goal of the season - tied for the team lead.
 
SAVINGS ACCOUNT
First-year Jakub Krbecek had a streak of 10 games to start his collegiate career with at least 30 saves snapped in the Canisius setback. Before then, he made a career-high 43 saves in the 2-1 OT loss to Bowling Green (Oct. 19) and also stopped 35 shots in the 4-1 setback at Niagara (Oct. 30). Krbecek won the first of two-straight AHA Rookie of the Week honors after making 32 saves in a 3-2 win over Clarkson (Oct. 6) to win his first collegiate start. He also logged his first career point with an assist to go along with 33 saves in the 6-2 win over Bentley (Nov. 9). Current RIT goalie coach Mike Rotolo '17 previously held the mark for the most 30-save games by a RIT first-year in D1-era program history with eight.

NOT JUST ORANGE IN COMMON
Bowling Green and RIT have had some familiar names in common through the years.
• RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson is in his 26th season on the RIT bench, but originally started his collegiate hockey journey wearing Bowling Green orange instead. Wilson played four years for the Falcons under legendary head coach Jerry York, captaining the 1984 squad to a national championship during his senior campaign. He logged the primary assist on the game-tying goal with 1:47 left in regulation during the title game (played in Lake Placid, N.Y. on the same sheet the USA won the "Miracle on Ice" four years earlier) as BGSU went on to defeat top-ranked Minnesota-Duluth, 5-4, in quadruple overtime. Earning a degree in health, physical education, and recreation from Bowling Green in 1984, and a master's degree in education in 1987, Wilson also led the Falcons to three NCAA Tournament appearances during his time as an assistant coach.
• RIT Associate Head Coach Brian Hills graduated from Bowling Green in 1983 as the program's all-time leading scorer with 270 points as well as the all-time leading goal scorer with 116. As a senior, he totaled a program record 94 points on 37 goals and 57 assists en route to being named a First-Team All-American and Hobey Baker Award finalist for the second-straight season. He graduated with a degree in business administration procurement and materials management before going on to play professionally in Europe for 11 years. Still ranked second in program history in points, tied for second in assists (154) and third in goals, Hills was inducted into the BGSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988. 
• Buddy Powers was an assistant coach at Bowling Green from 1982-88, before coming back to succeed York as head coach for eight years from 1994-2002. During the interim, Powers spent one season as head coach at RIT, guiding the 1988-89 squad to a 26-8-2 mark and a runner-up finish for the NCAA Division III national championship. He currently serves as the Falcons' Director of Player Development.