Men's hockey hosts Robert Morris for a two-game AHA set

ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men's hockey team hosts Robert Morris for a pair of Atlantic Hockey America games this Friday (7:05 p.m.) and Saturday (5:05 p.m.).

The Tigers will play their final two games before a three-week holiday break and look to snap an 0-7-1 streak over their last eight games after a 6-4 setback against visiting Canisius on Tuesday night. Robert Morris cruised to a 4-1 victory over visiting AIC last Friday before falling 4-2 in the most recent matches in Saturday's rematch.

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TIGER REWIND

RIT lost 6-4 on Tuesday to Canisius in their first home game in more than two weeks. Sophomore forward Matthew Wilde and freshman defenseman Tristan Allen each had a goal and an assist to lead 10 Tigers by at least one point. First-year goalkeeper Jakub Krbecek stopped 19 shots for his first appearance in 11 career appearances with fewer than 30 saves.

The Golden Griffins opened a 2-0 lead in the first period for junior forward Tiger Filip Jacques scored at 3:30 of the second. Canisius regained a two-goal lead less than seven minutes later before Wilde scored on a lovely backhanded feed from second-year forward Christian Catalano at 1:05 p.m.

Canisius scored twice in a span of 22 seconds less than three minutes into the third for a three-goal lead before Allen recorded a power-play tally at 4:29. The Golden Griffins answered 27 seconds later to put the game out of reach. Junior forward Simon Isabelle scored with 1:28 left in regulation to end the night.

NO SOPHOMORE RAID

Sophomore forward Tyler Fukakusa entered the weekend leading Atlantic Hockey with 18 points and 14 assists on the season.
With his team-best six-game scoring streak, he totaled 12 points for the team on three goals and nine assists, including a career-high four assists in the 6–2 win over Bentley (November 9), during the month of November.
Fukakusa also scored a goal and an assist in back-to-back games against Army (Nov. 16) and Sacred Heart (Nov. 22) before adding two assists versus the Pioneers (Nov. 17) for his fourth multi-point game of the month.
Fukakusa entered the weekend ranked sixth nationally with 187 faceoff wins while winning 54 percent of his draws this winter. He won 18 of 30 faceoffs in his career against Army (Nov. 16) and also won 13 of 15 draws (.867) in last Friday's setback at New Hampshire, as well as 15 of 23 on Tuesday against Canisius .

WELCOME MAT

Sophomore forward Matthew Wilde has totaled 12 points on six goals and six assists in the past nine games after missing the Tigers' first eight due to a preseason injury.
He scored a career-high four points with two goals and two assists in the 6-2 win over Bentley (Nov. 9) for the first of three multi-point games in November.
Wilde was credited with four points over the two games at Sacred Heart, starting with two assists in the opener before recording a goal and an assist the following night.
He entered the weekend leading Atlantic Hockey with 1.33 points and 0.67 goals per game.

SPREAD THE LOVE

Senior forward Grady Hobbs became the 15th RIT player to score a goal during this season's Sacred Heart series. Freshman defenseman Mathieu Cobetto-Roy also registered an assist for his first point in a Tiger jersey, as 19 of the Tigers' 23 total skaters currently have at least one point in 17 games entering the weekend. First-year goalkeeper Jakub Krbecek also provided an assist in the 6-2 win over Bentley (9 November).

SIMON SAYS LEAVE THE PUCK

Junior forward Simon Isabelle entered the weekend fourth nationally with 202 faceoff wins and of the 10 players who started the weekend with at least 175 faceoff wins, they finished in second place with a winning percentage of .603. Isabelle won a career-high 18-of-26 (.692) draws in the 3-2 win over Clarkson, before winning 18-of-23 (.783) faceoffs in the 2-1 Bowling Green setback . Isabelle won 10 of 19 faceoffs in Tuesday's Canisius game, which is his 13th double-digit faceoff win in 17 games this season, while also scoring his seventh goal for the team.

SAVINGS ACCOUNT

Freshmen Jakub Krbecek was on a 10-game winning streak to start his collegiate career, making at least 30 saves in Tuesday's Canisius setback. Before that, he made a career-high 43 saves in the 2-1 OT loss to Bowling Green (October 19) and also stopped 35 shots in the 4-1 setback at Niagara (October 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), winning his first collegiate start. He also recorded his first career point with an assist and made 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 freshman in program history of the D1 era with eight.