Alumni know anything can happen in NCAA tournament

Alumni know RIT may seem like an underdog among the hockey powerhouses in the 2024 NCAA tournament, but several alumni have seen exciting upsets by the Tigers over the years—Steve Schultz among them.

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Steve Schultz, town of Henrietta supervisor and RIT alumnus.

“Hockey is full of stories where teams get hot at the right time, ride a hot goalie, or have offensive lines that just click and take it up a notch,” said Schultz ’89 (computer science). “When you look at how we’re playing right now, outscoring opponents 26-6 during the Atlantic Hockey tournament, we’ve got the hot goalie, we’ve got the strong defense as evidenced by our penalty kill, and we have the clicking offensive lines with production from multiple lines. Hopefully, that spells upset.”

Schultz has a lot of history with the team. The men’s team made it to the Frozen Four tournament semifinals in 2010 and it seems natural to compare that experience to the possibilities of this year’s team making as big an impression at the 2024 tournament. Different teams, but school spirit unchanged.

In 2010, the Corner Crew was voted the Third Star of the Tournament by the press.

“I would be curious if that has ever happened before, a cheering section taking home a star of the tournament either before or since 2010,” said Schultz, the town of Henrietta supervisor and one of the original Corner Crew members, who remains a familiar face at games today.

Returning to the NCAA tournament brings back memories not only for alumni who watched the Tigers in the 2010 Frozen Four, but for players like Dan Ringwald, who was captain and part of the first Division I competition team.

He remembers the amazing fan support, great team camaraderie, as well as better pre-game meals at the tournament, he joked.

“Our team had come a long way in the years leading up to that, “ said Ringwald ’09 (management), ’10 (MBA). “It was great to represent RIT on the national stage and it turned into great memories that I’m thankful for today.”

Ringwald, a major accounts district manager for ADP, a human resources, payroll, and tax services company, was named in 2023 to the AHA’s inaugural Hall of Honor class to commemorate his successes as a player.

He had this advice for the Tigers: “These opportunities don’t come up often, so seize the moment and enjoy it in the process. Continue to put the team first. Focus on the ‘controllables’ and what’s made you successful throughout the year.”