Men’s hockey to open Ritter Arena schedule with pair of games against Connecticut
RIT looks to earn its first victory of the season this weekend against Connecticut at Ritter Arena.
The RIT Tigers men’s hockey team takes on the University of Connecticut Huskies at 7:05 p.m. today and Saturday in a pair of Atlantic Hockey contests at Ritter Arena.
RIT (0-5-0, 0-2-0 AHA) is looking for its first win of the season after dropping a pair of tough contests at Air Force last weekend. RIT lost 5-4 on Friday and fell 3-2 in overtime on Saturday. Andrew Favot paced the Tigers with a goal and two assists in the weekend series. He leads the Tigers in scoring with a goal and four assists in five games this season.
Cameron Burt and Chris Haltigin have four points apiece. Goaltender Jared DeMichiel has played in all five games this season, recording a 3.58 goals against average and .875 save percentage.
RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson will attempt to win his 189th career game at RIT, which will break the program record.
Connecticut (0-4-0, 0-1-0 AHA) is also looking for its first win of the season. On Friday, the Huskies dropped their AHA opener at Bentley, 4-3. Sean Ambrosie scored a pair of goals for the Huskies in the loss. Most recently, the Huskies fell at Merrimack 4-1 on Sunday. Ambrosie leads the team with three goals and an assist this season. Goaltender Jeff Larson has played all four games in net, recording a 3.99 goals against average and .872 save percentage.
RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 9-5-1, and is 4-3-1 against Connecticut since moving to Division I in 2005. Last season, the two teams split a pair of games in Storrs. Connecticut won 2-1 on Nov. 21, 2008, while RIT battled back to win 5-4 the following evening. The Tigers defeated the Huskies at Ritter 5-3 on Jan. 9, and 7-4 on Jan. 10. RIT out-scored Connecticut 18-13 in the four games last season.
Tickets are available for this weekend’s games at the Gordon Field House and Activities Center Box Office or by phone at 585-475-4121. Fans can also purchase tickets via ticketmaster.com. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for RIT faculty, staff and alumni and $5 for students with ID.
Both games will be aired live on Time Warner Cable Sports channel 26, with Gene Battaglia and John Ditullio calling the action. Games also can be heard on WITR-FM (89.7). WITR will host tailgating parties prior to each game, 3:30–6:45 p.m., in D Lot.
M & T Bank is sponsoring Friday’s contest, while Zweigle’s will sponsor Saturday’s contest. For more, visit RIT Athletics.