ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The RIT Men’s Hockey team opens the unofficial second half of the Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) schedule hosting Robert Morris for two games this Friday and Saturday.
The Tigers closed the non-league portion of the 2025-26 slate with a split opposite No. 8/9 Penn State last weekend, shutting out the Nittany Lions, 1-0, at the GPC on Saturday before falling, 7-3, in Pennsylvania on Sunday. The Colonials look to bounce back from a pair of AHA losses to Sacred Heart, falling, 5-2, on the road (Dec. 30) and, 3-1, at home last Saturday.
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TIGER REWIND
RIT started the New Year with a 1-0 victory over nationally-ranked Penn State last Saturday. First-year forward Evan Konyen scored what proved to be the game-winning goal early in the first period after a Nittany Lion defensive lapse, cashing in a feed from senior forward Austin Brimmer after first-year forward Zach Wigle threaded a pass through three defenders. Sophomore goaltender Jakub Krbecek tied a career-high with 44 saves to backstop the upset, while Wigle also won a career-high 16-of-23 faceoffs. RIT finished the game with 20 blocked shots, including a career-high five by sophomore defenseman Mason Croucher.
Penn State bounced back in Sunday’s rematch, breaking a 1-1 tie after the first period with two unanswered second-period goals, and later building a 4-1 lead early in the third that proved insurmountable. Senior forward Philippe Jacques and junior defenseman Ben Roger each finished with a goal and an assist while Krbeck was credited with 29 saves in the loss.
KONYEN NAMED AHA ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
First-year forward Even Konyen was named the AHA Rookie of the Week, Tuesday, following his game-winner against Penn State, along with both goals in last Monday’s 3-2 setback at Clarkson. He currently leads RIT with seven goals and is tied for second with 12 points. Konyen was also the third Tiger to garner AHA Rookie of the Week honors this season, joining Zach Wigle (Nov. 11) and Caleb Elfering (Oct. 28).
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Last Saturday’s win over Penn State came in front of a sellout crowd of 4,233 fans, marking the eighth sellout in 12 seasons of the Gene Polisseni Center and first since defeating AIC, 5-2, to win the 2024 Atlantic Hockey Championship.
THE KILLERS
RIT enters the weekend ranked fourth nationally and first in the AHA with a .889 penalty killing percentage, only allowing seven goals in 63 opponent power play attempts this season. Penn State notched two power play goals in Sunday’s win – marking the first time this season the Tigers had surrendered multiple power play goals. RIT also currently sits 15th nationally in scoring defense, only allowing 2.40 goals per game.
750 AND COUNTING
Last Saturday’s victory over Penn State was the 750th game RIT has played since making the jump to the Division I level for the 2005-06 season. The Tigers currently own a 366-315-70 record for a .534 winning percentage since moving up from the Division III ranks.
KRBECEK APPEAL
Sophomore goaltender Jakub Krbecek ranks among the nation’s top netminders this season. Coming off a weekend that included tying a career-high with 44 saves in a 1-0 win over Penn State for his first career shutout, he currently ranks third nationally with a 1.91 goals against average and fourth with a .930 save percentage, while his 11 victories are tied for sixth among goaltenders who have played at least half their team’s minutes. Krbecek was named the AHA Goaltender of the Month after compiling a 4-1-0 record in five October starts, highlighted by a 39-save performance during the 7-3 win over Air Force (Oct. 25) and 28 saves in the 6-2 win over Clarkson (Oct. 18) in the Brick City Homecoming game. He also landed his first career AHA Goaltender of the Week honor after combining to stop 42 of 44 shots versus Colgate, including 28 saves in the 4-1 win after stopping 14 of 15 shots in the opening 3-1 win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• RIT is currently 9-1 when scoring at least three goals but is 2-8 when scoring fewer than three goals
- NOTE: RIT’s 1-0 win over Penn State was its first victory of the season when scoring less than three goals, while Sunday’s 7-3 setback was only the second loss this winter when scoring at least three goals.
• RIT is 10-2 when holding opponents under three goals, but 1-7 when allowing three or more goals.
• The Tigers are 11-2 when holding at least a share of the lead after two periods this season, including a 9-0 mark when leading after 40 minutes of play. However, RIT is 0-7 when trailing entering the third period.
I’D LIKE A WORD WITH THE SCHEDULE MAKER
After playing at home in seven of its first nine games of the season, including six straight times to open the campaign, RIT is home this weekend following an 11-game stretch that only featured two home games.
EVERYBODY EATS
Seventeen Tigers have scored at least one goal this season, while 22 of the 24 total skaters have notched at least one point. Senior defenseman Xavier Lapointe notched his first assist of the season in last Monday’s loss at Clarkson to become the latest point scorer while junior defenseman Ben Roger notched his first goal of the season in the 2-1 win at Robert Morris (Nov. 14).
TIGERS VS. ROBERT MORRIS
RIT leads the all-time series with Robert Morris, 28-17-6, winning eight of the previous 10 matchups. The Tigers look to complete the season sweep of the Colonials after winning two games in Pennsylvania in November, 2-1 and 3-2 (Nov. 14-15), to extend a nine-game winning streak. Junior forward Christian Catalano netted the game-winning goal with 46.5 seconds left in regulation to seal the game-two victory after first-year forward Zach Wigle tallied a power-play goal with 3:31 remaining for the game-one winner.
