The 2023–24 RIT Tigers men's ice hockey season was the 60th season of play for the program, the 19th at the Division I level and the 18th in Atlantic Hockey. The Tigers represented the Rochester Institute of Technology, played their home games at the Gene Polisseni Center and were coached by Wayne Wilson in his 25th season. Forward Caleb Moretz was named team captain entering the season.
Season.
After a disappointing loss to end the previous season, the vast majority of RIT's players returned. The only major loss to the lineup was Kobe Walker, who had finished fifth in scoring, but the Tigers brought in several new recruits to shore up the offense. While the outlook appeared good for the team, putting their plans into practice was another matter entirely. The Tigers started the season at St. Lawrence and they were doomed by an issue that had plagued them all of the previous season: taking too many penalties. RIT took six minor penalties in their opening game and though they only allowed one goal during the disadvantages, that marker was the game-winner in a 1-goal game. Additionally, the team was unable to get to their offense while on the penalty kill and they spent much of the waning moments of the match defending rather than trying to get a tying goal.
After that inauspicious start, the team hosted Notre Dame at the Blue Cross Arena for their homecoming game. In front of a sellout crowd of over 10,000, RIT played a staunch defensive game and shutout the Irish. While the team couldn't help itself and took 27 minutes in penalties, they were able to hold off a lackluster power play and earn a very important win for the team's postseason hopes. Tommy Scarfone was the hero of the match, stopping all 36 shots that were sent his way. After their first win, the team began its conference schedule early and quickly jumped to the top of the Atlantic Hockey standings. Scarfone continued to play well in goal and was named the national goaltender of the month for October by the Hockey Commissioners Association. He was not the only reason for the Tigers' success, however, as the team had raised its already potent offense to another level. While several of last year's point leaders got back into the swing of things swiftly, the team received a boots from the return of Elijah Gonsalves after he was forced to sit out two weeks with a lower body injury. The team was also beginning to see two of its new arrivals contribute offensively with Matthew Wilde and Tyler Fukakusa getting up to speed by Thanksgiving.
During the holiday, RIT was given an unexpected opportunity when their opponent, New Hampshire arrived in town with the #12 ranking. Not only was it a chance to prove their mettle against a good team but both games were carried by NESN and could help to raise the visibility of the program. The first match was a bit of a mixed bag for the Tigers, with penalties being called left and right but the RIT power play proved to be the difference. The home team went 3 for 7 on the man-advantage, including twice on a 5-minute major, to win the match. The second saw fewer penalties but just as many minutes with both sides being given a match penalty in the game. This time it was RIT's turn to suffer for their infractions and New Hampshire scored twice on their major advantage. The Tigers were still able to push the game into overtime after tying the game with 5 seconds to play but they were unable to stop the Wildcats from winning the game in overtime. The split series gave the Tigers a huge boost to their rankings and saw them just up into the top third of the PairWise. Two weeks later, with a little help from teams ahead of them losing, RIT entered the winter break in the top 16 and in line for a potential at large bid, a rarity for Atlantic Hockey.
After Christmas the team reconvened for the Ledyard Bank Classic and were presented with yet another tough test. Their semifinal opponent was #8 Maine and even a close loss to the Black Bears could help the Tigers' cause. Unfortunately, penalties torpedoed the team's chances and three infractions in the second (one being a match penalty for grabbing a face mask) led to total domination by Maine in the second half. While RIT didn't surrender a power play marker, the Black Bears outshot the Tigers 30 to 7 in the final 40 minutes. The team recovered to win the consolation game, albeit with seven more penalties, but weren't punished too harshly in the national rankings, falling just one spot. After a solid weekend against a pair of ECAC Hockey teams, RIT finished its non-conference slate with a winning record. Though they had beaten New Hampshire, that only countered the opening loss to St. Lawrence and gave the Tigers effective a neutral mark against the other leagues. If RIT hoped to remain in the top-15 and be in line for an at-large bid by the end of the season they could not afford many losses in the second half of their season. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened when they resumed conference play.
RIT's offense faltered a bit in early January and scored 4 goals over a 3-game span. Despite firing 42 shots against Niagara the team lost 1–3. Due to a snowstorm, the next game against Canisius was postponed for three days. When the team got onto the ice they continued their recent barrage, getting 46 shots on goal but still fell in overtime. The back-to-back losses dropped the team into the low-20s and, with no games against good teams remaining, the Tigers had almost no chance to recover their former position. Even after going undefeated over the next three weeks, RIT could only climb up one spot in the rankings. When the Tigers split successive weekends in the middle of February, it made it all but impossible for the team to get an at large bid and they found themselves in the same position that they were in 2023.
When the regular season ended, RIT was clearly the best team in their conference. Not only had the Tigers won the DeGregorio Trophy by 8 points but they also possessed the #1 offense and #3 defense in Atlantic Hockey. Six of the top thirteen scorers were on the Tigers and they were the only conference member in the national polls. However, because their strength of schedule was far below other teams vying for the NCAA tournament, RIT could only reach the national postseason by winning their conference championship. As part of their reward for winning the regular season title, RIT received a bye into the quarterfinal round. The other benefit was playing the lowest available seed when the did begin their postseason and, by a twist of fate, the Tigers opened with a home stand against last-place Robert Morris. The Colonials proved to be no match for RIT and the home team easily swept the RMU off the ice. The next weekend brought another underdog to Rochester and, though they received a tougher challenge from Niagara, RIT was able to complete a second sweep thanks in large part to their penalty kill and goaltender. In the championship match, only American International stood in the Tiger's way and the two fought a tight-checking game. After exchanging leads in the first, The second period began with both tied at two goals apiece. Wilde swiftly scored his 18th of the season on the power play and the Tigers then had to rely on the heroics of Scarfone to carry them the rest of the way. RIT was called for three minor penalties afterwards but the defense held and the team retained their 1-goal lead for the final 38 minutes. As the final buzzer was approaching, AIC pulled their goaltender and the Tigers popped in two empty-net markers to seal the game and send them back to the national tournament for the first time in eight years.
When the NCAA field was announced, RIT found itself in an unusual position for an Atlantic Hockey team and they were not set against the #1 overall seed. However, despite this the Tigers still faced an daunting task as they were placed opposite the #2 team in the nation, Boston University. RIT was sent to the western regional, held in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and played in front of a not-quite hostile crowd. When play began the Tigers were skating fast and matched the speed of the Terriers. They ended up getting the lion's share of chances in the first 10 minutes but, unfortunately, none of their shots found the target. In the back half of the opening period, RIT witnessed the talent of BU and they suddenly found themselves down by a pair. Elijah Gonsalves managed to cut the lead in half with a power play marker before the end of the period but the Tigers still had to find a way to stop the Terrier's attack. Boston University regain the 2-goal edge in the second and it took seemingly everything the Tigers had to match the goal seven minutes later. Conversely, the Terriers were playing loose and in less than two minutes they got their third 2-goal lead of the match. A further goal from BU at the start of the third made RIT's chances dwindle further and seemed to take the urgency out of their attack. To that point the Tigers had played well in the game but they just did not have the horses to match Boston University who sported 14 NHL draft picks and likely #1 selection in the upcoming draft. After surrendering an empty net goal in the later stages of the period, Cody Laskosky was able to score the final goal of the season for the Tigers but that didn't affect the outcome.
RIT had put together one of the best seasons the team had seen, falling one shy of the program record with 27 wins while finishing as the #6 offense in the country with 3.9 goals per game.
References.
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