By Tommy Kane

Published: October 6th, 2019

Chapter 1: New and Strong Beginnings

Alden Dupuis (F). *No pictures were found from the game*

Tiger News and Notes:

Prior to the match, RIT was 1-6 all-time against the Raiders.

RIT last defeated Colgate, 6-1, during the 2018 Brick City Homecoming at the Blue Cross Arena on Oct. 20, 2018.

Regan Seiferling (D) was out due to recovery from an offseason surgery.

Kobe Walker (F) did not play the game for undisclosed reasons.

Former RIT captain, Erik Brown (’15-’19 F), scored a goal in an NHL preseason game for the New York Islanders on Sep. 16, 2019.

The RIT Tigers (1-0) went into the home of the Colgate Raiders (0-1) on Oct. 5, 2019, and defeated them on their homecoming by a score of 3-1. The game took place at the Class of 1965 Arena, which is located in Hamilton, NY.

Start of a New Season

The Tigers are heading into the season facing an opponent all too familiar. On Oct. 20, 2018, at a packed Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester, NY, the RIT Tigers crushed the Colgate Raiders by a score of 6-1. It was a Brick City Homecoming game that will forever be in the memories of all who attended.

Alternate Captain, Shawn Cameron (F), scored two goals for the Tigers that October night, and he looks to try and recreate the magic that helped garner the win.

“It’s a completely different atmosphere this year than last year,” Cameron said. “We were home last year, now we have to go to their home this year. With the same linemates this year, I hope that chemistry carries over to this game in Colgate.”

Adam Brubacher (D), a captain on this season’s team, was there when RIT demolished the Raiders. Now, for this specific season as a captain, he spoke on how he was going to help lead the Tigers to victory.

“We gotta focus on our gameplan,” he started to explain. “We have been working for five weeks now and now I think it will come down to hard work and execution. There will be some first-game jitters, but it’s about getting that out of the way and getting to our game after that.”

The Coach’s Corner

This is a special new section that is dedicated to a quote and conversation from Head Coach, Wayne Wilson.

Coach Wilson was all ready for the season to start, and he had a positive and exciteful attitude when asked about the start of the new season. He gave some insight on what needs to be done to beat Colgate again.

“We are focused on our own team because there are new teams all around this year. There will be mistakes with implementing the new system and it’s about how quick we adjust to that. That may be the key to gaining an edge because Colgate will have their own new system and will need to adjust to it. There is always high emotion at this time of year, so I don’t think there is a lack of energy. It’s about execution at this point so we want to execute as much as we can.”

From the looks of practice as well, there is no lack of energy. This year, the Tigers have some depth, so it will be interesting to see how lineups adjust throughout the season and especially in the early stages of the nonconference schedule.

Trashed Homecoming for the Raiders

The Tigers came into Hamilton and stomped on the homecoming parade the Raiders hoped to have.

What got the Tigers going was a strong start by two of the captains. Brubacher scored around three minutes into the game with a fast strike that went by Colgate goalie, Mitch Benson. Following that, Cameron scored a tally during a powerplay opportunity. The tic-tac-toe passing led to the great chance and eventual goal.

RIT was not able to keep the shutout for long, as Josh McKechney was able to get open and score for the Raiders on a powerplay, cutting the Tiger lead to just one. That goal proved to be the only one the Raiders would get.

The second period started with the Tigers taking advantage of another powerplay, with Cameron once again scoring. He tipped a shot, which trickled past Benson for his second goal of the game. Cameron also scored twice the last time the two teams faced, as stated previously.

Throughout much of the second period, the Tigers had to put their penalty killers to the task, killing numerous penalties, including a brief 5-on-3. The physical game from both teams led to a controversial undisciplinary action later in the match, with Dan Willett (D) of the Tigers getting a five-minute major and ejection for a crosscheck, which was effectively killed off in the third period.

RIT goalie, Logan Drackett, capped off a wonderful game late in the third stanza by making a huge glove save. The Tigers won the game, 3-1.

RIT had only 14 shots, while Colgate had a massive 34 shots. In terms of the powerplay, the Tigers went 2-5 and the Raiders only cashed in on one of their seven chances. In the Tiger net, Drackett saved 33 of 34 (.971) shots. Benson was only able to stop 11 of 14 (.786) Tiger strikes.

Ice Breaker Tournament

The RIT Tigers will next be in action on Oct. 11, 2019, against the #17 Bowling Green Falcons at the Huntington Center in Toledo, OH. The 8 PM game will be a huge nonconference tilt where Coach Wilson will meet his alma mater again.

On Oct. 12, 2019, the Tigers will face either the Ohio State Buckeyes or the Western Michigan Broncos, depending on results from the night before.

The Ice Breaker Tournament will be a great opportunity for the Tigers to play some high-caliber nonconference foes.

GO TIGERS!

Stats Against Colgate