Men's Hockey opens 2025 hosting exhibition game vs. Guelph (Ont.)

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT Men's Hockey team will take the ice for the first time in 2025 this Saturday hosting an exhibition game with Guelph (Ont.). Faceoff is slated for 5:05 p.m.
 
The Tigers came back from a three-week holiday hiatus last Sunday with a 2-1 loss at Bowling Green. The Gryphons also recently returned from nearly a month off with an exhibition contest at Niagara last Monday (Dec. 30), falling 5-2.
 
FOLLOW LIVE
Watch: FloHockey.tv/watch
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Local Audio: WITR 89.7 FM or FOX Sports 1280 AM
Web Audio: witr.rit.edu
PxP/Color: Ed Trefzger, Scott Biggar, Matt Campbell
Live Stats: ritathletics.com/sidearmstats/mhockey
 
TIGER REWIND
Despite a career-high 44-save effort by first-year goaltender Jakub Krbecek, RIT fell at Bowling Green last Sunday, 2-1. In the first period, Krbecek only allowed one goal while totaling 26 saves to keep the Tigers in the game. Following a scoreless second period, RIT tied the game at 5:25 of the third before Bowling Green scored what proved to be the game-winner at 11:16.
 
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP
Sophomore forward Tyler Fukakusa opens 2025 tied for 13th nationally in scoring with 21 points and tied for third with 16 assists.

• Fukakusa had a team-best eight-game point scoring streak snapped in the Bowling Green setback, but still has 12 points (4 goals/8 assists) over the Tigers' last nine games.
• Fukakusa notched a career-high four assists in the 6-2 win at Bentley (Nov. 9). He also scored a goal and an assist in back-to-back games versus Army (Nov. 16) and Sacred Heart (Nov. 22) before adding two assists opposite the Pioneers (Nov. 17) for his fifth multi-point game of the season.
• Fukakusa also opens the New Year ranked sixth nationally with 231 faceoff victories while winning 54.7 percent of his draws this winter. He tied a career-high winning 18-of-31 faceoffs in the Robert Morris opener and also won 13-of-15 draws (.867) in the New Hampshire opener. Fukakusa won 16-of-24 draws in last Sunday's Bowling Green game for his ninth-straight game with double-digit faceoff wins. 

WELCOME MATT
Sophomore forward Matthew Wilde entered the break leading Atlantic Hockey with 1.27 points per game, and has scored at least one point in eight of the last 12 games since missing the Tigers' first eight contests with a preseason injury.  He is tied for the team lead with seven goals and is also tied for second with 14 points.

• He scored a career-high four points on two goals and two assists in the 6-2 win at Bentley (Nov. 9) for the first of three multi-point games in November.
• Wilde was credited with four points during the two-game set at Sacred Heart, starting with two assists in the opener before logging a goal and an assist the following night.
• He scored a goal and an assist in the Canisius setback to open his current three-game point streak.
• Wilde was named to the 2024-25 Atlantic Hockey Preseason All-Conference Team after finishing his rookie season tied for fifth nationally among first-year players with 19 goals while tying for 10th among all freshmen with 35 points. He also broke the Division I-era record for goals by a Tiger first-year by five. 

SIMON SAYS DROP THE PUCK
Junior forward Simon Isabelle starts the New Year fifth nationally with 232 faceoff victories and, of the 14 players in the country that currently have at least 200 faceoff wins, ranked first with a .595 winning percentage. Isabelle won a career-high 18-of-26 (.692) draws in the 3-2 win at Clarkson, before winning 18-of-23 (.783) faceoffs in the October loss to Bowling Green. Isabelle won 11-of-19 faceoffs in the Robert Morris game for his 15th double-digit faceoff win performance in 20 games this season. During the Canisius game, he also won 10-of-19 draws and scored his seventh goal of the season - tied for the team lead.
 
SAVINGS ACCOUNT
First-year Jakub Krbecek has made at least 30 saves in 11 of his 12 appearances this season. Credited with a career-high 44 stops in last Sunday's 2-1 loss at Bowling Green, he also made 43 saves in the 2-1 OT loss to to the Falcons (Oct. 19) during the Brick City Homecoming game at Blue Cross Arena. Krbecek won the first of two-straight AHA Rookie of the Week honors after making 32 saves in a 3-2 win over Clarkson (Oct. 6) to win his first collegiate start. He also logged his first career point with an assist to go along with 33 saves in the 6-2 win over Bentley (Nov. 9). Current RIT goalie coach Mike Rotolo '17 previously held the mark for the most 30-save games by a RIT first-year in D1-era program history with eight.