Men's Hockey opens AHA Tournament versus AIC

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Defending Atlantic Hockey America Champion RIT opens the 2025 AHA Tournament opposite American International in a single-game, first-round contest this Friday (Feb. 28).
 
The Tigers clinched the ninth seed following a two-game sweep of Mercyhurst, 3-2 and 6-3, to close the regular season last weekend, while AIC earned the eighth seed following a four-point weekend split at Army, winning, 3-2, before falling in overtime, 3-2.
 
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"HOME" ICE ADVANTAGE
The three first-round games of the AHA Tournament were originally scheduled to be played on Saturday (March 1), but due to a scheduling conflict at the MassMutual Center in Springfield (AIC's home arena), the league rescheduled the game for Friday (Feb. 28) at Tate Rink in West Point, N.Y. - home of the Army Black Knights.  

TICKET INFO
AIC has setup a website where fans can purchase pre-sale tickets online. Visit the MassMutual Center website for more information. 
 
FAN INFORMATION FOR VISITING WEST POINT
Fans planning to attend Friday's game at West Point should arrive between 4-6:30 PM and proceed to Stony Lonesome Gate where there will be a 100% on-site ID check for anyone 18 and older in the vehicle.
 
NOTE: International fans will be required to go to the West Point Visitor Control Center (2107 New South Post Rd, Highland Falls, NY) to obtain a Visitor's Pass prior to being admitted on post. Any fans arriving outside the 4-6:30 PM window will also need to obtain a visitor's pass. No exceptions will be made.

RIT IN THE AHA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND
Since becoming eligible for postseason play in 2008, RIT has only played in the opening round of the AHA Tournament on four occasions, accumulating a 5-6 record in what was previously a best-of-three series. The Tigers' last played in the opening round in 2018, falling in three games at home to Sacred Heart. The 2025 postseason will mark only the second time RIT has played on the road for the first round, and first time since falling in three-games at Holy Cross in 2014.
 
STARTING WHERE WE FINISHED
RIT starts the AHA Tournament opposite AIC in a rematch of last year's AHA Championship game. The top-seeded Tigers defeated  the fifth-seeded Yellow Jackets, 5-2, at the Gene Polisseni Center (Mar. 23) to win their fourth AHA Championship and first since winning back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016, while punching their ticket to their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance. Current Tiger sophomore forward Matthew Wilde scored two goals, including what proved to be the game-winner, while graduate student defenseman Dimitri Mikrogiannakis (1G/1A) and forwards Tyler Fukakusa and Adam Jeffery (1A each) also tallied points. 
 
TIGER REWIND
RIT improved to 5-2-1 in its last six outings, including a 3-0-1 mark to finish the regular season, following a home sweep of Mercyhurst last weekend. Three Tigers were honored with AHA weekly honors for their efforts during the weekend - sophomore Matthew Wilde was named the Forward of the Week, while junior Xavier Lapointe was named Defenseman of the Week and first-year goaltender Ethan David was tabbed Rookie of the Week.
 
Wilde started with two assists, including the primary assist on what proved to be the game-winner, in Friday's 3-2 win, and then tied a career-high with four points on two goals (including the game-winner) and two assists in Saturday's 6-3 win. Lapointe scored what proved to be the game-winning goal and added an assist in Friday's victory, before totaling two assists in Saturday's rematch. David totaled 29 saves to backstop Friday's win and then made 26 saves on Saturday to improve to 3-0-1 in his last four outings.
 
LAST WE MET
RIT shutout visiting AIC, 3-0, two Fridays ago before playing to a 3-3 tie and winning a 2-1 shootout the following night to earn five AHA standings points. In the opener, sophomore forward Christian Catalano broke a scoreless tie with 12.1 seconds left in the second period before graduate student defenseman Dimitri Mikrogiannakis tallied for a 2-0 Tiger lead at 12:27 of the third. Senior forward Grady Hobbs tacked on a long-distance empty-netter with 32 seconds left in regulation to close the night.
 
On Saturday, sophomore forward Matthew Wilde scored 29 seconds into the game and later tied the game at 12:05 as the teams finished the first 20 minutes knotted, 2-2. RIT retook a 3-2 lead on a goal by first-year forward Ty Whyte, but the Yellow Jackets retied the game 40 seconds later.  Scoreless the rest of regulation and through a five-minute overtime period, Catalano and senior forward Tanner Andrew each converted penalty shot attempts to push RIT to the shootout victory.
 
DAVID SAYS NO
First-year goaltender Ethan David was named the AHA Goaltender of the Week following the AIC series. After making 22 saves for his first career shutout in Friday's 3-0 win, he stopped 24 shots to preserve Saturday's 3-3 tie. He also denied two attempts in Saturday's penalty shootout as the Tigers won, 2-1. In 11 appearances and eight starts this season, David owns a 4-3-1 record with a .905 save percentage and a 2.77 goals against average.
 
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP
Sophomore forward Tyler Fukakusa entered the week tied for fourth nationally with 27 assists and tied for 15th with a career-high 36 points. He was also third with 407 faceoff victories.

• A 2025 Hobey Baker Award nominee, Fukakusa finished the regular season first in the AHA in assists and assists per games (0.79) and tied for seventh with 1.06  points per game, including at least one point in all but 11 games this season.
• Fukakusa logged a six-point series versus Mercyhurst last weekend, tying a career-high with four points (1G/3A) on Saturday after compiling a goal, an assist and a career-high 21 face-off wins on Friday.
• He notched a career-high four assists in the 6-2 win at Bentley (Nov. 9) and 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 Air Force (Feb. 1) for one of his team-high nine multi-point games this winter.
• Fukakusa has won 56.0 percent of his faceoffs this season. He won 18-of-31 faceoffs versus Robert Morris at home in December and also won 13-of-15 draws (.867) in the New Hampshire opener for two of his 26 total games with double-digit victories.

WELCOME MATT
Sophomore forward Matthew Wilde finished the regular season first in Atlantic Hockey with 0.69 goals per game and second with 1.23 points per game. He also finished tied for 12th in the country and second in the league with 18 goals, only trailing Holy Cross' Liam McLinskey (20), who played eight more games this winter.

• After missing the first eight games with a preseason injury, Wilde has scored at least one point in 19 of 26 games since his return and is second on the squad with 32 points.
• A 2025 Hobey Baker Award nominee, he tied his career-high with four points on two goals (including the GWG) and two assists in last Saturday's 6-3 victory over Mercyhurst after logging a goal and an assist the night before in the 3-2 win. 
• He also 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.
• 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 finished the regular season eighth nationally with 381 faceoff victories and, of the top-10 players in the country, ranked third with a .569 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 compiled 27 wins on 37 total draws (.730) versus AIC (Feb. 14-15), including a 15-of-19 (.789) showing in the opener and finished the regular season with a 16-of-22 performance (.727) versus Mercyhurst (Feb. 22) for one of his 24 double-digit win performances this winter. He is also tied for second for the Tigers with seven goals and is seventh with 14 points entering the postseason.
 
SPREAD THE LOVE
Twenty-two of the 25 total players on the current roster have tallied at least one point this season, while 18 of the 22 total skaters have scored at least one goal.
 
TOOK A LICKIN', KEPT ON TICKIN'
Graduate student defenseman Dimitri Mikrogiannakis moved into first place in the nation with 78 blocked shots this season before missing both of last week's games versus Mercyhurst with an injury. He knocked down a career-high seven shots in the 3-0 AIC shutout (Feb. 14) for his ninth game this year with at least four blocked shots and has 246 career blocks to date. Mikrogiannakis also became the  10th player in program history to play 150 games and currently ranks seventh with 152 appearances in a Tiger sweater over the last five seasons.
 
TRISTAN THE NIGHT AWAY
First-year defenseman Tristan Allen is tied for fourth on the squad with 13 assists and is tied for fifth with 15 points. He scored his first goal in a Tiger sweater and added an assist in the home setback to Canisius (Dec. 3) before logging an assist in both ends of the home doubleheader versus Robert Morris (Dec. 6-7) en route to Atlantic Hockey America Rookie of the Week Honors.