60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less): RIT

Rochester Institute of Technology

2018-19 Record: 17-17-4 (13-11-4, 5th in Atlantic Hockey)
Head Coach: Wayne Wilson, 21st Year
Top returning scorers: Adam Brubacher (7G-24A) and Jake Hamacher (14G-16A)
Top returning goaltender: Logan Drackett (Jr.)

Credit to RIT. The goaltending and defense improved last season. Up until the point where the Tigers lost in OT to end the year, RIT found itself in a scoreless goalie duel with Niagara. Doing so didn't seem too far away from being normal.

It helped RIT gave up on average half a goal less per game. Logan Drackett, who a season ago had the lowest save percentage nationally of any goalie playing more than 50%, ended 2018-19 with a .911% save percentage. In response, the Tigers enter 2019-20 coming off its best season since back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2015 and 2016.

However, that is not to say RIT's offense stopped being an old standby. The team nearly averaged 3 goals per game and found itself in a fair share of shootouts. (See: Atlantic Hockey quarterfinal with Sacred Heart or a 5-4 win over UMass Lowell.) Erik Brown followed up a 29 goal season with 18 more in his final season. Four players ended up with double-digit goals.

What's New: The Tigers remain under Wayne Wilson for the extended future. RIT extended the longtime head coach through the 2024-25 season.

To start, RIT has an action-packed beginning to the season. The Tigers go to Toledo to represent Atlantic Hockey in the 2019 Ice Breaker tournament, facing Bowling Green (WCHA) and either Ohio State (Big Ten) or Western Michigan (NCHC). Afterward, RIT hosts Merrimack in its annual homecoming game at Rochester's Blue Cross Arena. It's a game that draws Atlantic Hockey's largest crowd each year.

Wilson's newest class is made up of forwards who can score and help replace Brown and Abbot Girduckus. Of the team's seven first-year players, five of them play up front. All five scored at least 20 goals in their last season of juniors, led by Colton Trumbla leading the Ontario Junior Hockey League in goals with 34 in 34 games.

Closing Thoughts: With RIT's special day today happening, this marks the end of Atlantic Hockey for a while. Ten teams have been previewed. Only one team in the conference remains. Throughout writing these, several themes arose. The unexpected has become the status quo in the conference.

Then there is RIT, who showed getting solid goaltending and defense is the difference between sixth and fifth. It's not pretty or surprising. If anything, that's a normal response outside of a conference where the team picked to finish first ends up last and two historically downtrodden programs finish first and second overall. (Okay, one bit of AHA weirdness: RIT went 4-0-0 against Atlantic Hockey champion AIC, who of course upsets the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.)

Overall, continuing down that road, getting contributions on both sides of the ice and improving on both sides, is the way RIT improves from a .500 finish. Of course, it helps if that defense can contribute offensively and RIT has it in Adam Brubacher. The Tigers No. 1 D, in a year where many of the nation's top offensive blueliners have departed, returns for his senior season as the team's leading scorer. As Niagara already knows, he should be one to watch down to the game's final second...


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