The Olympia Ice Center will be the location of two Atlantic Hockey contests, as the AIC Yellow Jackets (3-7-0, 3-7-0 AHA) play the defending AHA Champion Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers (5-6-2, 4-2-1 AHA) twice during the upcoming weekend, with games on Friday at 7:05 PM and Saturday at 4:05 PM.
COVERAGE: Both games will be carried on
Teamline and the America One networks. Teamline offers free audio coverage, while
America One Network will have the live video feed, the cost to watch is $7 per game.
Live Stats are also available.
ALL-TIME SERIES: The Tigers hold a 14-2-0 lead against AIC in the all-time series, winning both games last season between the teams by counts of 5-3 and 4-0.
ABOUT THE YELLOW JACKETS: AIC heads into the weekend ranked eleventh in the AHA, but are coming off of a sweep at the Mercyhurst Lakers, their first in school history. In the first game, AIC overcame a 2-1 deficit in the third period, scoring four times in the final frame en route to a 5-2 victory. Sophomore forward
Adam Pleskach (Beausejour, Man.) scored two goals and added an assist in that period, while junior forward Neilsson Arcibal (Vista, Calif.) notched a goal and an assist. In the second game, AIC got an early goal from senior forward
Tom Mele (Bronx, N.Y.) and two tallies from freshman forward
Jon Puskar (Grosse Ile, Mich.), while getting 35 saves from goalkeeper
Ben Meisner (Halifax, N.S.) in the 3-0 win. The shutout was the fourth of Meisner's career, tying the career record at AIC.
Pleskach, with five goals and six assists for 11 points, leads the Yellow Jackets in all three categories. Mele, Arcibal and Puskar each have four goals to their credit, while senior defenseman
Mike Little (Enfield, Conn.) has five assists from the blueline. Meisner has started in all but one of AICs games this season, and has a 3-6-0 record with a .901 save percentage and 3.86 goals against average.
ABOUT THE TIGERS: RIT heads into the weekend ranked fifth in the AHA, and is coming off of a three point weekend after earning a 6-1 win and a 3-3 tie against the Sacred Heart Pioneers. In their first game against the Pioneers, the Tigers rode a five-goal first period to their victory, getting two goals from junior forward Tyler Brenner (Linwood, Ont.) and three assists from senior forward Andrew Favot (King City, Ont.). The Pioneers took leads of 2-0 and 3-1 in the second game, but the Tigers came back to tie the game in the final two minutes on goals by sophomore defenseman Chris Saracino (St. Louis, Mo.) and junior forward Taylor McReynolds (Sherwood Park, Alb.). The game featured a scuffle at the end of overtime that resulted in 49 penalty minutes between the two teams. Brenner leads the Tigers in goals with nine on the season, while Favot has 13 assists and 17 points total to top the Tigers. Second in all statistics with seven goals and seven assists for 14 points is sophomore forward Adam Hartley (West Vancouver, B.C.). In net, senior goalkeeper Jan Ropponen (Espoo, Finland) has started seven games, posting a 2-4-1 record with a .906 save percentage and a 3.12 goals against average.
KEY MATCHUP: AIC's power play, at second in the AHA and eighth in the country (7/29, 24.1 percent conversion rate) will face a stiff test against a hot RIT penalty kill. The Tigers PK, which came into last weekend at 73.4 percent (46/63), had an impressive weekend, going a perfect 14-for-14 and improving to 77.9 percent.
