MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – No. 11 RMU will take on No. 1 RIT in the Quarterfinal Round of the 2024 AHA Playoffs. The best-of-three series is scheduled for March 8-10. Friday and Saturday night's games are scheduled for 7:00 PM. Sunday's contest (if necessary) will begin at 5:00 PM. All games will be played at the Gene Polisseni Center in Rochester, N.Y. and be streamed on FloHockey.
RMU LATELY
- RMU (11-23-3, 7-17-2 #AHA20) is coming off a First-Round victory, beating Bentley 4-3 in overtime.
- Freshman Cameron Garvey scored the game-winning goal in OT with 10 seconds remaining. His unassisted effort earned him Rookie of the Week honors for his first career weekly award.
- A native of Oakville, Ontario, Garvey registered his third game-winning score of the season. He owns 11 goals and three assists this season and holds six goals and two assists in his last nine appearances.
- The last time RMU played Bentley in the playoffs was in March of 2019. To win the series, freshman Justin Addamo scored the game-winner. He wore the jersey number 21, as does freshman Cameron Garvey.
- RMU was the only team in the AHA Playoffs during the First-Round to win on the road.
- From Calgary, Alberta, Tanner Klimpke scored for the third-straight game and is now riding a four-game point streak. The freshman scored the first goal of the night in Waltham, Mass., earning his fifth power play tally of the season. It was also his first career playoff goal. Klimpke remains the team's leader in goals and points (14g, 11a, 25pts).
- Captain Rylee St. Onge provided his fifth multipoint effort of the season, producing one goal and one assist in the victory.
- Individually, graduate forward Dallas Tulik is the team leader in assists with 17.
- Garvey and defensemen Luke van Why and Tom Gangl own a team-high +4.
- Defensively, Mitch Andres owns 70 blocks, ranking third in the AHA conference.
- On the blue line, Cade Townend leads all defensemen on the roster in points (4g, 10a, 14pts).
IRONMEN
Defenseman
Luke Johnson and
Michael Craig have both dressed for all 37 games this season. Johnson was a key component in RMU's playoff win over Bentley, as the assistant captain registered his second goal of the season and blocked a team-high three shots. On the year, he owns two goals and 11 assists. Craig has paced for 10 helpers in the 2023-24 campaign.
LAST LINE OF DEFENSE
In net,
Chad Veltri registered 29 saves across 79:50 minutes at Bentley. From Fox Chapel, Pa., Veltri officially reached 1,000 saves on the year. He's the third goaltender in program history to reach 1k saves in a single season. Currently, he's ranked No. 2 in the NCAA in that category and sits at third all-time in the AHA in career saves with 3,557. He's 30 saves behind Matt Ginn (Holy Cross, 2011-15). Veltri is also second in conference history in games played among netminders (128) and seventh in wins (49).
RMU LEADERS
Goals:
Tanner Klimpke (14)
Assists:
Dallas Tulik (17)
Points:
Tanner Klimpke (25)
PPG:
Rylee St. Onge (6)
SHG:
Dallas Tulik,
Cade Townend (1)
GWG:
Cameron Garvey (3)
Blocks:
Mitch Andres (70)
SV%:
Chad Veltri (.912)
ALL-TIME VS. RIT
Overall, the Colonials are 15-22-6 against the Tigers since 2005. All-time, RMU has picked up four shutouts against RIT and has never been shut out. Under head coach
Derek Schooley, the Colonials have scored consistently when facing the Tigers, totaling 130 goals and averaging 3.02 goals-per-game in the all-time series.
SCOUTING RIT
No. 1 RIT (22-10-2, 18-7-1 #AHA20) comes into the 2024 AHA Playoffs as the 2024 AHA Regular Season Champions. Currently ranked #19 in the NCAA, the Tigers received a bye week in the First Round of the AHA Tournament. They're seeking their fourth postseason crown in program history. Offensively, the Tigers have been led by Cody Laskosky (38) and Carter Wilkie (34) who rank second and fourth in points across the AHA. In goal, netminder Tommy Scarfone ranks second among AHA goaltenders in save percentage (.924).
RIT LEADERS
Goals: Elijah Gonsalves, Matthew Wilde (15)
Assists: Cody Laskosky (25)
Points: Cody Laskosky (38)
PPG: Gianfranco Cassaro (8)
SHG: Carter Wilkie (3)
GWG: Gianfranco Cassaro (5)
Blocks: Dimitri Mikrogiannakis (57)
SV%: Tommy Scarfone (.924)
UP NEXT
With a series win at RIT, the Colonials would advance to the AHA Semifinal Round in another best-of-three series. They would travel to the lowest seed remaining in the bracket. The next round is scheduled for March 15-17.
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