Rochester Institute of Technology has opened the 2022-23 season 6-2-0, its best start in four years.
While there are several reasons for the strong start, one number sticks out.
The Tiger power play is clicking at 33.3 percent, tied for third nationally and double the 16.2 percent rate for RIT last season. And while Wayne Wilson’s team is taking more penalties than he would like, they’re cleaning up the mess with an 89.2 percent penalty kill rate.
What’s the reason for the marked improvement in special teams?
“To be perfectly honest, I don’t know if there’s one thing you can point to,” said Wilson. “We’ve got new personnel on the power play after having basically the same unit for two years. That was a concern going into the season, but it’s been working out.”
New players on the power play units have clicked with each other, said Wilson.
“Call it chemistry or whatever, but it’s working,” he said. “So far it’s gotten better and better as guys move into these roles.”
Graduate student Kobe Walker and sophomore Carter Wilkie have three power play goals each to lead the way.
Defensemen Aiden Hansen-Bukata and Gianfranco Cassaro quarterback the first unit. Cassaro, who transferred in from Massachusetts last season, leads the team in scoring with four goals and six assists. That’s second-best nationally among defensemen.
“Things have really opened up for him this season,” said Wilson. “Sometimes it takes a while to adjust. He’s turned into the player that we hoped he would be. He has a lot of confidence right now.”
Wilson says there are some unsung heroes on the penalty kill.
“Guys like (grad students) Andrew Petrucci and Spencer Berry have been integral,” he said. “Kobe Walker scores goals but he’s also an excellent penalty killer.”
In net, sophomore Tommy Scarfone has seen the most work at 5-1 with a .915 save percentage and a 2.83 GAA. Wilson says that senior Kolby Matthews (1-1, .915 save percentage, 2.03 GAA) will also continue to see time in goal.
“Tommy finished last season strong and came in as the Number One,” said Wison. “But we also firmly believe in Kolby Matthews. We’re taking it weekend by weekend.”
RIT is coming off a series that saw the Tigers take five of six points at home against Holy Cross, winning 5-2 on Friday and prevailing 3-2 in overtime on Saturday.
That puts the Tigers in second place in the Atlantic Hockey standings, one point behind Sacred Heart and five points ahead of third-place American International. RIT travels to AIC for a pair of games this weekend.
“They’re the champions until someone else can beat them,” said Wilson. “Eric (Lang) does a really good job. Their philosophy is a little different, they rely on more transfer players than we do, so that means they have a lot of new players, but many with college experience.”
“It’s two good teams that are playing well. We’re looking forward to it.”
When is a sweep not a sweep?
Both Sacred Heart and RIT recorded two conference wins last weekend, with the Pioneers sweeping Canisius, 6-3 and 3-1.
As noted above, RIT beat Holy Cross twice, but one of those was an overtime win, worth two instead of three points in conference play.
An overtime victory is considered a win by the NCAA for the purpose of determining a team’s record, but worth only 66 percent of a regulation win when it comes to the PairWise rankings, used to select at-large teams and seed the NCAA tournament field.
Does a sweep mean two wins or six points? Or 2.0 wins vs. 1.66?
Based on the questions and comments in my Twitter DMs, people are rightfully confused.
And, of course, we have shootouts if overtime doesn’t produce a victor. Winning a shoutout can feel like a win, and teams get the same number of conference points (two) as a victory in overtime. But the NCAA (and the PairWise) consider the game a tie, and a team’s record reflects that.
“I’m not crazy about (the current system),” said Wilson. “People want a winner, so we make sure we get a winner. But a win should be a win. That goes for regulation and overtime.”
What about the shootout?
“I’m dead against it,” said Wilson. “I’d rather have a tie.”
