RIT Travels to The Heights for Saturday Matinee

Saturday, November 28

Chestnut Hill, Mass.

4:00 PM

Boston College

RIT

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RIT Travels to The Heights for Saturday Matinee

November 27, 2015 | Men's Hockey

Boston College and RIT square off for the second-consecutive season but for only the third time in history on Saturday afternoon at Kelley Rink

GAME DAY INFORMATION
WHEN	Saturday, Nov. 28 at 4 p.m.
WHERE	Kelley Rink at Conte Forum // Chestnut Hill, Mass.
HOW TO FOLLOW	Live Stats // Video // Audio
GAME NOTES	PDF // WEB // RIT Notes
MEDIA CENTER	Radio (WEEI 850 AM) - P x P: Jon Rish // Color: Andy Powers // Engineer: Mark Feldman
EXTRA INFO	Be sure to stick around after the game for an autograph session with the Eagles!

BOSTON COLLEGE vs. RIT
Boston College and Rochester Institute of Technology square for only the third time in history, but for the second-consecutive season. Last year, the Eagles skated past the Tigers in front of a crowd of over 10,000 at Blue Cross Arena (home of the Rochester Americans) on Oct. 18, 2014 to start the 2014-15 season with a 6-2 victory. The Eagles used four goals from their defensemen while 11 different skaters etched their name on the scoring sheet. Third-year blue liner Teddy Doherty turned in a three-point effort with a goal and two helpers while rookie Zach Sanford's first career points came in a bunch, registered a play maker with three assists. In the first-ever meeting against RIT, Boston College posted another six-goal performance on Dec. 30, 2007 as part of the 2007 Dodge Holiday Classic at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis. BC scored five goals in the third period, led by Nathan Gerbe's one goal, two assist performance, to capture to tournament crown with the win. Coach Jerry York and RIT bench boss Wayne Wilson have a strong bond as the two meet against for the second-straight season. York won his first national title as head coach at Bowling Green in 1984 and was aided Wilson. Wilson was a staple on York's 1984 championship club and came back to his alma mater to serve as an assistant coach for York in 1989. RIT associate head coach Brian Hills was also a skater under York's direction, but graduated the season prior to the Falcons capturing the NCAA championship.

TIGER TALK
RIT skates into Saturday's matinee looking to shake the bad taste in its mouth after a pair of overtime loss at home against Bentley on last weekend. The Falcons swept the Tigers in a pair of 3-2 overtime victories. The back-to-back overtime losses to Bentley marked the first time RIT had ever suffered losses in the extra session in consecutive games at the Division I level. On Nov. 13 against Bentley, RIT fired a Division I team record 56 shots on goal in regulation. Prior to last weekend, RIT was unbeaten in four games with a sweep at American International and then shutout Army West Point the following weekend with a draw to close the weekend series against the Black Knights. RIT is led by sophomore Mark Golberg with 11 points (2-9-11) while senior Gregory Amlong has scored a club-best five goals in 11 games played. Golberg's 1.10 points per game is tied for 36th best in college hockey. Junior Mike Rotolo is RIT's primary goaltender with a 2-42 record along with a 2.92 goals against average (55th in college hockey) and .898 save percentage (58th in NCAA). Rotolo backstops the 43rd-ranked defensive unit (3.09 goals allowed per game) while the offense counters with 2.55 goals per game (37th). RIT is one of the least penalized teams in college hockey, averaging only 8.8 PIMs per game. Both the power play (17.1 percent – 7-for-41) and penalty kill (80.0 percent – 28-for-35) are ranked 35th in the NCAA. RIT made the NCAA Tournament last season and won its first-round contest against Minnesota State Mankato, 2-1, last season, before bowing out to Nebraska Omaha, 4-0.

OFFENSIVE NUGGETS
• The defense has grabbed most of the attention this season, but the Eagles offense has matched wits with the defense and is also the top-ranked unit in the game
• The Eagles possess the nation's top scoring margin ( + 3.25 ) -- BC is the only team to own a positive scoring margin over three goals per game through 12 games this season
• Colin White and Miles Wood are ranked first and second, respectively, in the nation amongst rookie scores. White is averaging 1.67 ppg (7-13-20 while Wood's at 1.33 ppg (6-10-16)
• The line of Matthew Gaudreau - Colin White - Ryan Fitzgerald is averaging just under six points a game as a line; manufacturing 32 points (12-21-32) in just six games together

DEFENSIVE NUGGETS
• The Boston College defense has recorded 25 scoreless periods out of 36 possible frames. The Eagles defense is best in the country, surrendering a scant 1.17 goals per game
• Despite being the most penalized team in the country (21.2 PIMs/game), BC's penalty kill is best in Hockey East and ranked sixth nationally (53-of-58 - 91.4 percent)
• Josh Couturier found the back of the net for his first-collegiate goal at UConn on Nov. 24 -- All but two active skaters on the roster have now scored ast least one goal
• The Eagle defense thrives off its counterpart -- when Boston College scores first, BC is 10-0-0. The defense has also anchored that same record when holding a lead into the third frame

YORK SAYS YES!
Boston College has won 11 of its first 12 games of the season, including winners of its last 10. The Eagles' 11-1 start to the 2015-16 ledger marks the best start under a Jerry York club on The Heights.

CHASING '49...
With the win at UConn on Nov. 24, Boston College is off to its best start in program history since the Eagles' first national title team in 1949. The 1948-49 national championship squad started the season 10-0 before a loss at Dartmouth on Jan. 27, 1949. BC did not lose again that year, posting a 21-1 mark, culminating in the first national trophy on The Heights under Snooks Kelley. Kelley's 1940-41 team lost its first game at Yale on Dec, 14, 1940 before the Eagles rattled off the next 13 victories to cap a 13-1 season.

TOPPING OUT
Following the UConn victory, Boston College has both the top-ranked offensive unit (4.42 gpg) along with the stingiest defensive corps (1.17 gpg) in all of college hockey. BC's scoring margin of +3.25 is three-quarters of a goal better than the next-closest team, St. Cloud State (+2.50).

HALF DOZEN BAGELS
For the first time in Boston College hockey history and second time in college hockey history, the Eagles shutout six opponents in seven games spanning from Oct. 16 to Nov. 8. Thatcher Demko backstopped all six of those blankings. The closest BC has ever come to this current record is when the Eagles shutout four teams in six games from Jan. 23 to Feb. 11, 2000.

BEACON STREET BULLIES
Boston College is currently leading the nation in penaly minutes per game, averaing 21.2 PIMs per outing.

WATCH OUT FOR WHITE
First-year forward Colin White has accounted for 17 points (5-12-17) in his last seven games and now leads both the Eagles and all rookies nationally in scoring. The Hanover, Mass., native is averaging 1.67 points per game with seven goals and 13 assists through 12 contests.

CAPTAIN CLUTCH
Teddy Doherty registered a pair of goals at UNH on Nov. 21, including his fourth power play goal of the season. Four of Doherty's six goals this season have come via the extra man. BC's captain now has a pair of two-goal performances this season, with his first occurring against Massachusetts on Nov. 3. Doherty's second strike also counted as the Eagles' game-winning goal, marking the third of his career and first of the season. Doherty is currently tied for seventh in the nation in power play goals per game (0.40).

GAU-GAU GAUDREAU
Matthew Gaudreau is also in the midst of a career-best sieven-game point streak after scoring his third goal of the season at Connecticut on Nov. 24. The Carneys Point, N.J., native has notched three goals and six assists since joining forced with Colin White and Ryan Fitzgerald on the third line.

FOUR FOUR FITZY
In his 87th career game, Ryan Fitzgerald posted his first four-point performance with a pair of goals and two assists in the 6-4 winover Michigan State on Nov. 13. Fitzgerald joined Colin White as the only two Eagles to post four points in game thus far.

LUMBER YARD
Freshman forward Miles Wood set the tone early in his Eagle career, posting three points in his BC debut, including a goal and two assists. It has been 15 years since a rookie notched three points in his first-career game. The last time that occurred was when Ben Eaves doled out three assists in a 4-1 win over Notre Dame on Oct. 13, 2000 at Omaha Civic Auditorium. The last time any Eagle started the year with a three-point performance was when Brian Gibbons (2-1-3) and Brock Bradford (1-2-3) both turned the trick against Wisconsin on Oct. 10, 2008. Wood scored power play goals in back-to-back games on Nov. 8 and Nov. 13, with the strike on the 13th counting as his first-career game winner. Wood has scored a goal in his last four outings and is currently the second leading rookie scorer in all of college hockey (1.33 ppg) behind Colin White (1.67 ppg).

LIVING HISTORY
The Schiller Family Head Hockey Coach of Boston College, Jerry York, enters his 44th season of coaching college hockey. Not only is York the winningest coach in the game's history, having amassed 995 victories and a win-loss total of 995-592-105 (.619), York is approaching another historic benchmark. After locking up the most wins all-time at his alma mater (502) and heads into his 22nd season behind the Eagles' bench, he now has the 1,000-win plateau in his sites. York is just FIVE wins away from hitting that number as he is already the winningest coach in the game's history.

SHUSH.
Demko's first shutout streak started in the third period at Rensselaer on Oct. 11, 2015, where he played shutout hockey for 206 minutes and two seconds (206:02), denoting the 20th-longest stretch of zero goals allowed in the history of the game. Demko's second run started in the third period of the Denver contest on Oct. 30 and spanned to the second period against Michigan State, surpassing his previous total and posting another 208 minutes and 36 seconds (208:36) of scorelss hockey. That mark is the 17th-best stretch in the history of the game. Demko's scoreless string of 208:36 is third longest in school history behind Scott Clemmensen (254:23 – Jan. 9-24, 1998) and Cory Schneider (242:19 – Jan. 13-27, 2006).

STANDING TALL AMONGST THE BEST
Demko is currently second in the nation in goals against average (1.17) and save percentage (.956) on the year and is two shutouts clear (6) of the next closest netminder, Charlie Lindgren of St. Cloud State. For a career, the 6-foot-4 backstopper is 46-19-6 (.690) with a 2.04 goals against average and a .928 save percentage (1,868 saves on 2,013 shots). If Demko's 2.04 GAA held, it would tie Matti Kaltiainen's (2001-05) career mark for best all time. His six shutouts this season is two shy of matching the single-season mark set by Cory Schneider during the 2005-06 season. Demko possesses nine career shutouts, good for fourth-best all-time. He is three blankings shy of matching John Muse's third-place mark of 12 career shutouts (2007-11). Schneider holds the record with 15 (2004-07) while Scott Clemmensen is second with 13 (1997-2001).