HENRIETTA, N.Y. (WROC) — The RIT men's hockey team departed campus Tuesday to begin the long journey to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to face Boston University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers will be at full strength Thursday against the second-place Terriers. Boston University's roster already has 14 players drafted by NHL teams, but that doesn't include phenom freshman Macklin Celebrini, who is expected to be the top pick in this year's draft.
“I think it's going to be a great hockey game,” head coach Wayne Wilson said. “They're not a team that's laying around and playing traps and we're both chasing things. I think we like to play that style, so against a player like BU Sometimes it’s whether you can play well enough to win with that style.”
The Tigers respect everything BU accomplished this season, but they won't back down from a challenge.
“We have to be aware of what we're doing, but if we try to change our whole coaching style and everything we're doing, we're not going to be successful,” Wilson said. “We want to do what we’re good at and perform to the best of our abilities and see how it stacks up.”
“RIT, we are elite. We have NHL players in this locker room, I truly believe that,” said graduate senior forward Ilya Goncalves. “We have the talent to do it and we have the coaches to do it. They're very mapped out to their game plan, so we're excited.”
The Tigers have plenty of motivation heading into Thursday's game. On ESPN's slot selection show, analysts didn't spend much time talking about the Tigers, and even the graphics referred to the Tigers as “Rochester” instead of “RIT.”
“I felt like they were disrespecting us, and we had the upper hand,” Gonsalves said. “We have a shoulder injury, but we're very confident. We felt pretty confident in practice this week, so we're very excited.”
“Obviously, if you look at that selection show, there's a lot of weight to put on your shoulders,” fifth-year forward Gianfranco Cassaro said. “We're definitely going to give it our all.”
Wilson disagreed with the players and said there was no blemish on the team's shoulders, but did comment on how the broadcast crew did not highlight many of the team's accomplishments instead focusing on the Tigers' age. . RIT is the oldest team in the tournament.
“Whenever we go into these selection shows, they're going to be talking about the top four seeds throughout the tournament, and that's no surprise,” Wilson said. “They've earned that right. When you're a No. 15 seed, they don't talk about you as much, which is good for us.”
RIT is no stranger to upsets in the NCAA Tournament. In 2015, they defeated top-seeded Minnesota State Mankato 2-1. And, of course, in 2010, they beat No. 2 seed Denver and then New Hampshire to reach the program's first and only Frozen 4.
“I think our team can use that to mean 'we can,' but now we have to go out and execute,” Wilson said.
The puck drops between Boston College and RIT on Thursday, March 28th at 5 p.m. The winner will play either Minnesota or Omaha on Saturday, March 30th at 6:30 p.m. All games in the Sioux Falls area will be broadcast on his ESPNU.
