Thursday, November 13, 2025

Men’s Notes: No Doubting Thomas after RIT’s Fast Start

Tigers on 7-Game Winning Streak Under New Head Coach

The early returns are looking awfully promising for RIT under first-year head coach Matt Thomas.

A former Tiger (1994-98) who captained the team as a senior, Thomas the head coach has RIT on a seven-game winning streak – tied with Michigan State for the country’s longest – that includes four straight Atlantic Hockey America victories.

Most recently, RIT claimed a pair of conference wins from Mercyhurst for a fourth consecutive sweep of a two-game series, something the Tigers did only twice all of last season.

“We’re just continuing to build our identity, finding out more about ourselves, finding out how to manage games, and that’s probably the biggest thing,” Thomas told RITAthletics.com after Saturday’s 3-2 win over Mercyhurst. “That’s what the first half of the season’s about. You need to learn those lessons to know how to do it at the end.”

So far, that identity is being built by contributions from the entire roster.

Between the pipes, sophomore G Jakub Krbecek (Praha, Czechia) has elevated his game in a big way, going 7-1-0 with a 1.50 goals against average and .945 save percentage. Last season, he was 5-12-1 with a 3.90 GAA and .893 save percentage.

Krbecek has been supported by a group of skaters that has RIT ranked among the top 10 nationally in goals per game (3.67), goals against per game (2.00), shooting percentage (14.3%), save percentage (.925) and penalty kill (90.%).

Senior F Tyler Mahan (Calgary, Alberta) has a team-leading five goals in nine games after scoring three times all season as a junior. He’s one of 15 Tigers to have already lit the lamp.

It has added up to a 7-2 record that matches RIT’s best start (2022-23, 2023-24) to a season in its Division I era.

“They’re not all perfect and they’re not all pretty,” Thomas continued, “but they count. And for us, we’re finding different things out about ourselves, and we’ve got to continue to do that.”

The Tigers continue AHA play this weekend at Robert Morris.

Daily Scoreboard | Weekly Schedule | Scoring Leaders | Goaltending Leaders

We’re Going Streaking!

Providence F John Mustard (So., Oradell, N.J.) and Michigan Tech F Stiven Sardarian (Sr., Saint Petersburg, Russia) are both riding NCAA season-long nine-game point streaks entering this week’s play.

Mustard’s streak’s is the longest by a Friar since Josh Wilkins found the scoresheet in 13 straight games way back in 2018-19. Mustard has produced six goals and 11 points during his current stretch.

Sardarian’s is the longest by a Husky since both Brian Halonen (11 games) and Trenton Bliss (10) during the 2021-22 season. Sardarian boasts 12 assists and 15 points during his streak.

From Sea to Shining Seawolves:

Alaska’s state motto is “North to the Future.” For the Alaska Anchorage hockey team this week, perhaps it should be, “East for the Foreseeable Future.”

UAA hits the road this week for a stretch of six games in just 10 days. It begins with a two-game series at Bentley on Friday and Saturday, followed by a trio of midweek games on successive nights: Tuesday at Stonehill, Wednesday at Brown, and Thursday at Holy Cross. The trip culminates three days later with the series finale against Holy Cross, a Sunday matinee clash.

When the Seawolves finally return to Anchorage, they can look forward to a well-deserved weekend off over Thanksgiving.

Milestone Watch:

Ferris State scoring leader Josh Zary (Sr., Nanaimo, British Columbia) enters this weekend’s CCHA series at Bowling Green needing just one goal to become only the second active skater in the country with 50-plus career goals:

Career NCAA Goal-Scoring Leaders (active)
52 – T.J. Hughes, Michigan
49 – Josh Zary, Ferris State
41 – Jay Ahearn, UMass Lowell
41 – Sam Harris, Denver
40 – Aiden Fink, Penn State
40 – Lucas Wahlin, St. Thomas

In 10 games this season, Zary leads the Bulldogs with five goals and is tied for the team scoring lead with six points.

Milestone Watch II:

Michigan State’s Trey Augustine (Jr., South Lyon, Mich.), Minnesota State’s Alex Tracy (Sr., Chicago), and Providence’s Philip Svedebäck (Sr., Stockholm, Sweden) all could join college hockey’s exclusive 50-win club this weekend:

Career NCAA Wins Leaders (active)
51 – Kaiden Mbereko, Colorado College
49 – Philip Svedebäck, Providence
49 – Alex Tracy, Minnesota State
48 – Trey Augustine, Michigan State
47 – Simon Latkoczy, Omaha

Svedebäck and the Friars have a home-and-home with Merrimack this weekend, while Tracy’s Mavericks and Augustine’s Spartans will be on the road at Lake Superior State and Notre Dame, respectively.

Howe Goes It:

Yale’s 4-2 win over fifth-ranked Quinnipiac last Friday was the first victory behind the Bulldog bench for interim head coach Joe Howe (Colorado College ’13).

An assistant coach on the Yale staff since July 2021, Howe took over as bench boss this past August following the retirement of longtime head coach Keith Allain.

Rank and File:

There are four series and one single-game matchup this week pitting top-20 teams in the national polls against one another. That includes a top-five Big Ten clash between Michigan and Penn State at Pegula Arena:

#2 Michigan at #5 Penn State (FRI/SAT)
#4 Denver vs. #17 Colorado College (FRI/SAT)
#9/10 Quinnipiac vs. #12/13 Boston University (SAT)
#11 Northeastern vs. #13/14 UConn (FRI/SAT)
#12/13 UMass vs. #16/18 Boston College (FRI/SAT)

Click HERE to view the entire schedule for the week.

SID Corner:

With his overtime goal Saturday against St. Cloud State, Minnesota Duluth F Max Plante (So., Hermantown, Minn.) reached 50 career points in his 35th collegiate game.

That’s two games faster than Minnesota Duluth legend Brett Hull and the third-fastest in school history, according to UMD SID Kelly Grgas-Wheeler. Dan Lempe (26 games) and Keith “Huffer” Christiansen (34) are the only Bulldogs to have reached 50 points faster than Plante.

Plante entered the week leading the country in scoring with 22 points in 12 games.

Notebook Quotebook:

“Ken Dryden’s name is etched into the very foundation of Cornell hockey. His legacy goes far beyond the banners – it’s in the pride, the preparation, and the standard every player carries into Lynah Rink.”

— Cornell head coach Casey Jones (Cornell ’90) on Big Red legend and Hockey Hall Famer Ken Dryden, who will be honored during Friday’s ECAC home opener against Brown (source: CornellBigRed.com).

Dryden was an All-American in each of his three seasons with the Big Red (1966-69) and went on to win six Stanley Cups and five Vezina Trophies with the Montreal Canadiens.

NHL Note of the Week:

Florida D Jeff Petry (Michigan State, 2007-10) and St. Louis D Justin Faulk (Minnesota Duluth, 2010-11) are both closing in on 1,000 NHL games played.

They would become the fifth and sixth active NCAA alumni to reach that milestone:

Most Career NHL GP by Active NCAA Alumni
1,095 – James van Riemsdyk, New Hampshire
1,083 – Jonathan Toews, North Dakota
1,049 – Nick Leddy, Minnesota
1,025 – Ryan McDonagh, Wisconsin
997 – Jeff Petry, Michigan State
997 – Justin Faulk, Minnesota Duluth
966 – Charlie Coyle, Boston University
966 – Alex Killorn, Harvard
937 – Brock Nelson, North Dakota
934 – Reilly Smith, Miami

Petry sits on 997 games played entering tonight’s matchup with Washington and is on pace to reach 1,000 as early as Monday against Vancouver. Faulk played in his 997th NHL game Tuesday against Calgary and could hit 1,000 as early as Tuesday in Toronto.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

Wisconsin will honor longtime Badger fan Phil Dzick with “Phil Night” on Saturday at the Kohl Center. Dzick, well known in college hockey for leading cheers at Badger games, passed away on Oct. 22 … Michigan State has allowed just six even-strength goals through eight games, the fewest of any team in the country that has played more than four games … St. Thomas senior F Lucas Wahlin (Woodbury, Minn.) scored his 100th career NCAA point in Tuesday’s 3-1 win over St. Cloud State, becoming just the third active player in the country to reach that milestone. Wahlin figured in on all three Tommie goals, scoring once and adding two assists … Tuesday’s win over SCSU was the first for St. Thomas in its new Lee and Penny Anderson Arena … Boston College freshman F Landan Resendes’ (Marlborough, Mass.) go-ahead tally with 90 seconds left in Friday’s 2-1 win at Vermont was his first NCAA goal … Providence freshman F Roger McQueen (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) had an NCAA season-high 12 shots on goal during Saturday’s 2-2 overtime tie with UConn. He had 18 SOG combined in his first eight games.

Longest Active Team Winning Streaks:

7 games, Michigan Tech (began Oct. 10 vs. New Hampshire)
7 games, RIT (began Oct. 18 vs. Clarkson)
6 games, Northeastern (began Oct. 17 at UMass)
4 games, Air Force (began Oct. 31 vs. Brown)
4 games, Dartmouth (began Nov. 1 at Stonehill)

Longest Active Point Streaks:

9 games, F John Mustard (Providence)
- 6-5—11, began Oct. 10 vs. Michigan
9 games, F Stiven Sardarian (Michigan Tech)
- 3-12—15, began Oct. 4 at Minnesota
8 games, F Kocha Delic (Miami)
- 5-6—11, began Oct. 3 vs. Ferris State
7 games, F Stephen Castagna (Bentley)
- 4-7—11, began Oct. 18 at UMass
7 games, F Adam Flammang (Bemidji State)
- 4-5—9, began Oct. 11 at St. Cloud State
7 games, F Evan Konyen (RIT)
- 3-4—7, began Oct. 11 vs. Sacred Heart
7 games, F Gavin Morrissey (Wisconsin)
- 2-6—8, began Oct. 17 vs. Minnesota State

Longest Active Goal Streaks:

4 games, F Adam Flammang (Bemidji State)
- 4-2—6, began Oct. 31 at Bowling Green
4 games, F Hayden Stavroff (Dartmouth)
- 6-2—8, began Nov. 1 at Stonehill
4 games, F Jack Stockfish (Holy Cross)
- 5-1—6, began Oct. 30 vs. Sacred Heart

Conference Websites

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

Did you know? 93% of NCAA Division I men’s hockey players earn their degree!