As technology continues to evolve sports, the Rochester Institute of Technology is evolving on the ice.

The Tigers hold a 20-11-1 overall record and enter the final week with the regular-season title locked down via a 16-7-1 conference mark.

RIT will hold the first overall seed in the reformatted eight-team postseason, but the final week still will determine who the Tigers will face in their first best-of-three series.

The new year continued the Tigers’ strong season, where a number of records were on the table both for Atlantic Hockey and the program.

A sluggish February has seen the Tigers go 2-3-0-1, having lost three of their last four in regulation.

Claiming the conference title, despite the sudden drought, shows just how impressive coach Wayne Wilson’s program has been during the 2022-2023 season.

The Tigers host eliminated Air Force to close out their regular season, and the visitors will be out to claim their last points of the season to escape their 10th-place standing.

PREVIEW | #RIT hosts Air Force in regular-season finale, Friday and Saturday. #RoarTech https://t.co/wpTwDF2BXS

— RIT Men's Hockey (@RITMHKY) February 23, 2023

Don’t miss the excitement, as the Tigers host the Falcons live, right here on FloHockey. 

The Tigers will lead the field of 10 teams into March’s postseason, and FloHockey will bring all of the action to a screen near you – live.

The RIT squad has pushed itself to national-level attention this season and sit third nationally in penalty-kill percentage (despite an NCAA-leading 614 PIM), 13th nationally in goals-for and 19th in goals-against per-game.

RIT has been led by the 2022 AHA Rookie of the Year, Carter Wilkie, who has taken a step forward with 13 goals and 35 points in 32 games. The sophomore leads all Atlantic Hockey skaters in scoring and sits 17th in the NCAA. He’s also 23rd nationally in assists.

Four other double-digit goals scorers and four other 20-point players are evidence of Wilson’s depth and well-rounded team.

That group, including Wilkie, is made up of six skaters, and all but one graduate can be expected back for the 2023-2024 season, but the Tigers are focused on the rest of the 2022-2023 campaign.

Among those skaters is Aiden Hansen-Bukata, who sits fifth in defensive scoring in the NCAA and second in defensive assists. Behind Hansen-Bukata is goaltender Tommy Scarfone, who is tied for seventh in wins and 17th in save percentage (11th among goalies who have played a minimum 20 games).

AWARD | Scarfone tabbed @Atlantic_Hockey Goaltender of the Week. #RoarTech https://t.co/mkmSYk4oQs

— RIT Men's Hockey (@RITMHKY) February 20, 2023

With a go-to player at every position, the Tigers are primed to compete with the best, and as the No. 1 seed, the Tigers are the team to beat.

They dethroned AIC, which won four consecutive titles, and will look to do the same and claim the Riley Trophy as the Atlantic Hockey Tournament champion.

While it technically would be RIT’s first such title, the trophy only has been around since 2018, when it first was awarded. Prior to its inception – named for former Army West Point coach Jack Riley – the Tigers won the postseason tournament in 2015 and 2016.

Even before the Tigers aforementioned drought, the Pairwise Rankings weren’t favorable for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. At the time of publication, RIT sits 22nd and eight spots out of the 16-team field.

Should one of the other seven AHA programs march to the Riley Trophy, the Tigers can at least use a strong tournament to show their value and improve their at-large odds with team stats that rank among the NCAA’s best.

For now, their focus will be on Air Force and two more wins to skate into the postseason with confidence, expectations and excitement.

Have a question or a comment for Jacob Messing? You can find him on Twitter @Jacob_Messing.