ROCHESTER, N.Y. – RIT senior Adam Brubacher (Elmira, Ontario/Powell River Kings) was named the Atlantic Hockey Defensive Player of the Week. Brubacher was recognized after leading the Tigers to a 3-2 OT comeback win versus Niagara on Saturday that clinched the first Atlantic Hockey Tournament top-four seed since 2016.
Brubacher scored the game-tying goal with 47 seconds left in regulation and tallied the game-winning goal 1:06 into overtime off a feed from junior forward Jake Hamacher (Corona, CA/Dubuque Fighting Saints). He also notched an assist on RIT’s other goal in the first period.
Brubacher tied former teammate Gabe Valenzuela (Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers) ’19 for 11th place on RIT’s Division I era career scoring list with 104 points to date while his assist broke a tie with Simon Lambert ’08 for fifth with 78 career assists. He also entered the week tied for 19th nationally (seventh among defensemen) with 22 assists this season.
Brubacher hasn’t missed a game over the last four seasons and entered the week with 146 appearances – four shy of moving into a tie for third-place in program history.
The top-five seeds for the Atlantic Hockey Tournament receive a first-round bye while the top four also host a best-of-three quarterfinal series (March 13-15). RIT can move up to the third seed with a pair of victories over visiting Air Force this Friday and Saturday (Feb. 28-29) in the final two games of the regular season. Both games are set for a 7:05 p.m. face-off at the Polisseni Center.
