March
10, 2008
INCH Player of the Week
Presented by The
INCH Shop
Senior | Forward
Toronto
MATT
SMITH
RIT
His Statistics: 2 GP, 6-0—6,
RIT wins first-ever Division I playoff series.
His Impact: The RIT Tigers got their
first taste of postseason hockey at the Division I level,
and so far so good. Matt Smith had a hat trick in each
game as RIT rallied each night and earned a pair of
5-4 overtime victories over Holy Cross in an Atlantic
Hockey first-round series.
In Friday's game, RIT trailed three times but Smith
scored the game-tying goal with 3:59 remaining in the
third period to force overtime. Saturday's contest saw
Smith score twice as RIT built a 3-1 lead, only to see
the Crusaders turn the tide and take a 4-3 lead in the
second period. The Tigers tied it in the third, and
Smith scored the winner in overtime to send the Tigers
downtown to Blue Cross Arena for this weekend's Atlantic
Hockey Final Five.
Smith now has 27 goals on the season to rank tied for
second nationally in that category, trailing only Ryan
Jones of Miami (29 goals).
His Runners-Up: Jamie Bates (Quinnipiac),
Brett Bennett and Karson Gillespie (Boston University),
James Marcou (Massachusetts), Stavros Paskaris (Wayne
State), Blair Riley (Ferris State), Jase Weslosky (St.
Cloud State)
