FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division 1 men's ice hockey team opens a tough stretch of play this weekend with a "Battle of the Warriors" in a home-and-home set with No. 21 Rochester before heading to Kalamazoo on Monday for the second installment of the "Battle of I-69" with No. 24 Western Michigan.
 
Indiana Tech (6-4-0, 3-2-0 GLCHL)
 
Friday, Nov. 6, 6 p.m. at No. 21 Rochester (6-5-0, 3-5-0 GLCHL) Macomb, Michigan (Suburban Ice Macomb)
Saturday, Nov. 7, 5:30 p.m. vs. No. 21 Rochester (6-5-0, 3-5-0 GLCHL) Fort Wayne, Indiana (SportONE/Parkview Icehouse)
Monday, Nov. 9, 7:30 p.m. at No. 24 Western Michigan (8-6-0, 6-5-0 GLCHL) Kalamazoo, Michigan (Wings West Arena)
 
Following the Warriors: Saturday's game against Rochester will have live video courtesy of Stretch Internet and can be found at www.IndianaTechWarriors.com or http://portal.stretchinternet.com/indianatech/. You can also follow the action on Twitter by following @INTechICE_D1 and @INTechWarriors.
 
Last Time Out: The Warriors finished off their road trip to Western New York with an 8-4 victory over Canisius. Tech got off to a quick start as they scored three goals in the opening period. Ryan Attwood, Jace Childs and Brandon Gallo each picked up a goal for the Warriors. The Orange and Black would four more goals in the second, with Childs adding two of those and also scored in the third to finish the game with four goals. Chad Frost and Anthony Passarelli also scored in the second period. John Slavik picked up the win in goal, allowing four goals and making 32 saves.
 
Head Coach Frank DiCristofaro: The first head coach in program history, Frank DiCristofaro enters his second season as Head Ice Hockey coach at Indiana Tech. In his first season at the helm, he guided the Warriors to an 8-26 record while playing one of the toughest schedules in the ACHA. The program's first win came against then 14^th ranked Oakland University Golden Grizzlies on Sept. 27, 2014. Under DiCristofaro's watch, the Warrior hockey program was able to gain entry to the highly-respected Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League (GLCHL). The league boasts annual powerhouses Adrian, Davenport and Oakland. As part of one of the deepest and most talented leagues in the ACHA, the Warriors are tested by the best on a weekly basis.
 
Scouting the Opposition: Rochester – The Warriors split a pair of games with Oakland over Halloween weekend, winning 4-2 on Friday before falling to the Golden Grizzles, 3-1, on Saturday. Matt Kadolph leads the team in goals (11) and points (20) and has recorded nine assists on the season. TJ Burns paces the team in assists with 10 and has added five goals as well. Zakk Olvin has seen the majority of the minutes (420) in goal so far this year, playing in seven games and sporting a 4-3-0 record with a 3.14 goals against average (GAA) and a .911 save percentage.
 
Western Michigan – The Stallions last played the weekend of Oct. 23-24 where they swept Eastern Michigan, 10-2, and 4-3, respectively. Casey O'Doherty leads the team in goals with 10 while Matthew Williams paces the team in assists (14) and points (22). Western Michigan has used four different goaltenders this year in net with Will Massey playing in 10 of the Stallions 11 games. He holds a 3.56 GAA in over 522 minutes with a 4-4-0 record and a .905 save percentage.
 
Series Notes: Rochester – This is the third meeting all-time between the two schools, with each program winning once. Tech won 5-1 on Feb. 20, while Rochester took home a 6-3 victory over the Orange and Black in their season finale on Feb. 21 at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
 
Western Michigan – The Warriors have split the first six matchup with the Stallions, with Western winning the last matchup, 4-2, on Sept. 29 in Kalamazoo.
 
Program First: With two wins over Eastern Michigan over the weekend of Oct. 9-10, Indiana Tech completed the first series sweep in program history. The Warriors blanked the Eagles, 9-0, on Oct. 9 before coming away with a 5-2 win on Oct. 10. 14 different Warriors recorded at least one point while half of them had multi-point weekends. Ryan Attwood, Adam Jonak and Quentin Holmes led the team in goals with two apiece, while Holmes, Attwood and Joe Molfetta added three assists over the two games. Zach Larson picked up both the wins while stopping 44 shots over the weekend.
 
Scoring in a Variety of Ways: Forward Jace Childs leads the Orange and Black with 12 goals and has scored them a several different ways. He has been a steady force on the Warriors power play with four goals, while he has also scored twice in short-handed opportunities. Childs also shares the puck with his teammates, dishing out nine assists, tied for third most on the squad.
 
Team Effort: Over 70% of the Tech roster (18 out of 25) has recorded at least one point through the first 10 games this season, while 17 different Warriors have scored at least one goal. 15 different players have notched at least one assist as well. Jace Childs leads the team with 21 points, while Joe Molfetta has 15. Ryan Theisen and Jarrett Pfeiffer had tallied 14 points each and Quentin Holmes has recorded 13. Adam Jonak, Nick Denice and Zack Morlock also have double-digits with 12, 11 and 10, respectively.
 
Earning His Keep: After sitting out the first two games, Zach Larson has made the most of his playing game, starting five of the last seven games. In just over 327 minutes of ice time the sophomore goaltender has a .902 save percentage, made 157 saves for a 3.12 GAA and recorded his second career shutout, also the second shutout in program history in the 9-0 win over Eastern Michigan on Oct. 9. In the 2014-15 campaign, the Roseville, Minnesota, native played in over 950 minutes and made 552 saves in 18 games.
 
No Easy Skating: As Indiana Tech enters its first season as a member of the GLCHL, they will be tested night-in and night-out. Five of the nine GLCHL teams: Adrian (fourth), Davenport (ninth), Michigan-Dearborn (12^th), Rochester (21^st) and Western Michigan (24^th), are all ranked in the latest ACHA Top 25 Poll. Oakland was ranked until last week and Kent State has been receiving votes in the poll. The GLCHL is tied with the Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESHL) and the Central States Collegiate Hockey League (CSLCHL) for the second most teams in the rankings. The Western Collegiate Hockey League (WCHL) each led the way with six teams apiece.