Women's Hockey | 8/17/2010 3:52:00 PM
ROCHESTER, NY – RIT Head Coach #
Scott McDonald# has announced the women's hockey team's Class of 2014. The group of seven student-athletes includes four forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender. Four student-athletes from the incoming class are from Canada and three hail from the United States.
“We are very excited about this year's freshmen class,” stated McDonald, RIT's all-time leader in coaching wins, who enters his fifth season as head coach of the Tigers. “They should all have an immediate impact on our team and will help our program close the gap with the top teams in the country. Assistant coaches
Keltie Jones and
Meaghan Guckian worked extremely hard and have put together one of our most promising classes yet. Overall, the seven incoming freshmen will add an element of toughness and grit to our line-up, but will also add skill and scoring too. Defensively, we should improve with the addition of two strong defensemen and an accomplished goalie.”
Up front,
Kolbee McCrea (Wawa, Ontario/Burlington Barracudas) (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Burlington Barracudas),
Erin Zach (Elmira, Ontario/Cambridge Fury) (Elmira, Ontario/Cambridge Fury),
Hannah Epstein (Amherst, NY/Nichols School) (Amherst, NY/Nichols School), and
Kourtney Kunichika (Fullerton, CA/LA Selects) (Westminster, CA/LA Selects) will provide plenty of offense and character to RIT, who finished second nationally in goals per game a year ago.
Kunichika was a former teammate of current RIT sophomore defenseman Arianne Yokoyama with the LA Selects. She was also the Most Valuable Player at the District Championships in 2009. McCrea, a captain for Burlington in 2009-10, played junior hockey with current Tiger sophomore defenseman #
Ellesha Fortuna (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Barracudas)#. McCrea played against RIT in an exhibition game in each of the last two seasons, scoring Burlington's lone goal in an 8-1 RIT win in 2009-10. Zach scored six game-winning goals for Cambridge last season, while Epstein tallied 50 points (25-25-50) and was MVP for Nichols in 2009-10.
“Kourtney (Kunichika) is a very gifted hockey player, who has great hockey sense and an amazing set of hands,” said McDonald. “Kolbee (McCrea) is a power forward with an ability to score in tight areas. She's a big, strong player who plays with a physical and competitive edge at all times. Erin (Zach) is a dynamic forward that can be very elusive with the puck. She has quick feet and soft hands around the net and also sees the ice well in traffic. Hannah (Epstein) is a grinding type player that should fit right in to our team. She's not afraid to stand in front of the net and score the ugly goals. Hannah has a tireless work ethic and is a natural leader.”
On defense,
Melissa Bromley (Aurora, Ontario/Aurora Panthers) (Aurora, Ontario/Aurora Panthers) and
Liz Gemmiti (Toronto, Ontario/Brampton Thunder) (Vaughan, Ontario/Brampton Thunder) will be expected to earn playing time right away.
Bromley, at 5-11, will be RIT's tallest player. She is a strong, two-way defenseman who earned Greater Toronto Area and York Region All-Star honors in 2009-10. She was also the Aurora High School Senior Female Athlete of the Year. Gemmiti, who stands 5-10, plays a strong defensive game. She was Brampton's MVP and captain last season.
“Melissa (Bromley) will add size to our blue line,” said McDonald, who enters the 2010-11 season with a record of 81-19-7 at RIT. “She has great hockey sense, and is a smooth skater. She can jump into the play and has a strong shot from the point. Liz (Gemmiti) has a hard noised attitude and competitiveness that will make her an instant fan favorite. She has great instincts when she's in pressure situations and good vision when she's passing the puck and can deliver a big shot from the blue line.”
In net,
Laura Chamberlain (Norco, CA/LA Selects) (Norco, CA/LA Selects) has competed four times at the U.S. Nationals, including a trip with the LA Boys Hockey club. She was named the Most Valuable Player of the Manon Rheaume Tournament in 2009, and was a member of the U.S. National Development Camp in 2008.
“Laura comes to RIT with a great deal of experience in big games because she has competed in multiple USA Hockey National Championships and participated in the U.S. national development camp,” said McDonald. “Laura's athleticism and quickness in goal will make her tough to beat and should give us a great 1-2 combination in goal with #
Carley King (Tinley Park, IL)# this year.”
The Tigers finished 2009-10 with a 19-5-3 record and were ranked as high as No. 4 in the nation. RIT returns 16 players from last season's squad and will look to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2006-07 season.
