Women's Hockey | 1/20/2009 2:57:00 PM
ROCHESTER, NY - The #6 RIT women's hockey team will host two-time defending national champion, top-ranked SUNY Plattsburgh in a pair of crucial ECAC West contests at Ritter Arena on Friday and Saturday. Friday's game starts at 7:05 p.m., while Saturday's contest gets underway at 2:05 p.m. Both games will be aired by Time Warner Cable Sports for local subscribers in Rochester and the Plattsburgh area. Friday's game is tape delayed, while Saturday's will be aired live.
Gene Battaglia will call the action, with V.J. Stanley serving as color-commentator. Friday's game will air in Rochester at 10 a.m. Saturday, just a few hours before Saturday's live broadcast
RIT (12-1-2, 8-1-1 ECAC West) is riding an 11-game unbeaten streak (9-0-2). RIT has outscored its foes 82-29 this season and have outscored opponents 65-19 over the unbeaten streak.
#Sarah Dagg (St. George, Ontario/Hamilton Hawks)# (St. George, Ontario) is tied for second in the nation with 25 points, while
#Keltie Jones (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Jr. Barracudas)# (Burlington, Ontario) tied for fifth with 24. Jones leads the nation with 17 assists. The Tigers lead the nation with eight shorthanded goals in 2008-09, by far the most in Division III. RIT is the highest scoring team in all of Division III, averaging 5.47 goals per contest (82 goals in 15 games). RIT's power-play is seventh nationally, while the penalty kill unit is ninth. The Tigers have 11 players with at least 10 points.
In addition, Jones, defenseman
#Lindsay Littman (Eaglesham, Alberta/Warner Warriors)# (Eaglesham, Alberta) and goaltender
#Sandra Grant (Abbotsford, British Columbia/Pacific Steelers)# (Abbotsford, British Columbia) all won a national title as sophomores with SUNY Plattsburgh in 2006-07 before transferring to RIT before the start of the 2007-08 season.
SUNY Plattsburgh (10-2-1, 7-2-0 ECAC West) moved back into the top spot in Division III after consecutive road wins over #4 Elmira, #5 Amherst and Connecticut College. Since the start of the 2005-06 season, the Cardinals have an 88-8-4 record (.900 win%). The Cardinals are led by 2007-08 Laura Hurd Award winner (top player in Division III women's hockey) Danielle Blanchard. A senior, Blanchard is second on the team in points with 14. Junior Stephanie Moberg leads the team with nine goals and 16 points. Plattsburgh's penalty kill is best in the nation, stopping 95.2% of opponents' power-plays.
SUNY Plattsburgh leads the all-time series between the two schools, 4-1-0. Last season, the teams split a pair of games in Plattsburgh, with the Cardinals winning 5-1 the first night and RIT securing a 5-2 win the following afternoon. That RIT win snapped a 24-game home winning streak by SUNY Plattsburgh. It will be the first meeing between the two teams at RIT since Nov. 20, 2004.
Currently, RIT is tied for first in the ECAC West standings with Elmira. Both teams have 17 points. SUNY Plattsburgh is right behind with 14 points.
Both games against Buffalo State on Feb. 20-21 will also be aired by Time Warner Cable Sports.
