Women's Hockey | 11/13/2010 6:09:00 PM
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UTICA, NY – Sophomore #
Tenecia Hiller (Brampton, Ontario/Brampton Thunder)# tallied a natural hat-trick to lead the No. 3 women's hockey team (5-0-0, 3-0-0 ECAC West) to a 5-2 win over ECAC West rival Utica (3-1-0, 2-1-0 ECAC West) on Saturday afternoon.
Hiller scored twice in the first period and once more in the final period for her first career hat-trick. She also assisted on a goal by #
Hannah Epstein (Amherst, NY/Nichols School)# in the final minute. #
Erin Zach (Elmira, Ontario/Cambridge Fury)# also scored a first period power-play goal for the Tigers. #
Traci Galbraith (Oakville, Ontario/Burlington Jr. Barracudas)# assisted on a pair of goals.
Hiller now leads the squad with six goals and 10 points this season.
RIT got off to a tremendous start, out-scoring the Pioneers 3-0 and out-shooting them 21-3. Zach got the Tigers on the board 2:45 into the contest on the power-play, with assists going to #
Ariane Yokoyama (Van Nuys, CA/LA Selects)# and Galbraith.
Hiller scored her first of three straight at the 4:59 mark of the period off a feed from #
Kim Schlattman (Stratford, Ontario/Cambridge Fury)#. She added her second goal 12 minutes later on assists from Galbraith and #
Katie Stack (Batavia, NY/Rochester Edge)#.
After a scoreless second period, Hiller netted the hat-trick at the 4:40 mark of the period, tallying from #
Melissa Bromley (Aurora, Ontario/Aurora Panthers) and
Ellesha Fortuna (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Barracudas)#.
RIT had its scoreless streak snapped at 246:51, as Meredith Tice scored a power-play goal with 9:10 left in regulation. Megan Myers made it a two-goal game five minutes later.
Epstein put the game away with 51 seconds left off a feed from Hiller into the empty net.
RIT fired 50 shots on goal for the third straight game, out-shooting the Pioneers, 50-19.
Freshman netminder #
Laura Chamberlain (Norco, CA/LA Selects)# recorded her fourth win of the season, stopping 17 shots. Melissa Hotaling made 45 saves in defeat for Utica.
RIT was 2-for-3 with the power-play, while Utica was 1-for-3 with the man-advantage.
The Tigers are off to a tremendous start this season, outscoring their opposition, 29-3 in five contests this season.
RIT has now won six straight over the Pioneers and lead the all-time series between the two schools, 10-2.
RIT and Utica conclude their regular season series once again in Utica on Sunday, with the face-off getting underway at 2 p.m.
