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FAIRFIELD, CT - It was an historic night for the RIT women's hockey program (1-2-0) on Friday, as the team won its first game as a Division I program and posted its first shutout, defeating Sacred Heart University (0-1-0), 8-0 at the Wonderland of Ice. Six different Tigers scored goals, led by senior captains #Kim Schlattman (Stratford, Ontario/Cambridge Fury) and Tenecia Hiller (Brampton, Ontario/Brampton Thunder)# who tallied two goals an an assist apiece.

RIT Head Coach Scott McDonald was happy with his team's performance and thrilled to earn the historic win.

"We're all excited to get our first Division I win for our program," said McDonald, now in his seventh season at RIT. "It was a great effort tonight and a solid recovery from last weekend. Now we can focus on just getting better every day and continue our journey of being a Division I team."

RIT dominated throughout, leading 2-0 after one period, and 4-0 after 40 minutes, after scoring four times in the final period. The Tigers out-shot Sacred Heart 63-9 and fired at least 20 shots in all three periods.

Freshman #Carly Payerl (Kitchener, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic)# tallied a goal and two assists, while senior assistant captain #Ariane Yokoyama (Van Nuys, CA/LA Selects) had a goal and an assist. Senior (Woodstock, Ontario/Waterloo K-W Rangers)Ellesha Fortuna (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Barracudas) and sophomore (Woodstock, Ontario/Waterloo K-W Rangers)Celeste Brown (Great Falls, MT/National Sports Academy)# also scored. The line of Schlattman, Hiller, and Payerl combined for nine points and were plus-11 on the night.

In net, sophomore #Ali Binnington (Oakville, Ontario/Mississauga Chiefs)# stopped all nine shots she faced for her third career shutout.

Sacred Heart goaltender Alexius Schutt played the first 49:43, stopping 45-of-52 shots. Amanda Fontaine played the final 10:17, finishing with 10 saves.

RIT was 0-for-3 with the man-advantage, while Sacred Heart was 0-for-5.

Schlattman and Hiller struck 36 seconds apart late in the first period to give RIT a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes of play. Schlattman and Fortuna made it 4-0 with goals just 28 seconds apart in early in the second period. Payerl and Yokoyama struck 14 seconds apart in the third period to make it 6-0. Hiller scored her second goal of the game with just over 10 minutes left, while Brown scored with 5:01 remaining to close out the scoring.

The defensive pairing of junior #Melissa Bromley (Aurora, Ontario/Aurora Panthers) and freshman (Woodstock, Ontario/Waterloo K-W Rangers)Casidhe Kunichika (Fullerton, CA/LA Selects)# were both plus-5 on the night. It was Kunichika's first collegiate game. Bromley set a career-high with two assists.

RIT is now 8-3-2 all-time against the Pioneers and have an eight-game unbeaten streak against the Pioneers dating back to Feb. 16, 2002.

The same two teams meet once again on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. to close out the weekend series. RIT will also host Sacred Heart in Rochester for pair of games on Jan. 18-19.