ROCHESTER, N.Y- On the day they received their 2012 Division III National Championship rings, the RIT women's hockey team (7-9-3, 2-3-3 CHA) skated to a 1-1 tie against Lindenwood (1-15-1, 1-4-1). Despite having five players miss the game due to injury, the short handed Tigers used a third period goal by #Tenecia Hiller (Brampton, Ontario/Brampton Thunder)# to earn the tie in the teams final game of 2012.

RIT held a 44-28 advantage in shots on the afternoon, including a 30-17 margin over the final two periods and overtime. #Ali Binnington (Oakville, Ontario/Mississauga Chiefs)# made 27 saves to run her record to 5-4-2 on the season, while Nicole Hensley stopped 43 shots for Lindenwood.

The first period was filled with penalties, most of them going against the Tigers. Twice in the period, RIT faced 5-on-3 power plays and killed both chances for Lindenwood. For the period, 14 penalty minutes were handed out with 10 minutes against the Tigers. Lindenwood was held to 0-for-4 on the power play but held a slight 14-11 advantage in shots. Binnington made several clutch saves to keep the game scoreless going into the first intermission.

46 seconds into the second period, the Tigers went onto the power play but were unable to put a shot on goal in the two minutes. Halfway through the period, RIT had their best scoring chance of the game when #Jess Paton (Woodstock, Ontario/Waterloo K-W Rangers) fed Lindsay Grigg (Oakville, Ontario/Oakville Hornets)# in front of the net, but Lindenwood goalie Nicole Hensley made the sliding save. Moments later, the Lady Lions broke the scoreless tie on a score by Ali Wickenheiser at the 9:54 mark. The Tigers had five power play chances in the period but couldn't convert. Hensley made 13 saves in the period as RIT out shot the Lady Lions 13-8 in the stanza.

RIT opened the third period on the power play and Hiller beat Hensley to knot the game at 1-1 just over a minute into the period. The assists went to #Kourtney Kunichika (Fullerton, CA/LA Selects) and Katie Hubert (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Barracudas)# on Hiller's fifth goal of the season. Neither team would score the rest of the way and the game would go into overtime.

In the sudden victory overtime, #Kristina Moss (Webster, NY/Buffalo Bisons)# had a chance to win it for RIT but again Hensley made the big save. RIT dominated the five-minute period, holding Lindenwood without a shot.

The outcome wasn't what Head Coach Scott McDonald had hoped for.

"We didn't play as well in the first two periods," said McDonald. "We were sloppy in all three zones, and played well in one period. That's not enough at this level."

The Tigers defeated Lindenwood 5-1 on Saturday evening. #Celeste Brown (Great Falls, MT/National Sports Academy)# scored two goals and added an assist in the contest. It was RIT's first home game in 35 days and was the first game that they scored more than two goals in a game since Oct. 25 at Penn State.

RIT returns to action on Jan. 4 when they travel to Robert Morris for a 7 p.m. CHA matchup.