Women's Hockey | 2/10/2012 9:20:00 PM
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ROCHESTER, NY – The No. 1 RIT women's hockey team (20-1-1, 13-1-1 ECAC West) extended its winning streak to six games, exploding for three second period goals in a 5-1 win over No. 4 Elmira (18-3-1, 13-2-0 ECAC West) in front of a season-high crowd of 1,412 fans at Ritter Arena on Friday evening. RIT is celebrating “Make the Rink Pink” weekend.
Freshman defenseman #
Lindsay Grigg (Oakville, Ontario/Oakville Hornets) led the way with a goal and two assists and was plus-4 on the evening to earn the game's first star honor. Fellow freshman defenseman (Drumbo, Ontario/Stoney Creek Sabres)Morgan Scoyne (Drumbo, Ontario/Stoney Creek Sabres) was also plus-4 with two assists and was named the game's third star. (Drumbo, Ontario/Stoney Creek Sabres)Kolbee McCrea (Wawa, Ontario/Burlington Barracudas)# tallied a pair of goals, while #
Melissa Bromley (Aurora, Ontario/Aurora Panthers)#, and #
Celeste Brown (Great Falls, MT/National Sports Academy)# also scored for the Tigers.
Goaltender #
Laura Chamberlain (Norco, CA/LA Selects)# was brilliant in net for the Tigers, allowing just a power-play goal by Elmira's Madison Johnston in the final minute of regulation, en route to her 11th win of the season. Chamberlain stopped 28-of-29 shots to improve to 11-1-1 this season. She was named the game's second star.
Elmira goaltender Lauren Sullivan got the start, but was yanked after allowing RIT's third goal, 12:06 into the second period, stopping 13 shots.
Lisa Marshall made 15 saves for the Soaring Eagles in relief.
RIT out-shot Elmira, 33-30. The Tigers were 1-for-3 with the man-advantage, while Elmira was 1-for-7.
RIT scored the lone goal in a first period that saw both teams hold the momentum at various times.
The Soaring Eagles came and dominated the first four minutes, firing the first five shots of the game. Chamberlain had to come up huge twice early on, as she slid across to rob Caitlin Metcalf with the right pad, then stoned Ashley Ryan in tight moments later.
Sullivan had to come up with a big save of her own, later in the period, as #
Erin Zach (Elmira, Ontario/Cambridge Fury)# came in on a breakaway, but the Elmira goaltender blocked away the scoring chance.
The Tigers took the 1-0 lead with 2:51 left in the period, as Zach outhustled an Elmira defenseman to beat out an icing as the puck came to Grigg at the right point. Grigg tossed a pass to #
Morgan Scoyne (Drumbo, Ontario/Stoney Creek Sabres)# at the left point, who then reversed the puck right back to Grigg, who fired a high slap-shot over the shoulder of Sullivan for her sixth goal of the season.
RIT broke the game open with three second period goals. McCrea tallied her first of the game 2:21 into the period, stuffing in a rebound after a shot by #
Marissa Maugeri (Ajax, Ontario/Durham West Lightning)# was blocked by a Soaring Eagles defenseman in front. With Sullivan out of position, McCrea crashed the net and roofed a shot over the fallen goaltender for her 17th tally of the season.
Bromley made it 3-0 RIT at the 12:06 mark, as she took a feed from #
Jamie Parhar (Calgary, Alberta)# in the neutral zone, sped in to the right face-off circle and whistled a hard wrist shot over the shoulder of Sullivan for her sixth goal of the season.
Elmira promptly called timeout and pulled Sullivan for Marshall.
Just 1:07 later, Brown took a feed from Scoyne, came in over the Elmira line, and fired a low wrister that deflected off an Elmira defenseman's skate, changed direction, and got past Marshall. Brown, playing her first game since Jan. 14 because of an injury got her 10th goal of the season.
McCrea got her second of the game and 18th of the season on the power-play with 2:51 left in regulation, shoveling in a loose puck after a complete attempts in front. #
Kim Schlattman (Stratford, Ontario/Cambridge Fury) and
Kourtney Kunichika (Fullerton, CA/LA Selects)# tallied the assists.
Before the game, RIT honored seniors #
Ali Hills (Honeoye Falls, NY)#, #
Megan Kobar (Calgary, Alberta)#, and Parhar. That trio has helped RIT to a spectacular 86-11-8 record over the last four seasons.
The Tigers have now won 20 games for the second straight season, third in the last four years, and fourth in six years under RIT Head Coach #
Scott McDonald#. The four-goal margin of victory is the largest all-time for RIT against Elmira. RIT is 5-8-2 all-time against the Soaring Eagles and have won three straight against Elmira in just over a calendar year.
Tonight, the Tigers wore special pink jerseys that are currently being auctioned off online with bidding ending at 12 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 13.
On Jan. 30, 2010, Zeta Tau Alpha teamed up with the RIT men's and women's hockey teams in the “Pink Rink” event, where Ritter Arena transformed into a sea of pink. Pink Tiger jerseys (25 men, 21 women) were auctioned off and along with t-shirt sales, reached $21,248, which went to the Lipson Cancer Center and Susan G. Komen Cancer Foundation.
RIT and Elmira conclude their weekend series on Saturday at the Murray Athletic Center in Elmira at 3 p.m.
