Women's Hockey | 3/16/2012 7:44:00 PM
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ROCHESTER, NY – Freshman defenseman #
Lindsay Grigg (Oakville, Ontario/Oakville Hornets)# scored 2:30 into overtime to lift the RIT women's hockey team (27-1-1) to a dramatic 2-1 win over Plattsburgh State University (19-7-3) in the 2012 NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey National Semifinal on Friday evening at Ritter Arena. The Tigers will play Norwich University for the 2012 Division III National Championship on Saturday at 7 p.m. It is the second straight season that RIT will face Norwich in the NCAA National Championship game.
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Ariane Yokoyama (Van Nuys, CA/LA Selects)# a grabbed a loose puck in the neutral zone and came in to the Plattsburgh end with Grigg going to the net on a 2-on-2 rush. From the right wing, Yokoyama feathered a perfect cross-ice pass to Grigg who had just enough of a step on the defender to the deflect the pass past Plattsburgh goaltender Sydney Aveson, sending the crowd of just under 1,000 fans home happy.
RIT led 1-0 until the final five minutes of regulation, when Emma Rutherford swatted home a rebound after a shot from Jenny Kistner.
RIT's #
Kolbee McCrea (Wawa, Ontario/Burlington Barracudas)# had a golden chance to win it in the last minute, as her backhander in front off the back boards just went over the net.
RIT came out buzzing in overtime, creating a flurry of chances in the first few minutes before Grigg's goal.
The win gives RIT 27 this season, breaking a program mark for wins in a season and ties the NCAA Division III mark for victories in a season.
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Marissa Maugeri (Ajax, Ontario/Durham West Lightning) also scored for the Tigers. (Drumbo, Ontario/Stoney Creek Sabres)Laura Chamberlain (Norco, CA/LA Selects)# was tremendous in the win, stopping 33 shots to improve to 16-1-1 this season. Aveson made 29 saves in defeat for the Cardinals
Plattsburgh out-shot RIT, 34-31. The Cardinals were 0-for-5 with the man-advantage, while RIT was 0-for-2.
RIT Head Coach
Scott McDonald is very happy to be back in the NCAA National Championship game.
“When you are playing against the best teams, it brings out the best in you,” said McDonald, who improves to 134-22-10 in six seasons at RIT. “Tomorrow, we will certainly have to clean our game up defensively, but it's great to be in front of our home crowd.”
RIT scored the lone goal in a briskly played first period, with Plattsburgh holding a 12-10 edge in shots.
The Tigers got on the board at the 11:29 mark, crashing the net and putting a shot past Aveson for her fifth goal of the season and second in two games. #
Erin Zach (Elmira, Ontario/Cambridge Fury) fired a shot from the left wing that Aveson stopped. The rebound caromed off (Drumbo, Ontario/Stoney Creek Sabres)Ali Hills (Honeoye Falls, NY) at the right side of the net and bounced right to Maugeri in the slot, who was able to beat the Plattsburgh goaltender.
Chamberlain had to come up big on a Plattsburgh power-play, later in the period, stopping four shots, during the scrum, most coming from the perimeter.
The goaltenders took center stage in the middle stanza, both making several saves to keep it a 1-0 game after 40 minutes of play.
Chamberlain robbed All-American Teal Gove with a sliding glove save midway through the period, while Plattsburgh was on a power-play. Chamberlain also robbed Shannon Stewart and Kylie Klassen later in the frame as well.
Aveson came up big on a shot by Yokoyama, who was wide open in front after a great feed from #
Kourtney Kunichika (Fullerton, CA/LA Selects)#.
Chamberlain kept it 1-0 Cardinals after robbing Kistner on a tip in attempt in tight four minutes into the period.
The Cardinals thought they had tied the game with 12:14 remaining, as Jordan Caldwell jammed the net after the original shot by Justine Fisher was stopped by Chamberlain. The puck laid loose in the crease for a split second behind Chamberlain before she was able to smother the puck before it crossed the line and the whistle blew.
Plattsburgh finally got on the board with 4:55 left in regulation, on a delayed RIT penalty, as Kistner fired a shot from the left wing that Chamberlain stopped, but Rutherford was there to chip in the rebound for her 16th goal of the season.
Today's game was the fourth meeting between the two schools this season and seventh in the last two years. Plattsburgh now leads the all-time series between the two schools, 9-5-3. The Tigers are 2-1-1 against Plattsburgh this season after tying 1-1 on Jan. 13 and losing 3-1 in Plattsburgh on Jan. 14, then winning the ECAC West Championship, 2-1 at Ritter Arena just 12 days ago. RIT is 3-1-3 against Plattsburgh in the last two seasons, with six of the seven contests ending in a tie or one-goal game.
"It was an up and down, back and forth game," said Plattsburgh Head Coach Kevin Houle. "It was your typical RIT/Plattsburgh game."
RIT is now 4-2 all-time in NCAA Tournament competition in three trips. Last season, RIT advanced to the NCAA Championship game, defeating Adrian in the quarterfinals, 10-1, Middlebury in the semifinals, 5-2, before losing to Amherst in the championship game, 5-2.
"We knew it was going to be a long journey, but we wanted the second chance to be here (to host the NCAA National Championship) and we earned it," said McDonald.
Last weekend, the Tigers defeated Concordia (Minn.) in the first round, 5-2 at Ritter Arena behind a hat-trick from McCrea.
RIT is now 53-3-3 over the last two seasons.
Plattsburgh will play Gustavus Adolphus in the NCAA Third Place game on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
