ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The RIT women's hockey team (12-12-5, 5-5-5 CHA) fell to Syracuse (17-11-3, 11-3-1 CHA) 2-1 on a snowy Friday evening at Ritter Arena. The Tigers teamed up with the CURE Childhood Cancer Association to “Skate For The Cure” during tonight's game and wore special pink jerseys for the contest.  
 
Nicole Renault scored the game-winner at the 3:05 mark of the second period and Kallie Billadeau made 27 saves for the Orange.
 
#Tenecia Hiller (Brampton, Ontario/Brampton Thunder) scored the Tigers lone goal and (Woodstock, Ontario/Waterloo K-W Rangers)Ali Binnington (Oakville, Ontario/Mississauga Chiefs)# stopped 27 shots in a losing effort for RIT.
 
Syracuse converted the game's opening goal, exactly seven minutes into the first period. Melissa Piacentini fired a shot from the point that was deflected and took a weird bounce past Binnington.
 
Just 2:26 later, #Celeste Brown (Great Falls, MT/National Sports Academy)# controlled the puck at center ice and skated into the Syracuse zone. Her shot was stopped by Billadeau but Hiller tipped in the rebound for her team-best 12th goal of the season.

Each team had one power play opportunity in the period but were unable to convert.

The Orange reclaimed the lead just over three minutes into the second period. Nicole Renault fired a perfect wrist shot from the slot that beat Binnington just under the crossbar.

With three minutes left in the period, Julie Knerr broke away from the defense but Binnington made a game-saving stop to keep the Tigers within one goal.

The second period ended with Syracuse holding a slight 20-19 advantage in shots.

Play turned physical in the third period, with nine penalties being called. The Orange were whistled for six of those penalties in the final 20 minutes, giving the Tigers four power play chances.
 
The Orange were called for a checking penalty with 2:02 remaining in regulation and clinging to the one goal lead. Head Coach #Scott McDonald# called a timeout and decided to pull Binnington, giving RIT a 6-on-4 advantage.
 
With 38 seconds remaining, a bench minor was called on Syracuse and the Tigers had a 6-on-3 advantage for the rest of regulation. #Kristina Moss (Webster, NY/Buffalo Bisons) and Kourtney Kunichika (Fullerton, CA/LA Selects)# fired shots but weren't able to get through traffic in front of the net.   
 
For the game, RIT was 0-for-7 on the power play, while the Orange went 0-for-3. Syracuse held a slight 29-28 lead in shots.

Earlier this season, RIT and Syracuse played two close contests. On Nov. 10 they skated to a 2-2 draw at Ritter Arena. Ten days later, the Orange came away with a 2-1 overtime victory.

The two teams return to action tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. in Syracuse as they wrap up their season series.