ROCHESTER, NY­ – It was a night to remember for the RIT women's hockey team, (10-11-2, 5-3-1 CHA) as #Cassie Clayton (Pickering, Ontario/PEAC School)# scored a highlight worthy, short-handed goal with 1:17 to go in regulation, lifting the Tigers to a 4-3 win over CHA rival Syracuse (10-10-2, 3-5-2 CHA) on Friday evening at Ritter Arena.
 
Clayton sent the Ritter Arena crowd into a frenzy as she grabbed a feed from #Taylor Thurston (Kanata, Ontario/All Saints Catholic) after Celeste Brown (Great Falls, MT/National Sports Academy)# created a turnover in the neutral zone before coming off on a change. Thurston came into the Syracuse zone, faked out the lone Orange defender in her way with some fancy stick handling then launched a shot top shelf over the shoulder of Jenesica Drinkwater to give RIT the 4-3 lead with 1:17 left and ultimately the win. It was the first short handed goal of the season for the Tigers.

#Kourtney Kunichika (Fullerton, CA/LA Selects)# reached a milestone by scoring the 50th goal of her career early in the second period on a power play that evened the game at 1-1. She became the 11th player in RIT history to score 50 goals in a career.
 
#Erin Zach (Elmira, Ontario/Cambridge Fury) and Kolbee McCrea (Wawa, Ontario/Burlington Barracudas) each scored power play goals late in the period that helped RIT take a 3-2 lead. (Brantford, Ontario/Assumption Collegiate)Celeste Brown (Great Falls, MT/National Sports Academy) and Taylor Thurston (Kanata, Ontario/All Saints Catholic)# would earn the assists on the goal by Zach, while #Lindsay Grigg (Oakville, Ontario/Oakville Hornets) and Morgan Scoyne (Drumbo, Ontario/Stoney Creek Sabres)# would help set up McCrea's team-best 11th tally of the year.

Brown and Thurston each had two assists for the Tigers.
 
Julie Knerr, Akane Hosoyamada and Melissa Piacentini were the goal scorers for the Orange. In net, Drinkwater made 20 saves in the loss.

RIT goaltender #Jetta Rackleff (Bend, OR/Summit)# got the start in net and was strong, stopping 31 shots on the evening, several in sensational fashion, while allowing just the three goals. Her play was essential in many penalty kill opportunities, as she made a number of great saves to keep RIT in the game.

Syracuse out-shot RIT in the contest, 34-24. The Tigers were 3-for-8 with the man-advantage, while Syracuse was 2-for-7. Six of the seven goals in the contest came via special teams. RIT's three power-play goals tied a season-high, also done on Oct. 5 at Northeastern.
 
"Our power play finally came alive and was the spark for us from start to finish," said head coach #Scott McDonald#. "Jetta (Rackleff) really played well in goal for us tonight too, and then we get that highlight reel goal from Cassie at the end, just a solid team effort."
 
RIT began the game looking aggressive offensively for the first two minutes of play but couldn't get any shots off in their offensive zone. After 13 minutes the two teams were scoreless with only one shot on net, courtesy of Syracuse. It was the Orange's second shot that found the back of the net from Knerr with 11:25 remaining in the period.
 
As the period continued, both teams had several power play chances, and Syracuse nearly added to their lead with a deflection that slid between the legs of Rackleff, however she fell on it to keep the RIT deficit at 1. As the period came to a close a late Syracuse penalty would put the Tigers on a power play to start the second.
 
The second period started with a bang as Kunichika and the Tigers took advantage of the power play netting a goal with 18:55 on the clock, to tie the game at 1-1. After falling behind again to the Orange, 2-1, it was Zach's power play goal on a slapshot from the left circle that squeezed just past the right side of Drinkwater that tied thing up again. Minutes later, McCrea would add a third power play goal for the Tigers on a rebound shot right in front of the net, giving RIT their first lead of the game, 3-2.
 
The lead was short lived though as with just 17 second remaining in the second Piacentini netted a second power play goal for the Orange to make it 3-3.
 
In the third play was dominated by the Tigers who went to work in the offensive zone looking to grab the lead back again. Just when it looked as though the game may be headed for overtime, Clayton was able to intercept a pass and score the shorthanded goal by herself to give RIT the 4-3 win.
 
RIT is now 1-4-1 all-time against the Orange and holds onto third place in the CHA standings with a record of 5-3-1 and 11 points. The two teams will square off again in a week, as RIT will hit the road and head to Syracuse for rematch on Friday, Jan. 17. Game time will be 7 p.m.