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ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT women's hockey team continues its season-opening home stand by hosting the University of New Hampshire on Friday and Northeastern University on Saturday. Both games begin at 3:05 p.m. On Saturday, RIT will host its inaugural One SpiRIT: Global Hockey Festival at the brand new Gene Polisseni Center.
 
Tickets for both games are $5 for adults, $4 for RIT staff, faculty, and alumni, and $3 for youth. RIT students receive free admission (one ticket limit per valid RIT ID). Tickets are available at the Gene Polisseni Center and Gordon Field House Box Offices, by calling (585) 475-4121 or by visiting www.rithockey.com.

The Tigers (2-0-0) will look to stay unbeaten this weekend after christening the Gene Polisseni Center with a pair of wins to open the 2014-15 season, 2-1 and 2-0 over Union last weekend. On Friday, Lindsay Stenason (Oakville, Ontario/Appleby Collegiate) scored the game-winner with 10:38 left in regulation. The next day, Celeste Brown (Great Falls, MT/National Sports Academy) broke a scoreless tie with 16:33 left in the third period and Carly Payerl (Kitchener, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic) added an empty-netter. Ali Binnington (Oakville, Ontario/Mississauga Chiefs) stopped all 32 shots she faced for her 15th career shutout.
 
Binnington has now won her last nine games dating back to last season with an incredible 0.72 goals against average and .976 save percentage, having allowed just seven goals and stopping 285 shots during that span.
 
New Hampshire (0-3-0) enters the weekend looking for its first win of the year. Last weekend, the Wildcats suffered a pair of one-goal losses at Ohio State, falling 1-0 on Friday and 4-3 on Saturday. Four different players have scored goals for New Hampshire this season. In net, Vilma Vaattovaara has appeared in all three games, recording a 2.37 goals against average and .924 save percentage.
 
Northeastern opens its regular season on Friday at Syracuse before arriving at RIT. The Huskies have played a pair of exhibition contests, losing to the Montreal Stars, 4-3 on Sept. 28 before defeating the Oakville Hornets, 5-1 on Oct. 4. Kendall Coyne, a 2014 Silver Medalist with United States Women's Hockey team, scored twice in the win over Oakville. Coyne, who did not play for Northeastern last season due to her Olympic commitment, was among the national leaders in scoring in 2012-13, with 37 goals and 68 points in 34 games.
 
Last season, RIT traveled to both schools, defeating New Hampshire by a score of 3-2, while falling to Northeastern, 5-4. It was RIT's first win in 14 all-time meetings against the Wildcats. Northeastern is 12-0-0 all-time against RIT. The two teams met last season for the first time in 18 years.
 
In a global celebration of RIT hockey, RIT's main campus will be connected with its international campuses in Croatia, Dubai and Kosovo via advanced Cisco Systems telecommunications technology on Saturday. This technology will allow students from around the world to interact with each other in real time.
 
On the main campus in Rochester, festival-goers will be treated to an assortment of food, tailgating games, giveaways, live music and much more prior to Tigers' men's and women's hockey games. Highlights of the day include:

• 12:30 p.m.: festivities begin at a tent located between the Student Alumni Union and the Gene Polisseni Center.
• 1:30 p.m.: worldwide broadcast powered by Cisco begins on big screens at five global locations.
• 3:05 p.m.: women's hockey game vs. Northeastern University.

The first 1,000 students at the women's game on Saturday will receive a free long-sleeve One SpiRIT t-shirt. During one of the intermissions, the Corner Crew and student section will be performing a "card stunt" – when the crowd holds up poster-sized cards that will create a design or spell out a message. Students who participate will also be entered into a raffle for great prizes such as a $1,000 on-campus room credit, a General Parking permit, an RTS bus pass for unlimited rides for one month, or one of five $200 Dining Services debit cards. Check out this card stunt performed at BYU in September: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNSJXgOANGY

In addition to the simulcast between the international campuses before the game, there will be human bubble ball on the turf field, a 24-foot rock climbing wall, and human foosball on the tennis courts. Other activities include caricature drawing, face painting, popcorn, and a pixie stick maker. Nik and the Nice Guys will provide the music, and Pat Duffy of WCMF and former women's hockey standout Melissa Bromley (Aurora, Ontario/Aurora Panthers) will be emcees throughout the afternoon.

Both contests will be broadcast online at witr.rit.edu and on America One. Saturday's game will be available for free here. Live stats are also available for both contests.

Come out and support your Tigers in their first season at the Gene Polisseni Center, as they look to defend their College Hockey America title.