Women's Hockey | 11/12/2014 9:19:00 AM

Click here for RIT Game Notes --- Click here for Penn State Game Notes

ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT women's hockey team will celebrate Valor Week by hosting College Hockey America foe Penn State University at the Gene Polisseni Center on Friday, Nov. 14 and Saturday, Nov. 15. Friday's game begins at 7:05 p.m., while Saturday's contest starts at 3:05 p.m.
 
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). All active military, veterans, and first responders will be able to buy tickets for just $3. 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.
 
On Saturday, all fans in attendance will receive a free 2014-15 RIT women's hockey team photo. After Saturday's game, RIT will hold its annual "Skate With the Tigers" event. Fans are encouraged to bring their skates and go on the ice to skate with their favorite players after the game.  
 
RIT will celebrate Valor Week this weekend with an online auction of special military themed game-worn jerseys they will wear against the Nittany Lions. The jersey auction will start at 10 a.m. on Nov. 11 and end at 10 a.m. on Nov. 18. Visit www.rit.edu/oneteamonefight to bid.
 
All funds generated from the auctions will be distributed to a number of local agencies serving veterans of the Greater Rochester area through the all-volunteer One Team One Fight effort. Each player's jersey will bear a special patch remembering the men and women on the Greater Rochester area who made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan. Every player will carry a military name patch on the right chest of the jersey with the last name of each of these men and women. The team will also honor fallen Rochester Police Officer and veteran Daryl Pierson on one sleeve, as well as the One Team One Fight phrase on the back. RIT is honored to be part of a larger community effort to recognize and remember all of our veterans. Click here for more information on the Greater Rochester "One Team One Fight" organization.
 
The Tigers enter the weekend with a 5-4-3 overall record and are 0-1-1 in College Hockey America play.  Last weekend, the Tigers went 0-1-1 at Princeton, falling 4-3 in overtime on Friday, while playing its first scoreless tie in the Division I era on Saturday. On Friday, Kolbee McCrea (Wawa, Ontario/Burlington Barracudas), Haley Northcote (Cumberland, Ontario/Minnesota State), and Celeste Brown (Great Falls, MT/National Sports Academy) gave RIT a 3-0 lead before the game was 12 minutes old, but could not hang on. Brooke Stoddart (Elmvale, Ontario/Elmvale) made 30 saves in the loss. On Saturday, RIT out-shot Princeton, 40-28, but neither team could tally, as RIT played to its first scoreless tie since Jan. 22, 2011. Jetta Rackleff (Bend, OR/Summit) made her first start of the season and recorded her first collegiate shutout, stopping 28 shots.
 
Senior goaltender Ali Binnington (Oakville, Ontario/Mississauga Chiefs) is currently second nationally with both a 0.99 goals against average and a .961 save percentage. She has a 12-3 mark and an incredible 0.78 goals against average and .969 save percentage, having allowed just 14 goals and stopping 431 shots over her last 15 starts dating back to last season. Binnington is 17 saves and 30 minutes played shy of setting the school records in both categories.
 
Defensively, RIT is sixth nationally, allowing just 1.42 goals per game. RIT has played in 12 games this season and has not trailed after one period of play in any contest. RIT has led in six games and went to the first intermission tied in the other six. The Tigers have allowed just one first period goal all season, out-scoring its opponents, 10-1.
 
Penn State comes into the weekend with a 5-4-3 mark (0-1-1 CHA) after picking up a pair of road wins over Colgate last weekend by scores of 6-4 and 3-1. Amy Peterson leads the Nittany Lions in scoring with 15 points on nine goals and six assists, while Laura Bowman is right behind with 13 points on six goals and seven assists. Peterson's 15 points are tied for fifth nationally. Penn State is being outscored by its opponents, 32-25. In net, Hannah Ehresmann and Celine Whitlinger have played in six games apiece. Ehresmann is 2-1-3 with a 1.76 goals against average and .945 save percentage, while Whitlinger is 3-3-0 with a 3,34 goals against average and .901 save percentage.
 
RIT has a 10-0-2 all-time record against the Nittany Lions, going 5-0-1 in each of the last two seasons. Six of the last eight meetings between the two schools have been decided by one goal or less. RIT knocked Penn State out of the CHA Tournament in each of the last two years. The Tigers are 8-0-0 against the Nittany Lions on home ice.
 
Both contests will be broadcast online at witr.rit.edu and on America One. Live stats are also available for both contests. Saturday's game is on Time Warner Cable Channel 98, with Gene Battaglia and former RIT standout Katie Stack '12 bringing you the action.
 
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.