Women's Hockey | 2/5/2014 8:12:00 AM
Click here for RIT Game Notes --- Click here for Mercyhurst Game Notes
ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT women's hockey team heads west on I-90 for a pair of crucial College Hockey America contests this weekend at No. 10 Mercyhurst. Friday's game gets underway at 7 p.m., while Saturday's contest from the Mercyhurst Ice Center begins at 2 p.m.
RIT and Mercyhurst are battling for the top spot in the CHA standings and a potential first round bye. The Tigers are third in the league standings with 18 points, while Mercyhurst is tied with Robert Morris for the top spot, three points ahead of RIT. The top two teams receive a first round bye in the CHA playoffs.
The Tigers (13-12-3, 8-4-2 CHA) went 1-0-1 last weekend at Penn State, skating to a 2-2 draw on Friday and defeating the Nittany Lions, 3-1 on Saturday to extend their unbeaten streak to four games. Freshman goaltender
Brooke Stoddart (Elmvale, Ontario/Elmvale) made 18 saves for her first collegiate victory in the 3-1 win on Saturday. Freshman forward
Mackenzie Stone (Kars, Ontario/South Carleton) scored the game-winning goal in the victory. All five of her goals scored this season are game-winning tallies.
Stoddart made 31 saves on 33 shots over the weekend to earn CHA Rookie of the Week honors.
Marissa Maugeri (Ajax, Ontario/Durham West Lightning) and
Kolbee McCrea (Wawa, Ontario/Burlington Barracudas) both have 22 points apiece to lead the team. RIT moved back over .500 for the first time in nearly two months and is 4-2-2 so far in 2014.
Mercyhurst (17-7-3, 10-3-3 CHA) is riding a three-game winning streak and has a 10-2-1 mark over its last 13 contests. Last weekend, the Lakers won a pair of one-goal games at Syracuse, 3-2 and 2-1 and are outscoring their opponents, 92-53 this season. Christine Bestland leads the Lakers with 39 points on 14 goals and 25 assists, while Emily Janiga has 31 points on 13 goals and 18 assists. In net, Amanda Makela has appeared in 25 games, recording a 15-6-3 record with a 2.03 goals against average and .925 save percentage.
RIT is 1-6-0 all-time against the Lakers. Earlier in the season, the two teams split a weekend series at Ritter Arena, with RIT winning 2-1 on Nov. 22 and Mercyhurst earning a 3-2 win the next day. RIT goaltender
Ali Binnington (Oakville, Ontario/Mississauga Chiefs) stopped 42-of-43 shots in the 2-1 win, while Mercyhurst's Lauren Kilroy scored the game-winning goal with 13:15 left in regulation the next afternoon.
Both games will be available online at
America One Network.
Live stats are also available for each game.
