Women's Hockey | 1/20/2015 11:35:00 AM
Click here for RIT Game Notes --- Click here for Syracuse Game Notes
ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT women's hockey team returns home to face College Hockey America rival Syracuse University on Friday from the Gene Polisseni Center, starting at 7:05 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). 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. It is also youth hockey night. Any youth who wears their team jersey to the game receives free admission.
RIT plays its final nine games against CHA opponents to end the regular season. The Tigers are currently sixth in the CHA standings with five points. If the season ended today, RIT would travel to Syracuse for a best of three first round series from Feb. 27 to March 1.
The Tigers (8-14-3, 2-8-1 CHA) dropped both games over the weekend at Penn State, falling 2-1 on Saturday and 3-1 on Sunday.
Celeste Brown (Great Falls, MT/National Sports Academy) scored RIT's lone goal on Saturday, while
Cassie Clayton (Pickering, Ontario/PEAC School) tallied for the Tigers on Sunday.
Ali Binnington (Oakville, Ontario/Mississauga Chiefs) made 46 saves on 51 shots in the two losses.
Friday,
Lindsay Grigg (Oakville, Ontario/Oakville Hornets) will break the all-time record for games played at RIT with her 130th, surpassing
Kourtney Kunichika (Fullerton, CA/LA Selects), who played in 129 from 2010-14.
Brown leads the team in scoring with 13 points on eight goals and five assists. Binnington is third nationally in save percentage (.949) and sixth in goals against average (1.36).
Syracuse enters Friday with a 6-11-8 overall record and a 4-3-4 mark in league play. The Orange, currently third in the CHA standings, earned one point last weekend at No. 9 Mercyhurst, skating to a 1-1 tie on Friday, while falling 3-2 on Saturday. Stephanie Grossi leads the team in scoring with 21 points on seven goals and 14 assists, while Melissa Piacentini has a team-high 12 goals. The Orange is being outscored 76-49 this season. In net, Jen Gilligan is 6-11-7 with a 2.67 goals against average and .890 save percentage.
Syracuse leads the all-time series between the two schools, 6-3-1. It is the second of four meetings between the two schools this season, as Syracuse defeated RIT 4-2 on Dec. 6. In that game, Alysha Burris had the hat-trick for Syracuse, as the Orange scored three times to break a 1-1 tie in the third period.
Jess Paton (Woodstock, Ontario/Waterloo K-W Rangers) and
Marissa Maugeri (Ajax, Ontario/Durham West Lightning) scored for the Tigers. Eight of the 10 previous games ended in a tie or one goal difference, with five going to overtime. RIT went 3-1 against Syracuse last season.
Friday's contests will be shown on Time Warner Cable Sports (TWCS) Channel 98 with Gene Battaglia and former RIT standout Katie Stack '11 brining you all the action from the Gene Polisseni Center. The game will also broadcast online at
witr.rit.edu and on
America One.
Live stats are also available as well.
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.
