Women's Hockey | 10/20/2015 7:56:00 AM
ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT women's hockey team returns to action this week with three road contests. On Wednesday, Oct. 21, the Tigers open College Hockey America play at Syracuse at 7 p.m. On Friday, Oct. 23 and Saturday, Oct. 24, RIT heads to ECAC foe Union. Both games begin at 3 p.m.
Wednesday's contest is a rematch of the 2015 College Hockey America Championship.
The Tigers, who were off last weekend, are currently 1-3-0. RIT is looking to snap a three-game losing streak after dropping a pair of home games against Rensselaer on Oct. 9-10.
Carly Payerl (Kitchener, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic) leads the team in scoring with four points on a goal and three assists.
Cassie Clayton (Pickering, Ontario/PEAC School) has two goals to lead the team, while
Kendall Cornine (Kinnelon, NJ/Morristown Beard) has three assists. In goal,
Jetta Rackleff (Bend, OR/Summit),
Brooke Stoddart (Elmvale, Ontario/Elmvale) and
Jenna de Jonge (Abbotsford, British Columbia/George Elliot) have split time. Rackleff leads the way with a 2.30 goals against average and .906 save percentage.
The preseason top pick in the CHA coaches poll, Syracuse comes into Wednesday's contest with a 2-3-0 record, after shutting out Providence, 4-0 on Sunday. Melissa Piacentini, the reigning CHA Player of the Week, leads the Orange with seven points on four goals and three assists. Nicole Ferrara is tied for the team lead with four goals, while Stephanie Grossi has a team-high five assists. In goal, Jenn Gilligan has a 2-2-0 record to go along with a 2.53 goals against average, and an .891 save percentage.
Syracuse leads the all-time series between the two schools, 7-6-1. Eleven of the 14 meetings have either ended in ties or a one-goal difference, with seven going to overtime. RIT won the season series last year, winning three of the five meetings including the CHA Championship at Mercyhurst, 2-1 in double overtime on a goal by Payerl.
ECAC member Union is 0-3-2 to start the 2015-16 season, after playing all of its games on the road. Last weekend, the Dutchwomen lost a pair of games at Penn State by identical 3-0 scores. Kathryn Tomaselli leads the Dutchwomen in with two goals and three points. Elizabeth Otten and Alli Devins share the lead in assists with two each. Melissa Black has started the majority of the games in goal and is currently 0-1-2 with a 1.95 goals against average and .951 save percentage.
RIT leads the all-time series against Union, 7-3-1. Last year, the Tigers christened the Gene Polisseni Center with a two-game sweep on Oct. 3-4, by scores of 2-1 and 2-0.
Lindsay Stenason (Oakville, Ontario/Appleby Collegiate) scored the game-winner in the opening game, while
Celeste Brown (Great Falls, MT/National Sports Academy) and Payerl scored in the second contest.
Wednesday's game can be
seen online along with
live stats. The two games at Union will be available online and also have
live stats.
