ROCHESTER, NY – Senior Celeste Brown (Great Falls, MT/National Sports Academy) scored with 10:26 left in regulation to break a scoreless tie and Ali Binnington (Oakville, Ontario/Mississauga Chiefs) tied a school record with her 18th career shutout to lift the RIT women's hockey team (11-18-6, 5-12-3 CHA) to a 1-0 win over Syracuse (10-14-10, 8-6-6 CHA) in the regular season finale for both teams at the Gene Polisseni Center on Saturday afternoon.

On the power-play, Lindsay Grigg (Oakville, Ontario/Oakville Hornets) chipped a pass behind the net to Caitlin Wallace (Brantford, Ontario/Assumption Collegiate), who found Brown on the right side. Brown cut to the net from the boards and fired a shot from a tough angle to originally looked to hit the crossbar, but instead hit the back netting and came out. The goal was Brown's 10th the season and 30th since RIT moved to Division I in 2012.

With 3:58 left in regulation, Binnington robbed Melissa Piacentini from the slot to keep it 1-0. Syracuse would pull the goaltender with 1:25 left, but Binnington and the RIT defense would keep Syracuse off the board.

Binnington stopped all 26 shots she faced for her fourth shutout of the season and 18th of her collegiate career, tying Melissa Norris for the all-time mark at RIT.

Senior Amanda Cariddi made her first collegiate start for Syracuse and well in defeat, stopping 23 of 24 shots. She made a handful of big saves from point-blank range throughout.

Syracuse out-shot RIT, 26-24. RIT was 1-for-4 with the man-advantage, while Syracuse was 0-for-6.

Before the game, RIT honored seniors Morgan Scoyne (Drumbo, Ontario/Stoney Creek Sabres), Kolbee McCrea (Wawa, Ontario/Burlington Barracudas), Marissa Maugeri (Ajax, Ontario/Durham West Lightning), Emilee Bulleid (Waterdown, Ontario/Stoney Creek Sabres), Lindsay Grigg (Oakville, Ontario/Oakville Hornets), Brown, and Binnington who played in their final home game. This group has led RIT to an excellent 74-50-14 record in four years, making history by winning RIT's first NCAA title in any women's sport as freshmen in 2012.  That year, RIT won a Division III record 28 games. Last season, the group led RIT to its first College Hockey America Championship in just its second season as a Division I program.

"It's been a special four years for this group," said RIT head coach Scott McDonald. "They set the tone for our younger kids and have something to prove heading into the postseason."

RIT is the No. 6 seed in the College Hockey America Tournament and will travel to play No. 3 seed Robert Morris University in the best-of-three first round series next weekend. Game times will be announced on Monday, Feb. 23. RIT and Robert Morris split the season series in 2014-15, 1-1-2.

"I am excited for the postseason," said McDonald. "We have a great group in our locker room and will be ready to go."

The game was scoreless after one period, with Syracuse holding an 8-6 edge in shots.

Intensity picked up in the second period, as both goaltenders were called on to make some big saves. Binnington made a big save on Julie Knerr on a Syracuse power-play midway through the period. Syracuse's closest call came moments later, as a blast from the slot by Kaillie Goodnough eluded Binnington, but clanged off the left post and out.

Carly Payerl (Kitchener, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic) had a golden opportunity later in the second, tipping a shot from the slot that looked to get behind Cariddi, but was swatted out of harm's way by Knerr. Moments later, Marissa Maugeri (Ajax, Ontario/Durham West Lightning) had a great chance in front stopped by Cariddi. The Syracuse goaltender also made two good saves from the slot on shots by Scoyne and Victoria Pitawanakwat (Manitowaning, Ontario/Sudbury Wolves).

In the opening minute of the third period, Cariddi had to come up big on an attempt by Caitlin Wallace (Brantford, Ontario/Assumption Collegiate) from the right wing on a 2-on-1. Pitawanakwat had a great chance from in tight stuffed by Cariddi as well.

Syracuse leads the all-time series between the two schools, 7-5-1, as the two teams went 2-2-0 against each other this season. On Dec. 6, Alysha Burris scored the hat-trick in a 4-2 win at Syracuse. Maugeri scored two goals and added an assist, while Bulleid scored twice, including the overtime winner, as RIT pulled out a dramatic 4-3 win on Jan. 23. Last night, Burris tallied a pair of goals in a 4-1 home win for the Orange.