ROCHESTER, NY — The RIT women's hockey team (1-10-0, 0-2-0 College Hockey America) dropped game one, 6-2 in a home-and-home series with nationally-ranked Colgate (9-0-1, 3-0-0 ECAC) Friday night at the Gene Polisseni Center.
 
The Tigers converted on two power-plays, as Kendall Cornine (Kinnelon, NJ/Morristown Beard) and Reagan Rust (Southaven, MS/Moon Area) both found the back of the net. Taylor Thurston (Kanata, Ontario/All Saints Catholic), Caitlin Wallace (Brantford, Ontario/Assumption Collegiate), Lindsay Stenason (Oakville, Ontario/Appleby College) and Mackenzie Stone (Kars, Ontario/South Carleton) all added assists for RIT, while freshman Terra Lanteigne (Hatchet Lake, Nova Scotia/Charles P. Allen) made 21 saves.
 
Shae Labbe had a hat trick, while Lauren Wildfang had a playmaker in the win for No. 6 Colgate. Liz Auby picked up the win and improved to 2-0-0 on the season.
 
The scoring began exactly five minutes into the opening period, when Olivia Zafuto potted her second goal of the year, making it 1-0 Colgate. The Tigers were assessed a penalty following the goal, sending the Raiders to the power-play. Colgate converted on the man advantage 38 seconds later, as Shae Labbe scored the first of her three goals on the night. RIT entered the second period down 2-0.
 
"On 5-on-5 we were going up and down with them, and that's a really talented team," said Bruce B. Bates Women's Hockey Head Coach Scott McDonald. "But their talent really came through on their power-play and they were able to out-muscle us."
 
The Tigers got on the board in the second period, making it a one-goal game, on a shot from Rust on the power-play. Her first goal of the season was assisted by Stenason and Wallace. But, Colgate struck back at the latter end of the period, as Labbe tallied her second of the night.
 
Heading into the third period down 3-1, RIT allowed the first goal of the stanza, as the Raiders converted on another man advantage, this time off the stick of Jessie Eldridge. But the Tigers struck back, again on the power-play, as Cornine registered her second goal of the year, assisted by Thurston and Stone. RIT then trailed 4-2, but Colgate added two more goals, one on the power-play, to take the 6-2 victory.
 
"Honestly outside of the penalty kill I thought we played well," said McDonald. "It was one of the weirdest games I've been a part of, when we lose 6-2 but I'm not upset with the effort. We were generating more shots and more chances on net."
 
The Raiders finished 3-for-5 on the power-play, while the Tigers were 2-for-5 with the man advantage. Colgate out-shot RIT 27-19 in the contest.
 
"We're starting to see glimpses of the hard work the girls have been putting in," said McDonald. "The transition game was pretty good, I liked the communication on the ice, and the power-play is starting to get comfortable out there where they're starting to believe that we can play with these teams."
 
RIT returns to face Colgate in the road portion of the home-and-home series on Saturday, in the new Class of 1965 Arena in Hamilton. Puck drop for that contest will be at 3 p.m.