ST. CHARLES, MO – Maddie Grisko (Buffalo, NY/Buffalo Bisons) and Brinna Dochniak (Marine on St. Croix, MN/Stillwater) scored their first collegiate goals, while Jenna de Jonge (Abbotsford, British Columbia/George Elliot) stopped a career-best 36 shots, as the RIT women's hockey team (7-21-1, 3-11-1 CHA) defeated Lindenwood University (6-19-4, 3-8-4 CHA) by a score of 3-2 on Friday evening.

Carly Payerl (Kitchener, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic) added a first period goal for the Tigers, who snapped a three-game slide. With the win, they move to within three points of the Lady Lions for fifth in the CHA standings.

Lindenwood out-shot RIT, 38-27. RIT was 0-for-4 with the man-advantage, while Lindenwood was 0-for-3.

de Jonge was brilliant in net for the Tigers, picking up her second victory of the season. On the other end, Nicole Hensley took the loss for the Lady Lions, stopping 24 shots.
Sarah Bobrowski scored both Lindenwood goals, while Shara Jasper had two assists.

"It was a great team win for us tonight," said Bruce B. Bates Women's Hockey Coach Scott McDonald. "We played with a lot of grit and passion throughout the game. When it mattered most late in the game, we had great poise with the puck."

RIT scored for the first time since Jan. 21, 9:07 into the first period, as Payerl redirected a shot from Jess Paton (Woodstock, Ontario/Waterloo K-W Rangers) for her team-leading seventh goal of the season to make it 1-0 RIT. It snapped a goal scoring drought of 189:07.

Lindenwood would respond right back just over six minutes later, as Bobrowski would score off a feed from Shara Jasper to tie the game at 1-1.

Grisko would tally her first collegiate goal with just 43 seconds left in the opening period, burying a rebound off a scramble in front to give RIT a 2-1 lead. Good work by Kathryn Kennedy (Hamilton, Ontario) and Victoria Pitawanakwat (Manitowaning, Ontario/Sudbury Wolves) set up the goal.

De Jonge was excellent in the second period, stopping all 16 shots she faced, while Dochniak tacked on a big insurance goal to put the Tigers up 3-1 after 40 minutes of play.

Dochniak took a feed from Caitlin Wallace (Brantford, Ontario/Assumption Collegiate) and beat Hensley from the slot for the eventual game-winning goal. Darcy Henderson (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Barracudas) also assisted on the tally, the first of Dochniak's career with 8:47 left in the period.

In the third, de Jonge and the RIT defense held firm, allowing just one goal by Bobrowski with Hensley pulled for the extra attacker with 1:21 left.

"Jenna was outstanding in net, making key saves throughout, while looking very comfortable and composed in the final minutes when the game was on the line," said McDonald.

The Tigers lead the all-time series between the two schools, 6-4-5 and are 3-2-2 at the Lindenwood Ice Center. Tonight was the third of four regular season meetings between the two teams this season, as RIT and Lindenwood finished of the 2015 calendar year at the Gene Polisseni Center. On Dec. 4, Lindenwood took home a 4-1 win. The next day, Mallory Rushton (Amherst, Nova Scotia/New Hampton Prep) tied the game with 1:19 remaining in regulation, leading to a 1-1 tie. Jetta Rackleff (Bend, OR/Summit) stopped 30 shots.

The Tigers and Lady Lions wrap up their regular season series on Saturday from Lindenwood Ice Arena at 4 p.m. EST.