Women's Hockey | 9/28/2016 10:30:00 AM
ROCHESTER, NY — The RIT women's hockey team will open the 2016-17 regular season on the road with two matchups against Minnesota State University. RIT begins play on Friday Sept. 30 at 8:07 p.m. and Oct. 1 at 3:07 p.m. at the Verizon Wireless Center in Mankato, Minn.
The Tigers are coming off a 2-1 victory in their 2016-17 exhibition opener against Guelph last Friday. Cassie Clayton (Pickering, Ontario/PEAC School) scored a first period power-play goal, and Reagan Rust (Southaven, MS/Moon Area) cashed in on a 5-on-3 shorthanded breakaway opportunity in the third period. RIT goaltenders Brooke Stoddart (Elmvale, Ontario/Elmvale), Jenna de Jonge (Abbotsford, British Columbia/George Elliot), and Terra Lanteigne (Hatchet Lake, Nova Scotia/Charles P. Allen) each played a period during the exhibition game against Guelph, combining to stop 37-of-38 shots.
RIT returns 17 players from last season's team, including 10 forwards, five defensemen and two goalies. Bruce B. Bates Women's Hockey Head Coach Scott McDonald and his staff have also added six talented newcomers who will have their chance to contribute immediately.
Minnesota State finished the its 18th season of competition in 2015-16 with a 3-29-4 (0-25-3 Western Collegiate Hockey Association) record. The Mavericks fell in the first round of the conference tournament to the WCHA Playoffs to the regular season champions, then-No. 2 Wisconsin.
The Mavericks return 18 players from last year's team, including their second leading scorer, Hannah Davidson (17 points). They also return their top scoring defenseman, Anna Keys, who tallied 13 points, the seventh-highest point total for a defenseman in program history (two goals and 11 assists). In goal, senior Brianna Quade ranked third in the NCAA with 1,031 saves in 35 games last season.
The Tigers and Mavericks have faced off just two times, both taking place last season at the Gene Polisseni Center. Senior Lindsay Stenason (Oakville, Ontario/Appleby Collegiate)'s last-minute goal lifted the Tigers to a 2-1 season-opening victory last season, before the Mavericks took game two, 4-2 the following day.
Video and live stats will available for Friday and Saturday's games.
After this weekend, the Tigers return home for four straight home games at the Gene Polisseni Center. On Oct. 7-8, Providence comes to town, before Union of the ECAC invades Rochester for Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend on Oct. 14-15.
