MOON TOWNSHIP, PA — The RIT women's hockey team (6-22-2, 4-10-2 College Hockey America) fell 5-2 in in game two of the weekend series at No. 8 Robert Morris University (19-3-6, 12-2-2 College Hockey America) on Saturday afternoon at 84 Lumber Arena.
 
Kendall Cornine (Kinnelon, NJ/Morristown Beard) scored both goals for the Tigers, while Claudia Black (Newmarket, Ontario/St. Maximilian Kobe) had a pair of assists. Christa Vuglar (Crystal Lake, IL/Chicago Mission) and Mackenzie Stone (Kars, Ontario/South Carleton) also added assists for RIT. In net, Jenna de Jonge (Abbotsford, British Columbia/George Elliot) started the game, but was pulled after allowing three goals on seven shots in the opening eight minutes. Terra Lanteigne (Hatchet Lake, Nova Scotia/Charles P. Allen) allowed just one goal on 22 shots in the final 52 minutes of the game in relief.

For Robert Morris, Jaycee Gebhard and Brittany Howard continued to mark up the scoresheet for the second straight game. They each had a goal and an assist in the game. The pair combined for 11 points in the weekend series.

Jessica Gazzola had a goal and an assist, while Katherine Murphy and Maeve Garvey both had two assists. Mikaela Lowater and Natalie Fraser each had a goal, while Rikki Meilleur and Maggie LaGue had a helper each. Jessica Dodds earned her 11th win between the pipes this season, stopping 24 of 26 shots on target.

"Unfortunately we got off to a slow start," said Bruce B. Bates Women's Hockey Head Coach Scott McDonald. "We played hard after that and tried to climb back into the game, but couldn't capitalize on a couple power play chances in the third."
 
The Colonials came out firing in this one, scoring just 1:02 into the game, the exact time the Tigers found the scoresheet in Friday's game. Gazzola tallied her fourth goal of the season on a low wrist shot that snuck through the five-hole of de Jonge, with assists from Murphy and Garvey. Just over five minutes later, Fraser notched her first of the season, after RIT couldn't clear a rebound from a shot by Pantaleo. Right before the game was eight minutes old, Howard found the back of the net for the second straight game, with assists from Murphy and Gebhard. The third goal chased de Jonge from the net for RIT, as the Tigers called timeout and put Lanteigne in net.

The Tigers came out and chipped into the deficit early in the second period, as Cornine tallied her 10th goal of the season and second in as many games, coming from Stone and Black. The Tigers pressed hard in the offensive zone to begin the period, as a 4-on-2 rush for RIT almost helped to give RIT its second goal, as Lindsay Stenason (Oakville, Ontario/Appleby College) just missed the five hole on a rebound shot in front.

The Tigers got a power-play chance with 8:28 left in the period, and almost found another goal again. RIT fired five shots (three on net) during the man advantage, but could not beat Dodds. RIT saw themselves on the penalty kill towards the end of the period, but outside of one shot hitting the crossbar, they killed it off with ease. RIT entered the second intermission down 3-1 and trailing in shots 24-19.
 
Robert Morris began the third period by increasing its lead to three, on a goal by Lowater 2:11 into the stanza. RIT would strike back, just 3:12 later, as Cornine potted her second goal of the afternoon and third of the weekend, making it 4-2. The Tigers would then get opportunities to cut the deficit to one, but Dodds stood tall for the Colonials. An empty net goal by Gebhard with 1:35 remaining sealed the game for Robert Morris.
 
Robert Morris out-shot RIT 30-26, and blocked 10 of the Tigers shot attempts, compared to six blocks by RIT. The Colonials also won the faceoff battle 28-26. Neither team converted on the power-play, as the Colonials were 0-for-3 and Tigers were 0-for-5 in the game.
 
Robert Morris leads the all-time series between the two schools, 11-10-3. Saturday's game was the final regular season meeting between the two schools this year, and Robert Morris won all four contests in 2016-17. Cornine tallied six points (four goals and two assists) in the four games against the Colonials this year.
 
RIT will face CHA rival Syracuse in a home-and-home series next weekend. The Tigers and Orange will battle at the Gene Polisseni Center on Friday, Feb. 17 at 2:05 p.m., before facing off at Tennity Ice Pavilion in Syracuse the following afternoon.