ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT women's hockey team (6-23-2, 4-11-2 College Hockey America) fell 5-2 in the front end of a home-and-home series with CHA rival Syracuse (12-12-5, 11-4-2 CHA) Friday afternoon at the Gene Polisseni Center.

Kendall Cornine (Kinnelon, NJ/Morristown Beard) and Reagan Rust (Southaven, MS/Moon Area) tallied goals for RIT, while Mackenzie Stone (Kars, Ontario/South Carleton), Claudia Black (Newmarket, Ontario/St. Maximilian Kobe), Lauren Carroll (Carlisle, Ontario/Oakville Hornets), and Caitlin Wallace (Brantford, Ontario/Assumption Collegiate) had assists for the Tigers. Brooke Stoddart (Elmvale, Ontario/Elmvale) made 33 saves on 38 shots in the loss.

For Syracuse, Jessica Sibley, Alysha Burriss, Megan Quinn, Emily Costales, and Savannah Rennie scored, while Lindsay Eastwood, Stephanie Grossi, and Allie Munroe each had two assists. Burriss, Larissa Martyniuk and Heather Schwarz also added helpers, while Abbey Miller picked up her 11th win, making nine saves.

"We had a great week of practice and talked about trying to manage the game better this week, but we just had a real lack of energy right from the first shift," said Bruce B. Bates Women's Hockey Head Coach Scott McDonald. "We just looked a bit scared. We could break the puck out of our zone well, but kept turning it over at their blue line. We just weren't good today."

Syracuse began the scoring just 1:02 into the game, as a rebound in front was finished off by Jessica Sibley. RIT came right back just 1:58 later, as Cornine tallied her 12th goal of the season on a nifty back-handed in front that went just past the left pad of Miller and into the back of the net, making it a 1-1 game. The Orange then took the lead back 6:59 into the period, adding to the early scoring by both teams, as Burriss scored her 10th of the season, tipping in a shot from the point. The Orange controlled the game offensively in the first, as Syracuse out-shot RIT 16-1 in the period. The Tigers' one shot was the least in a single period since the third period against Penn State on Jan. 29, 2016.

Just a minute into the second period, RIT came close to tying the game, as Cassie Clayton (Pickering, Ontario/PEAC School) stole the puck and fired it on net, but Miller sent the puck aside. Stoddart made several big saves in the second as well, including a point shot with traffic in front, that she jumped in front and held in her glove. At the 5:19 mark of the period, Stone had a great chance to tie the game. She flipped a rebound past Miller, but it hit the right post and skidded across the crease. Syracuse would eventually add a third goal, making it 3-1, as a point shot from Quinn found the twine, with 6:27 left in the period.

Just 46 seconds into the third period, the Orange scored again, as Costales made it 4-1. RIT would cut the deficit back to two, as Rust fired a laser from the point over the blocker of Miller and into the net for her third goal of the year. The Tigers would get a 5-on-3 power-play chance just following the goal, but could not convert. As play went back and forth through the middle part of the period, Syracuse eventually increased its lead to 5-2. Rennie slid the puck past Stoddart for her sixth tally of the season.

Both teams were 0-for-3 on the power-play, and the Orange out-shot the Tigers 38-11.

Syracuse leads the all-time series between the two schools, 12-7-2. Thirteen of the 20 meetings have either ended in ties or a one-goal difference, with seven going to overtime. The two teams skated to a 2-2 tie on Dec. 2 and Syracuse earned a 3-0 win on Dec. 3. Cornine scored both RIT goals in the 2-2 tie on Dec. 2, while Jenna de Jonge (Abbotsford, British Columbia/George Elliot) made 32 saves.

The two teams wrap up their regular season series on Saturday from Tennity Ice Pavilion in Syracuse at 3 p.m.