ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The RIT women's hockey team hits the road for a pair of Atlantic Hockey America games at Mercyhurst on Friday and Saturday (Nov. 14-15). Friday's game at the Mercyhurst Ice Center begins at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday's game will start at 3:00 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT:
RIT split a pair of games at No. 13 Colgate last weekend, losing 5-2 on Friday followed by a 3-1 win the following day. Junior defender Emma Pickering tallied a goal and an assist in Friday's loss. Sophomore forward Ireland Stein tallied a goal and senior goalie Sophia Bellina made 22 saves.
 
First year forward Tilli Keranen recorded a goal and an assist in Saturday's win. Her goal in the second period tied the game at 1-1. Stein gave RIT a 2-1 lead on her goal at 12:07 of the third period and junior forward Linda Rulle tallied an empty-net goal. Bellina made 36 stops in net for her fifth win of the season.
 
ABOUT RIT:
RIT enters the weekend third in the Atlantic Hockey America standings with a 3-3-0 conference record and 10 points. The Tigers average 2.9 goals per game and allow 2.1 goals per contest. The Tigers are 17-of-50 (34.0%) on the power play and 37-of-44 (84.0%) on the penalty kill. RIT has won 408-of-769 (53.1%) of its faceoffs and blocked 200 shots.
 
RIT features seven players with three or more goals and 11 players with four or more points. Junior forward Addie Alvarez leads the team with 12 points on a team-high seven goals and five assists. Rulle and Pickering are tied for second on the team with 11 points apiece. Rulle is second on the team with six goals, while Pickering leads the Tigers with nine assists. Sophomore forward Kailey Favro (2g, 7a) is fourth on the team with nine points.
 
Pickering leads the team with 35 blocked shots and first year defender Riley Gramlich is second with 21 blocks. First year defender Laura Dyke is third with 20 blocks and sophomore defender Madison Buziak is fourth on the team with 18 blocked shots.
 
Bellina is 5-6 with a 2.16 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage. Sophomore Brenna McNamara is 2-1 with a 1.22 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage.

ABOUT MERCYHURST:
Mercyhurst swept a pair of Atlantic Hockey America games at Robert Morris, winning 5-1 on Friday and 7-2 the following day. Sophomore forward Julia Schalin scored two goals and added an assist, and sophomore forward Abby Poitras had two assists in Friday's win. Sophomore goalie Magdalena Luggin made 23 saves in net for the Lakers.
 
First year forward Kate Donegan scored two goals, and first year forward Nayeon Kim had a goal and an assist in Saturday's win. Schalin and Poitras each handed out two assists and Luggin made 36 saves,
 
Mercyhurst enters the weekend third in Atlantic Hockey averaging 2.93 goals per game and third allowing 2.36 goals per contest. The Lakers are third in the AHA converting 9-of-46 (19.6 percent) of their power play chances and fourth killing off 32-of-40 (80.0%) of their penalties. Mercyhurst has won 378-of-758 face offs (49.9%) and sixth averaging 13.79 blocked shots per game.  
 
First year forward Julia Perjus leads Mercyhurst and is tied for sixth in Atlantic Hockey with 12 points. She is tied for second in the league with eight goals. Nayeon is second on the team and tied for ninth in the league with 11 points. She is tied with Poitras for third in the AHA with eight assists. Schalin is third on the team with 10 points.
 
Senior defender Makayla Javier leads the team and is tied for sixth in the league with 32 blocked shots. Poitras is second on the team with 30 points and senior defender Payten Evans is third with 21 blocked shots.
 
Luggin is 5-5-1 on the season. He is fourth in the AHA with a 2.55 goals-against average and is seventh in the league with a .920 save percentage. She is fifth in the conference averaging 28.67 saves per game.
 
RIT VS. MERCYHURST:
Mercyhurst us 45-8-2 all time against RIT. The Tigers went 1-2-1 against Mercyhurst last season. The Tigers beat the Lakers, 4-3 at the Gene Polisseni Center on Nov. 23. Alvarez handed out three assists for the Tigers, while Pickering scored two goals.