ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The RIT women's hockey team begins Atlantic Hockey America play with a weekend series against Delaware this weekend. Friday's game beings at 6:00 p.m. followed by a 3:00 p.m. start, Saturday.
 
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LAST TIME OUT
RIT lost a pair of games against No. 14/15 Colgate losing 6-3 on Friday and 4-2 the following day. Senior forward Linda Rulle and junior forward Brac Kelley each tallied a goal and an assist, Friday and junior forward Zoe Ziotas scored a goal. Junior goalie Brenna McNamara made 25 saves, while first year goaltender Oceanne Thiffault made 12 saves in relief. Kelley scored early in the first period to give the Tigers the lead. After a Colgate goal, Rulle scored to give RIT a 2-1 lead. Colgate scored three unanswered goals in the second period and third first goal of the third period to take a 6-2 lead. Ziotas scored midway through the third to make it a 6-3 final.
 
Ziotas and junior forward Kailey Favro each scored in Saturday's loss. Favro tied the game 1-1 on her power play goal late in the first period. The Raiders outscored RIT 2-0 in the second period to take a 3-1 lead. Ziotas scored at 13:19 of the third to cut Colgate's lead to 4-2. The Raiders tallied an empty-net goal to make it a 4-2 final. Thiffault got the start in net and finished with 26 saves.
 
ABOUT RIT:
RIT enters the weekend averaging 2.2 goals per game while allowing 6.0 goals per contest. The Tigers are 3-for-14 (21.4%) on the power play and killed off 10-of-13 (76.9%) penalties. RIT is 96-of-226 (42.5%) on face-offs and have blocked 45 shots.
 
Alvarez and Ziotas leads RIT with four points apiece. Alvarez enters the weekend with two goals and two assists, while Ziotas leads the Tigers with three goals. Favro and Rulle are tied for third on the team with three points each on a goal and two assists. Kelley is fifth with a goal and an assist.
 
Sophomore defender Riley Gramlich leads RIT with eight blocked shots. Junior defender Madison Buziak is second with seven blocks, while Alvarez, Kelley and sophomore defender Laura Dyke each have four blocked shots.
 
McNamara is 0-2 with a 7.42 goals-against average and an .841 save percentage. Thiffault is 0-2 with a 4.77 goals-against average and an .857 save percentage while sophomore Tahlia Vasseur has an .833 save percentage and a 4.85 goal-against average.

ABOUT DELAWARE:
Delaware enters this weekend with a 1-2-1 overall record and are 1-1-0 in conference play after a split against Lindenwood last weekend. The Blue Hens won 4-1 on Saturday and lost 3-1 the following day.
 
Sophomore defender Emma MacIntyre, sophomore forwards Wren Abboud and Francesca Barresi and first year forward Kyla Schneider each scored in Saturday's victory and sophomore goalie Charlotte Payne made 33 saves. After a scoreless first period Schneider and Barresi tallied back-to-back goals to give Delaware a 2-1 lead. Abboud scored late in the third period to give the Blue Hens a 3-1 lead and MacIntyre tallied an empty-net goal to make it a 4-1 final.
 
Senior forward Danica Mark scored in Sunday's loss to Lindenwood, while Payne finished with 23 saves. Lindenwood took a 2-0 lead early in the second period before Mark scored at 14:15 of the second to cut the Lion's lead to 2-1. Lindenwood scored early in the third period to make it a 3-1 final.
 
Delaware enters this weekend seventh in Atlantic Hockey America averaging 1.75 goals per game and is fifth allowing 2.5 goals per contest. The Blue Hens are 0-for-9 on the power play and seventh in the AHA killing off 72.2% (13-of-18) of their penalties.
 
MacIntyre and first year defender Reese Reid are tied for first on the team with two points each. MacIntyre has a goal and an assist, while Reid has two assists. Payne is 1-1-1 on the season and is sixth in the AHA with a 1.99 goals-against average, fourth with a .938 save percentage and leads the league averaging 30.0 saves per game.
 
RIT vs. DELAWARE:
RIT is 4-0-0 against Delaware, sweeping all four games last season. The Tigers beat the Blue Hens 5-2 and 4-2 at the Gene Polisseni Center in early December and won 3-2 and 8-1 in early January in Delaware. Alvarez (2g, 5a), Kelley (4g, 3a) and junior defender Emma Pickering (4g, 3a) each tallied seven points against Delaware last season. Favro had four assists against the Blue Hens last season.