ROCHESTER, NY – Senior goaltender Jetta Rackleff (Bend, OR/Summit) made 33 saves for her third career shutout and the defensive unit blocked 28 shots, as the RIT women’s hockey team (5-17-1, 1-7-1 CHA) got back in the win column by defeating Penn State University (5-14-4, 1-4-4 CHA) by a score of 3-0 at the Gene Polisseni Center on Friday evening.
Rackleff made 27 saves over the first two periods, several in spectacular fashion to be named the game’s first star and the RIT defense was stout in the third period, blocking 12 shots. Carly Payerl (Kitchener, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic) blocked a career-best nine shots and added an assist to be named the game’s third star.
Taylor Thurston (Kanata, Ontario/All Saints Catholic), the game’s second star, scored the game-winning power-play goal in the second period, while Lindsay Stenason (Oakville, Ontario/Appleby Collegiate) scored a big insurance goal with 5:02 left in regulation and Jess Paton (Woodstock, Ontario/Waterloo K-W Rangers) put the game away with a shorthanded empty-netter in the final seconds.
Celine Whitlinger made 21 saves on 23 shots in the loss for the Nittany Lions. Laura Bowman fired six shots on goal and had some great chances early on.
Penn State out-shot the Tigers, 33-24. The Nittany Lions were 0-for-5 with the man-advantage, while RIT was 1-for-4. RIT had to kill off 47 seconds of a Penn State 5-on-3 advantage midway through the second period.
“I thought it was an exciting game, which kept the fans involved,” said Bruce B. Bates Women’s Hockey Coach Scott McDonald. “I thought Jetta (Rackleff) was great in net, we had great energy on the bench, which translated to our play on the ice. We did a very good job blocking shots, especially on the penalty-kill.”
Neither team scored in the opening period as Penn State held a 12-5 edge in shots.
Rackleff came up with two incredible saves, both on Bowman in the frame. Right as RIT’s first power-play expired, Bowman, who was in the box, was sprung on a breakaway, and tried to deke Rackleff to the backhand, but the RIT goaltender came across to make an excellent pad save. With just over three minutes left in the period and Penn State shorthanded, Bowman took a feed from Bella Sutton in the slot and fired a shot that Rackleff snared with a quick glove to keep the game scoreless.
The Tigers did not have a shot until the nine minute mark, but it was a great chance, as Kandice Sheriff (Brampton, Ontario) fired a hard shot on the rush that Whitlinger stopped, with the rebound coming right back to Sheriff. Sheriff tried to beat Whitlinger to the far side from in close, but the shot just went wide.
Rackleff’s strong play and a nice passing play on a power-play allowed RIT to hold a 1-0 lead after two periods of play, despite being out-shot 27-14.
The RIT goaltender made a handful of big saves in the period, none better than one on Shannon Yoxheimer late in the period. Yoxheimer came into the zone with a full head of steam and ripped a hard slap shot from the left face-off circle that Rackleff got a glove on while fully extended to preserve the lead.
The Tigers also killed off 47 seconds of a 5-on-3 Penn State power-play midway through the period.
RIT would get on the board with 8:24 left in the period on the power-play, as Thurston snuck behind the Nittany Lions and tapped in a feed from Cassie Clayton (Pickering, Ontario/PEAC School) for her third goal of the season. Kendall Cornine (Kinnelon, NJ/Morristown Beard) got the puck inside the Penn State zone and fed Clayton at the goal line to the left of Whitlinger. Clayton saw Thurston sneaking towards the goal and fed her a perfect pass and the junior captain made no mistake with an open net.
In the third, RIT continued its excellent job blocking shots, and with 5:02 left in regulation, Stenason scored a huge insurance goal to make it 2-0 Tigers. Payerl circled the Penn State net and fed a pass to Haley Northcote (Cumberland, Ontario/Minnesota State) at the right point. Northcote then passed the puck over to her defensive partner on the left side. Stenason fired a shot that was blocked, but the carom came right back to her and she ripped a hard shot just under the crossbar for her second goal of the year.
With Whitlinger pulled for the extra attacker and Penn State on a power-play in the final seconds, Reagan Rust (Southaven, MS/Moon Area) stole a puck from a Nittany Lions player and chipped a pass to Paton in the neutral zone. Paton took two strides over the red line and fired a shot into the empty net with six seconds left for her fourth goal of the year.
It was also RIT’s fourth shorthanded tally of the season. RIT also snapped a seven-game winless streak (0-6-1) dating back to Nov. 20, 2015.
RIT is 12-3-2 all-time against the Nittany Lions, including a 10-1-0 record in Rochester. In the first two seasons of CHA play, RIT was 10-0-2 against the Nittany Lions, winning playoff series in 2013 and 2014.
RIT and Penn State will meet four times over a span of three weekends. The Tigers head to Penn State on Jan. 29-30 for a two-game series.
The two teams conclude the weekend series on Saturday from the Polisseni Center at 3:05 p.m.
“We need to start playing like it is the postseason and tonight was a good start,” said McDonald. “It’s key to keep up our energy and try and get two more points tomorrow.”
