SYRACUSE, NY – The RIT women’s hockey team (6-19-1, 2-9-1 College Hockey America) couldn’t overcome an early deficit, falling to Syracuse (11-12-3, 7-3-2 College Hockey) 3-0 at Tennity Ice Rink on Saturday night.
Kendall Cornine (Kinnelon, NJ/Morristown Beard) and Jess Paton (Woodstock, Ontario/Waterloo K-W Rangers) each had three shots on goal apiece to lead the Tigers, who were shut out for the third time this season. Taylor Thurston (Kanata, Ontario/All Saints Catholic) and Lauren Carroll (Carlisle, Ontario/Oakville Hornets) each blocked four shots to lead the Tiger defense. Jetta Rackleff (Bend, OR/Summit) was strong in net, stopping 35 of 38 shots, nearly 24 hours after making 41 saves on 42 shots in a 2-1 win over Syracuse at the Gene Polisseni Center.
Alysha Burriss, Heather Schwarz, and Dakota Derrer each tallied a goal for the Orange, with Jessica Sibley and Morgan Blank providing the assists. Jenn Gilligan stopped all 14 shots she faced in the victory.
Syracuse out-shot RIT, 38-14. The Tigers finished 0-for-6 with the man advantage, while Syracuse scored one power-play goal in seven chances.
The Orange started the scoring 1:39 into the opening period. Off an icing call in the Tigers’ defensive zone, Sibley won the faceoff, the puck heading to Derrer at the blue line, who fired a shot that Rackleff got a piece of, but trickled in low for the goal.
Cassie Clayton (Pickering, Ontario/PEAC School) had a golden chance on a breakaway moments later, but fired her attempt off the post and out.
The Orange doubled their lead 7:13 into the second period, when Schwarz grabbed the puck as a scrum developed in front of net. She punched in the shot past a shielded Rackleff high for the goal.
Syracuse got its second goal of the period, and third of the game, taking advantage of the delayed penalty, while already in the midst of a power-play situation. Turning defense into an offensive break with the extra attacker, Burriss skated down the ice on a solo effort, getting in between the two face-off circles, firing a shot in traffic that beat Rackleff.
RIT picked up its intensity late in the third period, trying to get on the board. The Tigers had a chance to get back into the game midway through the third period, as they had a 5-on-3 man-advantage for 1:18. Haley Northcote (Cumberland, Ontario/Minnesota State) had two early shots in the power-play, but both were blocked as the Orange defense laid out in the defensive triangle. Later on, Reagan Rust (Southaven, MS/Moon Area) had a shot turned away from Gilligan, who deflected it out of play, as the Orange eventually killed off the 5-on-3.
Later on, RIT had its best chance with four minutes left, as Jess Paton (Woodstock, Ontario/Waterloo K-W Rangers) found herself alone on a short break towards the net. She faked left, and fired to the right, but the shot was just wide of the net.
Syracuse won the regular season series between the two schools, 3-1 and leads the all-time series, 10-7-1.
Last night, Carly Payerl (Kitchener, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic) scored a minute into overtime to lift the Tigers to a 2-1 win. RIT held its annual “Skate for the Cure” night, wearing special purple jerseys for the “Do It For Daron” foundation.
The Tigers will hit the road next weekend for a pair of games against Penn State in University Park, Pa. Game one on Friday will begin at 7 p.m.
