ROCHESTER, NY – The two-time defending College Hockey America Champions RIT women’s hockey team begins the postseason this weekend, heading to Penn State for a 2016 CHA First Round best-of-three series, from Feb. 26-28. Game one on Friday will begin at 6:30 p.m., with game two on Saturday at 2 p.m., and game three, if necessary, on Sunday, beginning at 2 p.m.
Last weekend, the Tigers (8-25-1, 4-15-1 CHA) closed the regular season on the road, splitting a pair of games at Robert Morris, earning the sixth seed in the CHA playoffs. On Friday, the Tigers fell to the Colonials, 2-0, as Jetta Rackleff (Bend, OR/Summit) stopped 39 shots in the loss. On Saturday, Carly Payerl (Kitchener, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic) scored an overtime goal with 34.5 seconds left to give the Tigers a 3-2 victory. Jess Paton (Woodstock, Ontario/Waterloo K-W Rangers) and Darcy Henderson (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Barracudas) also tallied goals, while Jenna de Jonge (Abbotsford, British Columbia/George Elliot) stopped 32 shots in the victory.
Payerl has made a habit providing a dramatic spark for the Tigers, with five career game-winning goals, including three overtime winners. Last season, in the CHA Championship game against Syracuse, Payerl tallied a strike 3:15 into double overtime, giving the Tigers the 2-1 victory, pushing them to their first NCAA Division I Tournament appearance. Earlier this season, Payerl topped the Orange again in overtime, scoring one minute into the extra period for a 2-1 victory on Jan. 22.
No. 3 seed Penn State enters the weekend with a 10-18-6 overall record, including a 6-8-2 record in CHA play. Last weekend, the Nittany Lions fell to top-seeded Mercyhurst on Friday by a 3-1 score, before ending the regular season in a 2-2 tie on Saturday. Amy Petersen leads Penn State with 17 assists and 24 points. Laura Bowman has a team-best 14 goals, which is tied for third in the CHA. In goal, Celine Whitlinger ranks fourth nationally with a .945 save percentage, and seventh with a 1.58 goals against average.
Like this year, RIT entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed in 2015. RIT knocked off No. 3 Robert Morris on the road in consecutive games. In the semifinal, RIT defeated top-seeded Mercyhurst, 4-1, before defeating No. 2 Syracuse 2-1 in double overtime. The Tigers became the first six seed to win the CHA title. In 2014, RIT, the No. 3 series, swept Penn State in the opening round, before knocking off No. 2 Robert Morris in the semifinal, and top-seed Mercyhurst in double overtime to claim its first league title.
RIT holds a 12-6-2 all-time edge on Penn State, although the Nittany Lions have won six of the last seven contests. RIT eliminated Penn State in the first round of the 2013 and 2014 CHA Tournament, both at Ritter Arena. This season, Penn State holds a 3-1 edge in the season series, out-scoring RIT, 6-5 in the four games.
Since Bruce B. Bates Women’s Hockey Coach Scott McDonald took over in 2006, RIT is 21-8 in the postseason, including a 10-2 mark at the Division I level. The Tigers are 6-0 all-time in the CHA First Round.
The winner of the series will advance to the HARBORCENTER in downtown Buffalo, N.Y., which is hosting the semifinals and the finals of the CHA Tournament from March 4-5. Mercyhurst is the top-seed, while Syracuse is the No. 2 seed. Both teams received byes into the semifinal round. In other first round action, No. 4 Robert Morris hosts No. 5 Lindenwood this weekend.
