TROY, NY — Sophomore forward Kendall Cornine (Kinnelon, NJ/Morristown Beard) recorded a career-high three points in helping lift the RIT women’s hockey team (3-15-0) to a 3-1 victory at Rensselaer (5-12-0) on Saturday afternoon at the Houston Field House.
Cornine tallied the game-winning goal 7:32 into the third period and added two assists. Jade Mancini (Burlington, Ontario/Bishop Tonnos) scored a first period goal and Cassie Clayton (Pickering, Ontario/PEAC School) added an empty-net power-play tally for the Tigers, while Reagan Rust (Southaven, MS/Moon Area) had two assists.
Sophomore goaltender Jenna de Jonge (Abbotsford, British Columbia/George Elliot) (1-3-0) made 31 saves and registered her first win of the season. She was especially strong over the final two periods, stopping 24 of 25 shots sent her way.
The Tigers improved to 3-0-0 on the season when leading after the second period.
“The team’s compete level was excellent,” said Bruce B. Bates Women’s Hockey Head Coach Scott McDonald. “We had an outstanding effort on our penalty kill all game, and I thought Jenna de Jonge (Abbotsford, British Columbia/George Elliot) was the difference. She came up big when RPI was applying pressure and neutralized their offensive threats.”
RIT opened the scoring just 2:50 into the first period, as Mancini, a freshman, potted her second goal of the year, putting RIT up 1-0. Sophomores Cornine and Rust had the assists on the play. RIT out-shot Rensselaer in the opening frame 10-7, and headed into the locker room with a lead after the opening period.
Neither team scored in the second, despite three combined power-play opportunities. The Engineers out-shot the Tigers in the second frame, 14-10, but the Tigers entered the second intermission with the lead for the third time this season.
The Tigers came out with three big penalty kills to begin the third period. Then, 7:32 into the frame, Cornine fired the puck past Rensselaer goalie Lovisa Selander on a 2-on-0 rush for her fourth goal of the season. Rust picked up her second assist of the day, on a terrific no-look backhand pass at the blue line. Brinna Dochniak (Marine on St. Croix, MN/Stillwater) added the secondary assist.
Almost five minutes later, the Engineers cut the Tigers’ lead back to one. Taylor Schwalbe scored her second goal of the year, making it 2-1, RIT.
de Jonge was clutch in the final minutes, as the Engineers searched for the tying goal with their goalie pulled, and Clayton added the empty-net insurance marker, on the power-play, with 14 seconds left, set up by hard work from Cornine on the forecheck.
RIT was 1-for-3 on the power-play, and killed off all seven of Rensselaer’s power-plays. The Engineers out-shot the Tigers 32-23, but RIT blocked 20 shot attempts in the game.
Yesterday, Rensselaer scored all five of its goals on the power-play en route to a 5-1 victory in the series opener. RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 15-10-4.
The Tigers will return to conference play next weekend in a home-and-home series with CHA opponent Syracuse. The Tigers and Orange will begin at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2 at the Tennity Ice Pavilion in Syracuse, followed by game two at the Gene Polisseni Center at 2:05 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3.
