By Randy Schultz, NYHOL; Photos by Janet Schultz, NYHOL (file photos RIT 21-22; MMAA 2020
The 2022-23 hockey season for the Rochester Institute of Technology women’s hockey team was not one of the more successful in the history of the program.
Last season saw the Tigers finish with an overall record of 4-26-2, including a conference mark of 1-13-2.
But for RIT Bruce B. Bates women’s hockey coach, Celeste Brown, the 2023-34 campaign can only get better for the Tigers.
“I’m looking for us to execute some of those close games we had last year a little better this year,” said Brown, now in his fourth season as RIT women’s hockey head coach. “We have a group of seniors on this year’s team that have been with us and our staff since I began.
“They have been through all of our ups and downs during that time. But I think they have this unyielding belief that we’re going to be successful.
“And we’ve got some players on this year’s team that we’re really looking forward to helping us.”
Brown talked about some of the key players on this years RIT team.
“Mia Tsilemos is a senior who is a steady defender on the team that we will depend on,” continued Brown. “Juniors Kyla Bear and Jessie Burks are both very consistent back at the blue line.
“We’ve added a first year player, freshman Emma Pickering, on defense as well. She’s the type of player who can control play, she sees the ice and can create offense.
“Between the posts we have Sarah Coe, who is consistent and reliable.
“Up front at the forward positions we have another senior and captain, Lindsay Maloney, who is a great two-way center. We’ve also added another forward from Clarkson, Jaidan Fahrny, who has a lot of speed and good vision on the ice.
“We’ve also added a couple of other first year players like Linda Rulle from Latvia and Addie Alvarez, who comes to us from just down the road in Greece, NY. They should add some more offense to our lineup.”
Besides Alvarez, there are three other NYS-born players on the RIT team as well that Brown talked about including Emma Roland (Sr.), Williamsville; Camryn Brownschidle (So.), Clarence; Ella Fesette (So.), Plattsburgh.
“Emma is another one of our outstanding student-athletes,” remarked Brown, a 2015 graduate of RIT, who also played four seasons on their women’s hockey team. “She had a great sophomore season.
“Last season she dealt with injuries that kept her down. She has proven in the past she can score and we will be depending on that in those one goal games this season.
“Camryn dealt with some personal things that didn’t allow her to get into our lineup that much last season. She played a couple of games for us.
“We’re going to work her into the lineup more this year. She will help us. That’s what we brought her here for.
“And as for Ella, she’s one of the fastest players on our team and pushes the pace of the team. She forechecks and backchecks very well and creates offense without the puck.
“She knows that’s what her role is on the team and that is what makes her, as well as our team, successful.”
Brown summed up her team.
“We’re a team and to improve has to be a team effort,” concluded Brown. “Everybody has a role on this team.
“We play a fast-paced game. We can also suffocate teams defensively.
“We hope that effort will turn into more victories for us this year.”
