By Janet Schultz
The RIT Tigers opened their season with exhibition games at the University of Conneticut. They came away with two losses, which seemed to follow them to Vermont. Their first win of the season came on home ice in an exihibition game with St. Michaels. They shut St. Michaels out in back-to-back games.
Their conference openers wre against Colgate, Rensselaer and Syracuse, again a losing streak which they hope to break when they hit the ice Saturday, Nov. 5 against St. Lawrence in Canton.
This season is the third season for Head Coach Celeste Brown who has 16 returning and experience players on the roster.
The team finished on a high note last season when they beat Lindenwood 6-4 in the semi-finals of the CHA Tournament. Their loss came in overtime in the semis against their neighbor, Syracuse. The ended the season with a 2-27-4 overall and 1-12-3 conference record.
Among the returners are Goalie Sarah Coe, a sophomore who was named to the CHA All Rookie Team after setting single-season program records in saves with 879.
Emma Roland, Williamsville, led the team with 9 goals and 9 assists last season. She also had 2 goals in the games vs St. Michaels this season.
A strong freshmen class includes New York natives Ella Fasette of Plattsburgh and Camryn Brownschidle of Clarence.
Fasette played for Northwood School in Lake Placid, where she served as captain last season. She helped Northwood take the NAPHA championship last year. She also had a goal and an assist in the games with St.Michaels.
Brownschildle played for the Stoney Creek Sabres last season and prior to that the Buffalo Bisons. She also played for Monsignor Martin of the WNYGVIH Federation, serving as captain her senior year. She was name dto First Team All WNY.
Other in-coming players include Goalie Sophia Bellina (Cleveland,OH/Culver Academy), Defender Hayley Glazer (Ottawa/Ottawa Jr. Lady Senators), Defender Karly Kolssak (Wheeling Il/Chicago Young Americans), Lei Sung (Great Falls,VA/Washington Pride), Forward Amy Dobson (Burlington, VT/Penn State) and Nicole Nass (Anchorage/St Could State). Dobson and Nass are grad students.
RIT is on the road this weekend and next. They return to the Gene Polisseni Center on November 18 and 19 against Lindenwood. The next home game will be January 17, 2023 against St. Lawrence.
