ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT women’s hockey team (3-9-0) dropped its fifth straight contest, 3-2 to visiting Colgate University (5-2-4) at the Gene Polisseni Center on Friday afternoon.
Carly Payerl (Kitchener, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic) led the Tigers with a goal and an assist, while Reagan Rust (McKinney, TX/Moon Area) also scored for RIT. In goal, Brooke Stoddart (Elmvale, Ontario/Elmvale) made 32 saves in defeat.
Breanne Wilson-Bennett, Jesse Eldridge, and Shelby Perry scored for Colgate, while Hannah Rastrick added two assists. In goal, Ashlynne Rando made 32 saves for her fourth win of the season.
Colgate out-shot RIT, 35-25. RIT was 1-for-5 with the man-advantage, while Colgate was 0-for-2 but scored a shorthanded goal.
“Colgate’s a pretty talented and quick team,” said Bruce B. Bates Women’s Hockey Coach Scott McDonald. “I think our girls played hard today; they showed some fight. It just wasn’t the result we wanted. We made a few little mistakes that we need to clean up before tomorrow.”
The two teams traded goals 1:08 in the opening period, as they ended the frame tied 1-1.
Kathryn Kennedy (Hamilton, Ontario) had a golden chance just over four minutes in, getting sprung by teammate Mallory Rushton (Amherst, Nova Scotia/New Hampton Prep) on a breakaway. Kennedy deked to the backhand and tried to slide the puck between the legs of Rando, but the Colgate goaltender got over for the big save.
Stoddart had to make a big save on Katelyn Parker in tight later in the period and robbed Bailey Larson moments after.
The Raiders got on the board with 4:40 left in the period, as Wilson-Bennett tipped in a shot by Hannah Rastrick after a big save by Stoddart, while skating shorthanded. Rastrick fired from the left boards and Wilson-Bennett from in front, was able to tip the shot over the shoulder of Stoddart.
Just 1:08 later, Rust fired a hard shot from the high slot past Rando for her third goal of the season on the same EIT power-play to tie the game 1-1. Lindsay Stenason (Oakville, Ontario/Appleby Collegiate) fired a pass to Carly Payerl (Kitchener, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic) on the left side. Payerl faked a shot and fed Rust, who took two steps in before unleashing the rocket into the back of the net.
Seven of RIT’s eight first period shots came on two power-play chances.
Colgate took command in the second period, scoring the only two goals and out-shooting RIT 14-5 to take a 3-1 lead into the locker room after 40 minutes of play.
Rando made her two best stops of the period in succession, robbing Kennedy and Caitlin Wallace (Brantford, Ontario/Assumption Collegiate) from the doorstep early on
Eldridge broke the tie with her goal from the slot at the 11:30 mark of the period. She took a feed from Bailey Larson and was able to find open ice, ripping a wrist shot past Stoddart from 15 feet out for her fifth goal of the year.
Stoddart made two great stops in succession later on to keep it 2-1, using a quick glove to deny Perry from the left face-off circle and stuck out the pad to stop Ellie DeCaprio from point-blank range.
Perry made it 3-1 with 2:26 left in the period, jamming a loose puck in the crease past Stoddart after the RIT goaltender thought she had it covered. The play went to video review and the call stood, giving Perry her third goal of the season.
With 17:06 left in regulation, Payerl took a feed from Cassie Clayton (Pickering, Ontario/PEAC School) in close and beat Rando for her fourth goal of the season, cutting the Colgate lead to 3-2. Jess Paton (Woodstock, Ontario/Waterloo K-W Rangers) also assisted on the goal.
The Tigers kept coming in the final period, but could not get the tying goal past Rando. RIT’s penalty-killing unit did a great job late, killing off two Colgate power-plays to keep it a one-goal game.
RIT is 14-6-1 all-time against Colgate, 1-4-0 in the Division I era. The two teams last met in 2013-14, splitting a two-game series in Rochester.
The two teams conclude the regular season series on Saturday, this time from Starr Rink in Hamilton, N.Y. at 3 p.m.
