The RIT women’s hockey team will look to pick up its first College Hockey America wins as a Division I program, as the squad travels to play fellow Division I newcomer Penn State at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion for a pair of conference games on Thursday and Friday. Both contests begin at 7 p.m.
The Tigers (3-3-0, 0-2-0 CHA) enjoyed a solid weekend, earning a split against ECAC opponents Princeton and Yale. On Friday, the Tigers gave a strong effort, but fell just short to Princeton, 2-1 in front of 1,350 fans at Ritter Arena in a battle of the Tigers. Celeste Brown (Great Falls, MT) scored RIT’s lone goal, midway through the second period. RIT goaltenderLaura Chamberlain (Norco, CA/Norco) was strong in net, stopping 32-of-34 shots. On Saturday, RIT used a balanced attack to defeat Yale, 3-0 at Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester. Morgan Scoyne (Drumbo, Ontario), Brown, andErin Zach (Elmira, Ontario/Elmira Secondary) scored for the Tigers, who out-shot Yale, 36-21. In net, Ali Binnington(Oakville, Ontario) was outstanding, stopping all 21 shots she faced for her second shutout of the season.
RIT is out-scoring its opponents, 21-17 this season, including 19-4 over the last four games. Three seniors, Kim Schlattman (Stratford, Ontario/St. Michael’s Catholic), Ellesha Fortuna (Burlington, Ontario/Notre Dame Secondary), and Ariane Yokoyama (Van Nuys, CA/Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies ) are leading the team in scoring with five points each. Schlattman has a team-best four goals, while Yokoyama has four assists. RIT has 10 players with at least three points this season. In net, Binnigton and Chamberlain have split time. Binnington is 2-1 with a 2.59 goals against average and .896 save percentage, while Chamberlain is 1-2 with a 3.31 goals against average and .879 save percentage.
Penn State (2-4-0, 0-2-0 CHA) enters the two-game series looking to pick up its second straight win after romping Sacred Heart by a score of 6-1 on Saturday. Taylor Gross and Shannon Yoxheimer each tallied a goal and an assist. The Nittany Lions were 3-for-5 with the man-advantage. Yoxheimer leads the team in scoring with four goals, while Gross has four assists. In net, Nicole Paniccia is 2-2-0 with a 2.51 goals against average and .931 save percentage.
These will be the first two meeting between the two schools.
