ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT women’s hockey team plays three home games this week. On Wednesday, College Hockey America foe Syracuse comes to the Gene Polisseni Center for a 7:05 p.m. start. This weekend, RIT takes on Brown University. Friday’s contest starts at 7 p.m., while Saturday’s game gets underway at 3 p.m.
Wednesday’s game is a Tiger Den event. RIT students will receive a free unannounced item with ID. On Friday and Saturday, any fan who brings a non-perishable food item will receive free admission. All food items will be donated to Foodlink of Rochester.
Tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for RIT staff, faculty, and alumni, and $3 for youth. RIT students receive free admission (one ticket limit per valid RIT ID). Tickets are available at the Gene Polisseni Center and Gordon Field House Box Offices, by calling (585) 475-4121 or by visiting www.rithockey.com.
The Tigers enter the week looking to get back in the win column for the first time since Oct. 24. Last weekend, RIT (3-10-0, 0-5-0 CHA) dropped both ends of a home-and-home series to Colgate, falling 3-2 at home on Friday and 3-1 on the road Saturday. On Friday, Carly Payerl (Kitchener, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic) had a goal and an assist, while Reagan Rust (McKinney, TX/Moon Area) also scored. Saturday, Victoria Pitawanakwat (Manitowaning, Ontario/Sudbury Wolves) scored her first goal of the season. Goaltender Brooke Stoddart (Elmvale, Ontario/Elmvale) stopped 64 shots over the weekend, 32 on each day.
Payerl leads the team in scoring with eight points on four goals and four assists. Taylor Thurston (Kanata, Ontario/All Saints Catholic) has a team best six assists. In goal, Stoddart is 2-5-0 with a 3.59 goals against average and an .883 save percentage.
Syracuse comes into Wednesday’s game with a 5-7-1 overall record and 3-1-1 mark in CHA play. The Orange dropped a pair of games last week to ECAC foes, 5-1 at No. 4 Clarkson and 5-2 at home to Cornell. Stephanie Grossi leads the Orange in scoring with 17 points on five goals and 12 assists. Nicole Ferrara has a team-high six goals. The Orange and their opponents each have scored 35 goals this season. In goal, Jenn Gilligan is 5-6-1 with a 2.55 goals against average and an .885 save percentage.
Wednesday’s game is the second of four meetings between the two schools this season. Syracuse won the first meeting on Oct. 21 by a score of 7-1, as Grossi had five points on three goals and two assists. Logan Land (Turkey Point, Ontario/Holy Trinity Catholic) scored her first collegiate goal for the Tigers in the loss.
Syracuse leads the all-time series between the two schools, 8-6-1. Eleven of the 15 meetings have either ended in ties or a one-goal difference, with seven going to overtime. RIT won the 2015 CHA Championship over Syracuse at Mercyhurst, 2-1 in double overtime on a goal by Payerl.
Brown enters the weekend with a 1-6-0 mark, including a 0-4-0 mark in ECAC play. On Nov. 14, Brown defeated Sacred Heart, 6-1 for its first win of the season. Sam Donovan leads the Bears in scoring with four goals and five points this season. Its opponents are outscoring Brown, 25-8 in 2015-16. In goal, Monica Elvin and Julianne Landry have split time equally. Elvin is 1-3-0 with a 3.14 goals against average and .907 save percentage, while Landry is 0-3-0 with a 3.77 goals against average and an .886 save percentage.
RIT is 7-6-1 all-time against Brown, including a 4-1-0 mark at the Division I level. Last year, the Tigers swept a two-game series at Brown by scores of 4-1 and 5-2.
Including this weekend, RIT plays eight of its next nine games at the Gene Polisseni Center.
All three games will be aired online, over the airwaves on WITR 89.7 FM and live stats are available. Wednesday’s game will also be shown on TWCS-26 in Rochester, with Gene Battaglia and John DiTullio on the call.
