ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT women’s hockey team will make its first appearance in the NCAA Division I National Tournament and travel to top-seed University of Minnesota for a quarterfinal round game at Ridder Arena on Saturday, March 14 at 5 p.m. EST/4 p.m. CST.
Tickets are $10.00 for chairback seating and $5.00 for bench seating. For any general ticket information, contact the University of Minnesota Ticket Office at: 1-800-U-GOPHER or visit www.mygophersports.com
“These are all great teams remaining (in the tournament),” said RIT head coach Scott McDonald. “Minnesota is the No. 1 team in the tournament, having won two of the last three national titles so we will have our work cut out for us. We will have to focus on what we do well, play good defense, block shots, and get great goaltending. We are excited to play in a great atmosphere, with a big crowd, which we are used to and excited for the challenge ahead of us.”
Yesterday, junior forward Carly Payerl (Kitchener, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic) scored 3:15 into double overtime to lift the sixth-seeded Tigers to its second straight College Hockey America Championship, 2-1 over No. 2 seed Syracuse at Mercyhurst Ice Arena. On Friday, the Tigers knocked off top-seed Mercyhurst, 4-1 in the league semifinal. It is the first time that the CHA Champion receives an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
Goaltender Ali Binnington (Oakville, Ontario/Mississauga Chiefs) was named the CHA Tournament Most Valuable Player for the second straight season. Binnington stopped 44-of-45 shots in Saturday’s Championship win, and 70-of-72 shots over the weekend. Binnington is now 11-1 in her postseason career with an incredible 0.90 goals against average and .969 save percentage.
RIT is making its first appearance in the NCAA Division I Tournament in just its third season as a DI program. The Tigers won the Division III National Championship in 2012, were the national runner-up in 2011 and quarterfinalists in 2007.
RIT enters the tournament with a 15-18-5 record, having won five straight games. RIT was ineligible for the 2013 and 2014 NCAA Tournament, after moving up from Division III.
Minnesota (31-3-4) is the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. The Golden Gophers fell in the WCHA Semifinal on Saturday to Bemidji State, 1-0. Minnesota was the WCHA Regular Season Champion, won the 2012 and 2013 NCAA Championships and were runners-up in 2014. The Golden Gophers are out-scoring their opponents, 171-44 this season. Hannah Brandt leads Minnesota in scoring with 67 points on 31 goals and 36 assists. Dani Cameranesi is right behind with 23 goals and 39 assists for 62 points. In net, Amanda Leveille is 25-3-3 with a 1.16 goals against average, .946 save percentage and six shutouts.
Saturday’s winner will advance to the 2015 NCAA Division I Frozen Four on March 20 and March 22 also from Ridder Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota.
