Women's Hockey | 2/8/2009 5:32:00 PM
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ROCHESTER, NY – The #5 RIT women's hockey team (17-2-2) knocked off a nationally-ranked NESCAC school for the second straight afternoon, as they used timely goal-scoring and great goaltending to knock off #3 Middlebury (12-2-4), 4-2 on Sunday at Ritter Arena.
RIT led 3-2 late in the third period, when senior goaltender #Sandra Grant (Abbotsford, British Columbia/Pacific Steelers)# (Abbotsford, British Columbia) made a handful of tremendous saves, including a point-blank glove save on Middlebury's Grace Waters with 1:55 left in regulation.
The Panthers pulled their goalie immediately after and tried to get the tying goal, but Grant made a few other saves. Sophomore forward #
Katie Stack (Batavia, NY/Rochester Edge)# (Batavia, NY) put the game away, blocking a shot at the RIT blue-line, fending off a defenseman through the neutral zone and floating a backhander into the empty net with 50 seconds left. Stack added an assist and was named the game's third star.
Grant was tremendous in net for RIT, stopping 30 shots. She was named the game's first star. Alexi Bloom made 23 saves in defeat for Middlebury, who had its 10-game unbeaten streak snapped.
Middlebury was 1-for-7 on the power-play, while RIT was 1-for-6. The Panthers out-shot RIT, 32-27.
Yesterday, RIT scored three power-play goals and a shorthanded goal to defeat #6 Amherst, 4-1.
RIT Head Coach Scott McDonald was extremely pleased with the play of his team this weekend.
”Those were two of the biggest back-to-back wins in the history of our program,”said McDonald, who is now 58-13-4 in his third season with RIT. “As a young team, we are trying to maintain consistency, and we definitely did that this weekend. We stepped up to the challenge and gave a gutsy effort.”
RIT got on the board just 1:01 in, as #Sarah Dagg (St. George, Ontario/Hamilton Hawks)# (St. George, Ontario) tapped in a loose puck at the side of the net for her 15th goal of the season. Stack centered a pass from behind the Panthers net that went off the stick of Bloom, bounced off Keltie Jones (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Jr. Barracudas) (Burlington, Ontario) at the right side of the net, right to Dagg at the other side of the goal.
The Tigers upped their lead to 2-0 on the power-play at the 8:12 mark, as #Missy Hall (Chesterland, OH/Gilmour Academy)# (Chesterland, OH) ripped a wrist shot of the shoulder of Bloom and just under the crossbar from the left face-off circle. #Erica Owczarczak (West Seneca, NY/Buffalo Bisons)# (West Seneca, NY) and #Maegan Geypens (Oshawa, Ontario/Durham Lightning)# (Oshawa, Ontario) assisted on the goal.
Middlebury cut the RIT lead in half later in the period, as Middlebury caused a turnover in the neutral zone and zoomed in on a 2-on-1. Nora Bergman's initial shot from the right side was stopped by Grant, but the rebound caromed to a streaking Heather McCormack, who slid the puck home for her sixth goal of the season.
Middlebury out-shot RIT 9-8 over the opening 20 minutes of play.
The two teams traded second period, as RIT held a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes of play.
#Ali Hills# (Honeoye Falls, NY) made a great rush up the right wing and found #Kylie Mazzetta (Lakewood, CO/Colorado Selects)# (Lakewood, CO), who beat the defender up ice, crashing the net. Mazzetta tipped the pass in to give RIT a 3-1 lead with 3:57 left in the second period. The goal was Mazzetta's 10th of the season.
Bergman got Middlebury back to within one, 3-2, 2:20 later on the power-play. Middlebury changed on the fly at the blue-line and had too many players, but was not whistled. Randi Dumont took a slap-shot from the right point that was tipped by McCormack. Grant made the initial save, but the puck caromed to Bergman at the side of the Tiger net, who tapped in the rebound for her fifth goal of the year.
McCormack and Bergman each had a goal and an assist to lead the Panthers. McCormack was named the game's second star.
The four goals allowed by the Panthers are the most they have allowed in a game this season.
RIT improves to 2-11-0 all-time against the Panthers and are 1-2-0 during Head Coach Scott McDonald's tenure.
The Tigers are now 3-2-1 against nationally-ranked teams this season. They defeated #3 Middlebury, #6 Amherst and #2 SUNY Plattsburgh.
The Tigers are back in action on Friday and Saturday, as they travel to play ECAC West rival SUNY Cortland in a pair of conference games.
