Women's Hockey | 6/19/2013 10:48:00 AM

ROCHESTER, NY – Head Coach #Scott McDonald and Assistant Coach (Woodstock, Ontario/Waterloo K-W Rangers)Shivaun Siegl# are proud to announce the RIT women's hockey Class of 2017 on Wednesday, June 19. McDonald and Siegl have brought in their largest class in eight years at RIT, which includes four forwards, two defensemen, two who will play both defense and forward, and two goaltenders. Eight players hail from the province of Ontario in Canada, while two are from the United States.

"This is the largest freshman class we've brought in, knowing we would have to replace so many key players due to graduation," said McDonald, now entering his eighth season at RIT in 2013-14. "All 10 players bring different skill sets and will fill different roles, giving us a high level of competition at all three positions.  We feel this class will make us a stronger team and bring us to another level as we progress as a Division I program.

Last year we had 19 one-goal games that could have gone either way.  In order for us to compete on the national level, we will need a couple more offensive threats plus some reliable defensive players. We believe this class has a great combination of both."

Forwards Dakota Waites (Whitby, Ontario/Durham West Lightning), Brittany St. James (Orono, Ontario/Durham West Lightning), Mackenzie Stone (Kars, Ontario/Nepean Wildcats), and Cassie Clayton (Pickering, Ontario/Mississauga Chiefs) will help improve an RIT offensive unit that enjoyed long stretches of success during its inaugural Division I season.

Waites and St. James were teammates with Durham West of the Provincial Women's Hockey League (PWHL) in 2012-13. Waites, who stands 5-foot-6, recorded 40 points on eight goals and 32 assists, while St. James, a 5-foot-8 forward, tallied 33 points on 15 goals and 18 assists in 37 contests.  Stone, also 5-foot-8, tallied 20 points on eight goals and 12 assists in 38 games, Clayton, a 5-foot-6 forward, recorded 16 points on nine goals and seven assists, while adding a team-high 62 penalty minutes in 37 games for Mississauga.

"Dakota (Waites) is a dynamic offensive player and excellent playmaker," said McDonald, who is 151-38-15 at RIT. "Her skill set and vision on the ice should help us offensively right away. She has been a productive scorer during her PWHL career, and recently broke the 100-point total. Brittany (St. James) is a natural goal scorer, who is strong on the puck and around the net. She is one of those players that always seems to be in the right spot to score and has a proven track record of scoring at every level.  Her quick release will definitely make her an offensive threat for us. 

Mackenzie (Stone) is an extremely smart player in all three zones. She has great size and is gifted athletically. Her skating ability will increase our overall team speed, plus give us a strong fore-checking forward. Cassie (Clayton) is one of the toughest, grittiest players we've seen this year. She plays with great energy and is extremely tough to play against. There's no doubt Cassie will be a crowd favorite right away. She will be able to defend our opponents top players and has shown that she can put up some offensive numbers."

Both Caitlin Wallace (Brantford, Ontario/Stoney Creek Sabres) and Lindsay Stenason (Oakville, Ontario/Oakville Hornets) will be expected to play both up front and on defense right away. Wallace and Stenason, along with Taylor Thurston (Kanata, Ontario/Nepean Wildcats) and Lauren Klein (Shoreview, MN/Mounds View High School) will need to fill the void of three graduating defensemen (#Kristina Moss (Webster, NY/Buffalo Bisons)#, #Danielle Read (Brantford, Ontario/Hamilton Hawks)#, and #Ellesha Fortuna (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Barracudas)#), who combined to play in 352 games over the last four seasons.

Wallace put up 19 points on seven goals and 12 assists for Stoney Creek last season, while Stenason recorded 12 points in 36 games for Oakville. Thurston, a junior teammate of Stone's with Nepean, was an assistant captain, tallying 12 points on four goals and eight assists in 34 games. Klein led Mounds View High School to a 26-2-1 mark last season, recording 29 points on 15 goals and 14 assists in 28 games. She added six power-play goals.

"Both Caitlin (Wallace) and Lindsay (Stenason) will contribute at forward and defense," said McDonald. "Caitlin is a strong player who has tremendous raw ability and should excel at this level. She has a strong shot when attacking, plus she will be a big physical presence in front of both nets. Lindsay has high-end speed with and without the puck. She can get up the ice quickly; put instant pressure on the forecheck.  Lindsay's combination of intelligence and speed will be valuable during special team opportunities, as well as playing any position on the ice.

Taylor (Thurston) is an extremely smart and reliable defender.  She is always in the right spot to defend and does all of the little things really well. She can play in all three zones, and any situation.  Her Gold Medal experience with team Ontario Blue during the Canadian National Women's Under-18 Championship should be vital with the leadership traits she has.  Lauren (Klein) is a tough, gritty player, with great offensive ability and a big shot from the offensive blue-line. Lauren isn't afraid to get into the corners first and battle for pucks.  She has a strong first pass out of the defensive zone and is also a proven scorer at all levels."

In goal, Brooke Stoddart (Elmvale, Ontario/Brampton Thunder) and Jetta Rackleff (Bend, OR/Anaheim Lady Ducks) will vie for playing time with incumbent starter #Ali Binnington (Oakville, Ontario/Mississauga Chiefs)#. Stoddart played in 25 games for Brampton last season, recording a 2.91 goals against average and .907 save percentage. In addition to playing for the Anaheim Lady Ducks, Rackleff is a celebrated inline hockey goaltender, helping lead Team USA to the 2012 FIRS (Federation International de Roller Sports) Gold Medal.

"Brooke (Stoddart) is very technically sound and athletic. Her mobility in the crease keeps her square to the puck and gives her solid rebound control.  Even though her junior team struggled to score goals, Brooke always kept the game close and gave her team a chance to win.  We feel that her competitive edge is what separated her from the other prospects," said McDonald. "Jetta (Rackleff) is a proven winner who is a fierce competitor, has excellent skills, and great maturity. She is a tall athletic goalie that takes up a ton of net and limits what offensive players can see.  Both goalies are true students of the game and are eager to learn, compete and improve their personal skills. Both will vie for playing time with #Ali Binnington (Oakville, Ontario/Mississauga Chiefs)# right away and make our goaltending core stronger than ever."

The Tigers finished their first Division I season with a 16-16-5 mark, advancing to the College Hockey America Semifinal. RIT placed third in the CHA standings and competed in a program record 19 one-goal or tie games in 2012-13. The 2013-14 season will RIT's last at famed Ritter Arena before moving into the 4,500-seat Gene Polisseni Center in 2014-15.

"We played in so many close games last year and feel that the added depth of this year's class will help us win more of those close games and help us progress even further in the CHA standings," said McDonald.