Women's Hockey travels to Penn State for final weekend of regular season

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT women's hockey team hits the road for a pair of College Hockey America games at Penn State this Friday and Saturday (Feb. 16-17) at the Pegula Ice Arena.

Recap (RIT vs. Syracuse)
RIT split a pair of College Hockey America games with Syracuse, winning at home, Friday but losing on the road, Saturday.

Junior forward Jordyn Bear scored 5:17 into the first period in Friday's 1-0 win. She tipped in a shot from junior defensewoman Jessie Burks to give the Tigers the lead. Sophomore goalie Sophia Bellina made 10 of her 19 saves in the third period.

Bellina made 20 saves in Saturday's 3-0 loss at Syracuse. RIT outshot the Orange 33-23, but could not get a shot past Syracuse goalie, Allie Kelley.

About RIT
RIT enters the weekend third in the CHA allowing 2.48 goals per game, and third, killing off 78.0% (71-of-91) of its penalties. The Tigers are third, winning 49.4% of their face offs and third with 424 blocked shots. RIT is fifth in scoring, averaging 2.32 goals per game and fifth, converting 15.0% of its power play chances.

Junior forward Kylie Aquaro leads the team and is tied for eighth in the CHA with 25 points and tied for seventh averaging 0.88 points per game. She is tied for third in the league with five power play goals, and three game-winning tallies. First year forward Addie Alvarez is second on the team with 18 points (7g, 11a), while senior forward Emma Roland is third with 16 points and eight goals. Sophomore forward Jaidan Fahrny is fourth with 13 points (6g, 7a) and senior forward Nicole Ness is fifth with 12 points, and is second on the team with nine goals.   

Bellina leads the CHA with a 2.09 goals against average and a .932 save percentage. She is fourth in the league averaging 25.30 saves per game.

Sophomore forward Lexi Sung is second in the CHA winning 60.5 percent of her face-offs, while junior forward Megan McCormick is fifth in the league winning 54.1 percent of her draws. Senior forward Lindsay Maloney is sixth in the CHA with 256 face-off wins, while Fahrny is tenth with 205 face-off wins.

First year defensewoman Emma Pickering is tied for fourth in the CHA with 53 blocked shots, while senior defensewoman Mia Tsilemos is tied for sixth with 50 blocks. Aquaro is 10th in the CHA with a +9.

Push For Final Playoff Spot
This year, the top four teams in the CHA standings will make the conference tournament. Penn State and Mercyhurst have clinched a CHA postseason berth and clinched home ice for the semifinal round. Robert Morris clinched third place a berth in the CHA Tournament. RIT and Lindenwood are tied for fourth place in the CHA standings with 14 points apiece. Whichever team can score the most points between in the final weekend of the regular season, clinches the final playoff spot. If RIT and Lindenwood are tied after this weekend, Lindenwood holds the tiebreaker by virtue of a 3-1 record versus the Tigers this season.

About Penn State
Penn State went 0-1-1 in a pair of College Hockey America games at Robert Morris, tying 4-4 on Friday before a 4-3 overtime loss the following day.

Sophomore Tessa Janecke tallied a goal and added an assist in Friday's tie. Senior forward Alyssa Machado, senior forward Brianna Brooks and junior forward Mya Vaslet each scored a goal, while sophomore goalie Katie DeSa made 27 saves in net.

Brooks tallied two goals and added an assist in Saturday's loss. Janecke had two assists, while sophomore defensewoman Kendall Brutze scored a goal. DeSa made 24 saves in goal for the Nittany Lions. Penn State led 3-1 in the second period. Robert Morris scored twice in the second to tie the game and 3:41 into overtime.

Penn State enters the final weekend of the regular season first in the CHA and seventh in Division I in scoring, averaging 3.38 goals per game. The Nittany Lions are the top defensive in the CHA, allowing 2.22 goals per game. The Nittany Lions are second in the CHA, converting 31-of-123 (25.2%) of their power play chances and fourth, killing off 78-of-100 (78.0%) of their penalties.

Janecke leads Penn State and the CHA with 49 points and is first averaging 1.53 points per game. She is first in the league with 34 assists and fourth with 15 goals. Brooks is second on the team and is fourth in the CHA with 31 points. She is tied for fifth in the league with 14 goals, tied for sixth with 17 assists and is tied for first with six power play tallies. Sophomore forward Katelyn Roberts is third on the team and tenth in the league with 24 points (11g, 13a).

Janecke is first in the CHA winning 64.5 percent of her face offs, including a league-best 529 wins and is a +22 on the season. Roberts is third in the league with a +16, while first year forward Stella Retrum is tied for fifth with a +13.

RIT vs. Penn State
Penn State is 32-19-6 all time against RIT. The two teams split a pair of games at the Gene Polisseni Center in January with Penn State winning game one and RIT winning in overtime the following day.

Janecke tallied a goal and had two assists, while Retrum scored two goals in Friday's 4-0 win. Bellina made 33 saves in net for the Tigers.

Alvarez scored the game-winner 2:11 into overtime in RIT's 3-2 win. Junior forward Jordyn Bear and senior forward Nicole Ness each scored, while Aquaro had two assists. Bellina tied her career-high with 44 saves, including 21 in the third period.