ROCHESTER, NY - Kolbee McCrea (Wawa, Ontario/Burlington Barracudas) and
Sarah Dagg (St. George, Ontario/Hamilton Hawks) scored third period goals to break a 1-1 tie and lift the No. 1 RIT women’s hockey team (21-0-2, 14-0-2 ECAC West) to a 3-1 win over SUNY Oswego (11-9-3, 7-7-3 ECAC West) at Ritter Arena on Friday afternoon. The Tigers are now unbeaten in 23 straight games.
McCrea broke a 1-1 tie with 9:29 left in regulation, taking a perfect feed from Dagg on the power-play and slamming a shot past Oswego goaltender Emil Williams into a wide open net for her team-best 17th goal of the season.
Kristina Moss (Webster, NY/Buffalo Bisons) also assisted on the goal.
Dagg gave RIT a 3-1 lead with 3:42 left, after
Kim Schlattman (Stratford, Ontario/Cambridge Fury) caused a turnover at the Oswego blue-line. The puck caromed to
Ariane Yokoyama (Van Nuys, CA/LA Selects), who feathered a perfect pass to Dagg on a 2-on-1. From in tight, Dagg roofed a shot under the crossbar and past a sliding Williams for her 15th goal of the season.
With the two points, Dagg now has 148 for her
career, five shy of
the school record. She leads the squad with 36 points (15-21-36) this season.The Tigers out-shot Oswego, 37-20. RIT was 2-for-5 with the power-play, while keeping Oswego scoreless on five power-play attempts. The Tigers have now killed off 67 of their last 68 attempts while shorthanded.
Kourtney Kunichika (Fullerton, CA/LA Selects) also scored for the Tigers. Moss tallied two assists.
Freshman goaltender
Laura Chamberlain (Norco, CA/LA Selects) was strong in net for RIT, stopping 19 shots to improve to 14-0-2 this season.
Jillian Bergeron scored for Oswego, just 29 seconds into the game. Williams stopped 34 shots in defeat.
The Lakers stunned the Ritter Arena crowd, scoring just 29 seconds into the contest, as Bergeron stuffed in a loose puck after Chamberlain made two stops on Mackenzie Lee in tight. RIT gave the puck up behind its own net, and was unable to clear the crease.
RIT answered right back at the 8:53 mark, on the power-play, as Kunichika came out from the side boards, went to the front of the net and slid a shot between the legs of Williams for her seventh goal of the year. Moss and
Katie Stack (Batavia, NY/Rochester Edge) also assisted on the goal.
Chamberlain made a two huge saves on Megan Howe late in the period, as Howe came in on a breakaway. Howe tried to go over the blocker, but Chamberlain made a great save, and was able to dive and rob Howe on the rebound attempt.
Neither team scored in a tight, defensive, second period. RIT held the puck in for the full two minute power-play midway through the frame and had five good chances, but could not get the puck past Williams. Kunichika nearly had RIT’s second goal of the afternoon, looking to have an open net after a shot caromed off the back boards, but Williams dove back to make a sensational save, keeping the game tied at 1-1. Chamberlain made a big save on Lee late in the period, sliding across to keep the puck out after Lee went around a Tiger defenseman.
The Tigers have now out-scored its opponents, 126-19 this season. They have allowed one goal or less in 19 games. RIT leads the all-time series between the two
schools, 17-6-0, and have won all seven meetings between the two schools, since Oswego re-established its program in 2007. The two teams meet once again on Saturday at Ritter Arena, beginning at 7 p.m. RIT will honor its four seniors before the game.
- From RIT Sports Information
Leading the way for the Lady Cougars was Tournament MVP freshman Kayla Golden (Lackawanna, NY) who was one assist shy of a triple double in the championship game. Golden had 24 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assist; which led the team in each category. Sophomore De’Vara Burrell (Rochester, NY) was close behind with her own double-double, registering 20 points and 11 rebounds. Genesee started the game with a pressure defensive that proved to be too much for the Saints as they took a 16 point lead at halftime (39-23). The Lady Cougars kept the pressure up in the second half, ensuring the victory and improving them to 18-10 on the season.
