BUFFALO, NY – Senior captain Taylor Thurston (Kanata, Ontario/All Saints Catholic) and assistant captain Cassie Clayton (Pickering, Ontario/PEAC School) scored third period goals to help the No. 5 seed RIT women’s hockey team (7-26-2) rally from a 1-0 third period deficit and defeat No. 4 seed Penn State University (9-21-5), 2-1 in the College Hockey America First Round contest at HARBORCENTER in Buffalo Thursday evening.
RIT advances to the CHA Semifinal and will play No. 2 seed Syracuse (15-12-5) at 7 p.m. Friday. Top seed Robert Morris will take on No. 6 seed Lindenwood in the opening semifinal at 4 p.m. Lindenwood knocked off No. 3 seed Mercyhurst in the opening first round game this afternoon, 3-2.
“We just wouldn’t be denied,” said Bruce B. Bates Women’s Hockey Coach Scott McDonald. “I know what kind of heart we have in the locker room and what type of senior leadership we have. It’s not surprising seeing who scored the goals for us at the end.”
Down 1-0 heading into the third period, RIT turned the momentum right after Penn State’s Amy Petersen hit the right post on a glorious chance with 15 minutes left that would have made it a two-goal game.
Mallory Rushton (Amherst, Nova Scotia/New Hampton Prep) would come right down and get a great chance that was denied by Penn State goaltender Hannah Ehresmann. RIT goaltender Jenna de Jonge (Abbotsford, British Columbia/George Elliot) came up with her best save of the night with 13 minutes left, denying Laura Bowman on a partial breakaway.
Thurston would tie the game on a power-play with 11:38 left, sliding in a rebound after a furious scrum in front of the Nittany Lions net, as all five Tigers were inside the faceoff circle. Reagan Rust (Southaven, MS/Moon Area) had a shot tipped by Mackenzie Stone (Kars, Ontario/South Carleton) off the left post. Kendall Cornine (Kinnelon, NJ/Morristown Beard) and Stone had two more chances denied in front before Thurston crashed the net and scored her second goal of the year.
Both teams would have chances as the game looked to be heading to overtime. Peterson was all alone in front with 2:35 left, but kicked the rebound in past de Jonge, resulting in no goal. The play was reviewed, but the call was confirmed on the ice.
With 1:57 left, RIT would take the lead for good, as Caitlin Wallace (Brantford, Ontario/Assumption Collegiate) fired a wrist shot from the high slot that was stopped, with the rebound coming right to Clayton in front. Clayton would be in the right place to put the puck into the empty net for her fifth goal of the year, as the RIT bench erupted in excitement.
Penn State would pull Ehresmann for the extra attacker, but could not get anything past de Jonge, as RIT hung on for the emotional win.
RIT would out-shoot the Nittany Lions, 30-29 overall, including 12-10 in the third period. de Jonge stopped 28 of 29 shots for her fourth win of the season.
The Tigers were 1-for-4 on the power-play, while Penn State was 0-for-3. Ehresmann made 28 saves in the loss for Penn State.
Neither team scored in a quickly played opening period that took just 23 minutes of real time to complete, as Penn State held a slight 8-6 edge in shots.
RIT had a couple good chances in the period, as Cornine fired a shot from the right wing on a 2-on-2 rush that was turned aside by Ehresmann. Moments later, Lindsay Stenason (Oakville, Ontario/Appleby College) came out from behind the net and had a quality chance stopped by Ehresmann. Tori Haywood (Pickering, Ontario/St. Mary’s Catholic) batted the rebound out of midair, just wide of the net.
de Jonge was not tested early, but had to come up with a handful of big saves late in the period, with her best one coming on a stuff in attempt by Amanda McLeod in tight with four minutes left.
Penn State would score the only goal in a hotly contested second period which saw RIT hold a 12-11 edge in shots.
The Nittany Lions would get on the board first, 7:29 into the second period, as Brooke Madsen was left alone in front, one-timing a feed from Kristi Vetter past de Jonge for her seventh goal of the season.
Rust and Clayton would come in on a 2-on-1 rush shortly thereafter, but were unable to convert. Just past the halfway point of the period, Rust would steal the puck from a Penn State player, walk into the zone and rip a slap shot that Ehresmann snared out of midair.
Brinna Dochniak (Marine on St. Croix, MN/Stillwater) nearly tied the game for the Tigers with 2:55 left in the period on a delayed penalty, as she ripped a shot from the slot that deflected off a Penn State player and off the left post, landing under Ehresmann. On the ensuing power-play, Thurston had a golden chance blocked away, with Stone just missing on the rebound in front.
Penn State would get a late power-play to end the second period and just missed making it 2-0, as Madsen had an open net in front but fired the puck high.
RIT is 22-10 in the postseason since McDonald took over as head coach in 2006, including an 11-4 mark at the Division I level. The Tigers are 7-2 all-time in the CHA First Round. The Tigers are in their fifth season as a Division I program and also as a member of College Hockey America. RIT won back-to-back CHA Championships in 2014 and 2015.
RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 13-11-3. RIT also knocked off Penn State on its way to the championship in both the 2013 and 2014 CHA Tournament.
Friday’s opponent, Syracuse won three of the four meetings between the two schools this season.
“It doesn’t matter this time of year what seed you are, it is win or go home,” said McDonald. “That’s the mindset we’ve had and that’s why we have been successful this time of year.
