Women's hockey plays at No. 7 Cornell

ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT women's hockey team hits the road for a single non-conference game at No. 7 Cornell on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Weekend overview (RIT at Mercyhurst)

RIT split a pair of Atlantic Hockey America games at Mercyhurst, losing 2-1 on Friday and rebounding with a 4-3 win on Saturday.

Second defender Emma Pickering scored in Friday's loss and senior goalkeeper Sara Coe made 28 saves. Senior forward Annie Burks recorded her first collegiate point and assisted on Pickering's goal.

Pickering scored two goals as a sophomore Sophia Bellina made 42 saves in Saturday's win over the Lakers. RIT took a 2-0 lead on goals from sophomore forward Linda Rolle and senior forward Athena Vasdani. Mercyhurst scored three straight goals to take a 3-2 lead early in the third period. Pickering tied the game at 3-3 on her power play goal at 3:53 of the third and scored the eventual game-winning goal at 7:56 of the frame.

First win at Mercyhurst since

Saturday's 4-3 win over Mercyhurst was the first road victory over the Lakers since a 1-0 victory on January 6, 2020.

Power (playback) increase

RIT's four power-play goals in Saturday's win over Mercyhurst are the most since the Tigers scored four against Robert Morris on Nov. 17, 2023.

Weekly Awards

Pickering was named Atlantic Hockey America Defender of the Week for the second time this season on Monday. The sophomore forward scored three goals, including two in Saturday's 4-3 win over the Lakers.

Among All-Time Netminders

Coe enters the weekend first in career saves (2,2799), third in games played (76) and minutes played (4,243) and 11th with a career .905 save percentage. Bellina ranks seventh all-time with a .930 save percentage, eighth in saves (876) and tenth in games played (36), minutes played (1,790) and a career average of 2.21 goals against.

Top 100 scorers

Three Tigers are in the top 100 all-time high scores. Senior forward Kylie Aquaro enters Tuesday's game against Cornell tied for 39th all-time with 63 points (20g, 43a). Senior forward Athena Vasdani (16g, 22a) is tied for 72nd with 38 points and senior defenseman Kyla Bear (6g, 31a) is in shared 76th place with 37 points.

Career milestones

Senior defender Bailey Kehl needs three blocked shots to reach 165 for her career. Senior forward Athena Vasdani is two points (16g, 22a, 38p) shy of 40 for her career, while Aquaro is two points shy of 65 (20g, 43a) for her career and two assists shy of 45. Graduate student defender Mia Tsilemos needs four blocks to reach 240 as the sophomore continues to progress Addie Alvarez reached 30 points with a pair of assists in last Saturday's win at Mercyhurst. Kyla Bear (6g, 31a) is three points shy of 40 for her career.

Century Mark

Eight Tigers have surpassed the 100-match mark. Graduate students Mia Tsilemos (129) and Nicole Ness (124), senior forward Megan McCormick (116), Kehl and Vasdani (115), Kyla Bear (114) and Aquaro (109).

About RIT

RIT enters the weekend averaging 2.4 goals per game while allowing 2.3 goals per game. The Tigers are 13-for-59 (22.0%) on the power play and 41-for-45 (89.1%) killing penalties. RIT is 441 of 893 (49.3%) on faceoffs and has blocked 262 shots.

Nineteen Tigers have achieved at least one point in sixteen games. Aquaro leads the team with 14 points from five goals and a team-high nine assists. Sophomore forward Addie Alvarez is second with 10 points (5g, 5a) and Pickering is third with nine points, including seven goals for the team. Pickering leads the team with five power play goals and 35 blocked shots.

Coe is 5-3-1 with a 2.07 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage, while Bellina is 2-3-2 with a 2.39 GAA and a .920 save percentage.

AHA Rankings

RIT leads Atlantic Hockey America in penalty kill percentage (89.1%) and is second in goals per game (2.44) and points per game (5.81). The Tigers rank second in assists (54) and assists per game (3.38) and power play percentage (20.0%). The Tigers rank third in goals allowed per game (2.25) and faceoff blocks per game (16.38).

Aquaro is sixth in the AHA in points and points per game (0.88) and is tied for sixth in assists. She ranks ninth in the league in goals scored. Pickering is tied for first in the league with five power-play goals, tied for third in goals and goals per game (0.44) and fifth in blocked shots (32).

Kelley is fifth in the league with 131 faceoff wins as a senior forward Jordyn Bear is eighth with 121 wins. Kelley is fifth and wins 58.7 percent of her draws Kyla Bear is seventh with 32 blocks and Tsilemos is ninth with 26 blocked shots.

Coe ranks third in Atlantic Hockey America with a 2.07 goals-against average, while Bellina ranks fourth with a GAA of 2.39. Coe is fifth in save percentage (.922) and Bellina is fifth (.920).

About Cornell

Cornell went 1-0-1 in a pair of ECAC road games last weekend. The Big Red tied No. 7 Quinnipiac 3-3 on Friday and won 4-3 the next day at Princeton.

Cornell scored two goals in the third period in Friday's 3-3 tie against Quinnipiac. Junior forward Grandfather Adam tied the game at her goal at 13:48 of the third period. Junior defender Alyssa Regalado and senior defender Rory Guilday scored a goal each and a senior forward Gabby Rud had three assists. Second goalkeeper Annalies Bergmann made 26 saves in net for Cornell.

The Big Red trailed Princeton 3-0 early in the second period, but scored four unanswered goals to defeat the Tigers 4-3. Senior forward Claudia Yu tied the game at 15:09 and Adam scored the game winner at 17:18. Regalado had two assists and Sophomore forward Charles Prefontaine scored a goal and an assist. Bergmann made 31 saves to earn the win.

Cornell enters Tuesday ranked 10th in Division I with an average of 2.9 goals per game and is tied for ninth with 1.7 goals per game. The Big Red are 4 of 24 (16.7%) on the power play and rank eighth in Division I, knocking down 31 of 35 (88.5%) of their penalties.

Adam and Regalado lead Cornell in scoring with nine points each. Senior defender Ashley Messier is third with eight points and first year ahead Lindsey Avarjunior forward McKenna Van Gelder and Rud are tied for fourth place with seven points. Adam is tied for first-year forward Lindsey Avar for first on the team with six goals, while Regalado is tied with Messier with eight assists each.

Bergmann has played the majority of the minutes in net, compiling a 7-3-2 record. Nationally, she enters Tuesday tenth with a 1.68 goals-against average and fourteenth with a save percentage of .934.

RIT vs. Cornell

Cornell is all-time 12-8-1 against RIT. This is the first meeting between the two teams since the 1994-95 season.

National rankings

RIT ranks fifth in Division I with 13 power-play goals and seventh in penalty kill percentage (89.1%). The Tigers rank 11th on 22.0% of their power play chances, 14th in points (93) and 15th in goals (39). RIT ranks 13th with 413 team saves, tied for 18th in assists (54), 19th in scoring offense (2.44) and tied for 21st in scoring defense (2.25) .

Pickering ranks fourth nationally with five power-play goals and Coe is 24th with a 2.07 goals-against average.