Women's hockey opens 2025 with weekend series at Post

ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT women's hockey team begins 2025 with a weekend non-conference series at Post. The Tigers will take on the Eagles on Friday (January 3) at 8:00 PM and on Saturday (January 4) at 2:30 PM.

Midweek Recap (RIT vs. No. 7 Cornell)

RIT lost 5-1 at home to No. 7 Cornell on Tuesday. Senior forward Kylie Aquaro tied the game at 1-1 on her goal at 19:42 of the first period off assists from sophomore defenseman Emma Pickering and first year ahead Brac Kelley. The Big Red scored twice in the second period and two goals in the third period. Senior goalkeeper Sara Coe made 38 saves in net.

Where They Stand (AHA)

RIT is third in the AHA standings with 13 points. The Tigers are one point ahead of Mercyhurst and three points behind second-place Syracuse.

Power (playback) increase

RIT is 8 of 16 (50.0%) on the power play in the last five games. The Tigers went 4-for-6 in a win over Mercyhurst (Nov. 23), 2-of-4 at No. 7 Cornell (Nov. 26) and 1-for-2 in each of the games against Lindenwood (12/12). 6-7).

Among All-Time Netminders

Senior goalkeeper Sara Coe enters the weekend first in career saves (2,368) and minutes played (4,363). She is second in games played (78) and 11th with a career save percentage of .905. Junior goalkeeper Sophia Bellina is seventh all-time with a save percentage of .928, eighth in saves (902) and tenth in games played (37), minutes played (1,850) and a career average of 2.27 goals against.

Top 100 scorers

Four Tigers are in the top 100 all-time high scores. Senior forward Kylie Aquaro is tied for 35th all-time with 68 points (21g, 47a). Alvarez (14g, 26a) and senior defenseman Kyla Bear (6g, 34a) are tied for 70th with 40 points and senior forward Athena Vasdani (16g, 23a) is 74th.

Career milestones

Senior defender Bailey Kehl blocked her 165th career shot against Lindenwood (Dec. 6-7). Senior forward Athena Vasdani (16g, 23a, 39p) is one point away from 40, while Kyla Bear (6g, 34a) And Addie Alvarez (14g, 26a) each scored their 40th career points against Lindenwood (Dec. 6-7). Senior forward Kylie Aquaro (21g, 47a) is two points away from 70 and graduate student defender Mia Tsilemos blocked her 250th career shot against Cornell (December 31).

Century Mark

Eight Tigers have surpassed the 100-match mark. Graduate students Mia Tsilemos (133) and Nicole Ness (128), senior forward Megan McCormick (120), Kehl and Vasdani (119), Kyla Bear (118) and Aquaro (113).

About RIT

RIT enters the weekend averaging 2.8 goals per game while allowing 2.6 goals per game. The Tigers are 17-for-69 (24.6%) on the power play and 52-for-64 (81.2%) killing penalties. RIT wins 48.0% of its faceoffs and has blocked 327 shots.

Six Tigers have scored at least 10 points in 19 matches led by a second striker Addie Alvarez who has 20 points on six goals and a team-high 14 assists. Senior forward Kylie Aquaro is second with 19 points (6g, 13a) and second defender Emma Pickering and first year ahead Brac Kelley are in third place with 13 points each. Pickering leads the team with nine goals, including six power play scores for the team. Senior defender Kyla Bear (0g, 10a) and first year ahead Kailey Favro (5g, 5a) are joint fourth with 10 points.

Senior goalkeeper Sara Coe is 6-4-1 with a 2.34 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage, while junior Sophia Bellina is 3-3-2 with a GAA of 2.59 and a save percentage of .914.

AHA Rankings

RIT leads Atlantic Hockey America in power play percentage (24.6%) and is second in goals per game (2.75), points per game (7.05), assists (86), assists per game (4.30 ) and penalty killing percentage (81.3%) ). The Tigers rank third in goals allowed per game (2.60) and shots blocked per game (16.36).

Alvarez is second in the league with an average of 1.05 points per game and 0.74 assists per game. She is third in the league in points (20) and assists (14) and is tied for sixth with six goals. Aquaro is fourth in the AHA in points (19) and fourth in assists per game (0.65). She ranks fourth in the league with 13 assists and fifth with three power play counts. Pickering ranks fourth in goals (9) and goals per game (0.47), is tied for first with six power-play goals and is fourth with 42 blocked shots.

Kyla Bear is tied for seventh in the AHA with 10 assists, averaging 0.50 per game, and is tied for seventh with Tsilemos with 40 blocks. Kelley is seventh with 153 faceoff wins and sixth in the league, winning 56.5 percent of her faceoffs. Senior forward Megan McCormick is eighth and wins 48.9 percent of her draws and is a senior forward Jordyn Bear is eighth in the league with 149 face-off wins.

Coe is fourth in Atlantic Hockey America with a 2.34 goals-against average, while Bellina is fifth with a GAA of 2.59. Coe is sixth in save percentage (.916) and Bellina is seventh (.914).

National rankings

RIT is fifth in Division I with 17 power-play goals and seventh on 25.4 percent of power-play opportunities. The Tigers rank 10th with 55 goals, 12th in scoring fouls (2.84) and assists (84) and rank 20th in penalty kill percentage (83.1%).

Alvarez ranks 15th nationally with an average of 0.78 assists per game and tied for 21st with an average of 1.11 points per game. Pickering is tied for second in Division I with six power-play goals. Coe is 16th with a winning percentage of .650 and 25th with a GAA of 2.06.

About Post

Post comes in with a 4-12-3 record and is 4-8-3 in the NEWHA. The Eagles went 1-0-1 against Sacred Heart on December 6 and 7, won 3-0 on Friday and drew 1-1 the next day. First year ahead Rowyn Ringor scored two goals in Friday's win while junior goalkeeper Hannah Saunders made 46 saves in net. Senior forward Julia Wysocki scored in Saturday's tie and Saunders finished with 30 saves.

Post enters the weekend averaging 1.6 goals per game while allowing 3.1 goals per game. The Eagles are 7 of 50 (14.0%) on the power play and 54 of 64 (84.4%) on the penalty kill. Post ranks seventh in Division I with 593 team saves and 17th in penalty kill percentage.

Ringor (6g, 6a) and Wysocki (6g, 6a) are tied for first on the team with 12 points each. Sophomore forward Macy Peterson is third with seven points (4g, 3a) and second-year forward Celena Mickevicius is fourth with six points (3g, 3a).

Saunders has seen the most minutes in net this season and enters the weekend with a 3-7-3 record. She ranks 17th in Division I with a 1.86 goals-against average and sixth with a .945 save percentage.

RIT vs. Post

This weekend marks the first time that RIT faces Post.

They come from far and wide

The 26 tigers come from 11 states, two Canadian provinces and one country in Europe, with the largest groups coming from Ontario (6), Saskatchewan (4), Pennsylvania (3) and Illinois (3). Players come from as close as Rochester, NY to as far away as Pale, Latvia (4,192 miles).

Ranked opponents

RIT will play four teams ranked in this week's USCHO Division I Women's Poll. The Tigers are 1-4-1 and split a pair of games against No. 6 Colgate (Oct. 11-12) and went 0-1-1 against No. 11 St. Lawrence (Oct. 25-26). The Tigers lost 5-2 at No. 7 Cornell (Nov. 26) and 5-1 (Dec. 31). RIT plays No. 12 Penn State (Jan. 10-11, Feb. 14-15).