Women's Hockey hits the road to take on No. 11 Penn State

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT women's hockey team hits the road to take on No. 11 Penn State in a pair of Atlantic Hockey America games on Friday (Jan. 10) at 2:00 p.m. and Saturday (Jan. 11) at 1:00 p.m.

Weekend Recap (RIT at Post)
RIT swept a non-conference series at Post last weekend winning 4-1 and 4-3. Senior forward Jordyn Bear tallied a goal and an assist in Friday's win. Senior forwards Bronwyn Khangsar and Kylie Aquaro and graduate student defensewoman Mia Tsilemos each scored a goal while junior forward Sophia Bellina made 12 saves in net.
 
Senior defensewoman Kyla Bear, senior forward Kylie Aquaro and first year forward Brac Kelley each tallied a goal and an assist in Saturday's win. Kelley tied the game at 1-1 on her goal at 3:02 of the second period. After a Post goal, sophomore forward Linda Rulle tied the game at 2-2 on her power play goal at 12:21 of the second and Bear gave the Tigers their first lead of the game at 18:01 of the period. Post tied the game on a goal early in the third and Aquaro scored the game-winning goal at 15:42 to make it a 4-3 final. First year goalie Brenna McNamara made 12 saves in net to earn her first collegiate win.
 
RIT went 3-for-7 on the power play in Saturday's win. It is the first time the Tigers have scored three power play goals since Oct. 25, 2019, against Brown. 
 
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 (Play) Surge
RIT is 13-of-26 (50.0%) on the power play in the last seven games. The Tigers went 4-of-6 in a win at Mercyhurst (Nov. 23), 2-or-4 at No. 7 Cornell (Nov. 26) and 1-for-2 in each of the games against Lindenwood (12/6-7). RIT went a combined 5-of-10 in two games at Post (Jan. 3-4).
 
Among the All-Time Netminders
Senior goalie Sarah 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 .905 save percentage. Junior goalie Sophia Bellina is seventh all-time with a .928 save percentage, eighth in saves (914) and tenth in games played (38), minutes played (1,910) and a career 2.23 goals-against average.
 
Top 100 Scorers
Four Tigers are ranked in the top 100 in all-time scoring. Senior forward Kylie Aquaro is tied for 32nd all-time in scoring with 71 points (23g, 48a). Senior defensewoman Kyla Bear is tied for 64th with 42 points (7g, 25a) and sophomore forward Addie Alvarez is tied for 68th with 41 points (14g, 27a). Senior forward Athena Vasdani is 74th with 39 points (16g, 23a).
 
Career Milestones
Senior defensewoman Bailey Kehl is three blocks shy of 170 for her career and senior forward Athena Vasdani (16g, 23a, 39p) is one point shy of 40. Senior defensewoman Kyla Bear (7g, 35a) is three points shy of 45 for her career, while sophomore forward Addie Alvarez is three assists shy of 30. Senior forward Kylie Aquaro (23g, 48a) is two goals shy of 25 and two assists shy of 50 for her career. Graduate student defensewoman Mia Tsilemos is two blocks shy of 255 for her career.
 
Century Mark
Eight Tigers have surpassed the 100 games-played plateau. Graduate students Mia Tsilemos (135) and Nicole Ness (130), senior forward Megan McCormick (122), Kehl and Vasdani (121), Kyla Bear (119) and Aquaro (115).
 
About RIT
RIT enters the weekend averaging 2.9 goals per game while allowing 2.5 goals per contest. The Tigers are 22-for-79 (27.8 %) on the power play and 59-for-72 (81.9%) killing off penalties. RIT is winning 48.4% of its face offs and have blocked 338 shots.
 
Six Tigers have at tallied at least 10 points through 22 games led by senior forward Kylie Aquaro who has 22 points on eight goals and 14 assists. Sophomore forward Addie Alvarez is second with 21 points on six goals and a team-high 15 assists and sophomore defensewoman Emma Pickering and first year forward Brac Kelley are tied for third with 15 points apiece. Pickering leads the team with nine goals, including a team-high six power play tallies. Senior defensewoman Kyla Bear (0g, 10a) is fifth with 12 points, including 11 assists.   
 
Senior goalie Sarah Coe is 6-4-1 with a 2.34 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage, while junior Sophia Bellina is 4-3-2 with a 2.41 GAA and a .914 save percentage.
 
AHA Rankings
RIT leads Atlantic Hockey America in power play percentage (27.8%) and penalty killing percentage (81.9%). The Tigers are second in goals per game (2.86), points per game (7.27), assists (97), assists per game (4.41). The Tigers are third in goals allowed per game (2.55), and blocked shots per game (15.36).
 
Aquaro is third in the AHA in points (22) and tied for fourth in power play goals (4). She is tied for sixth in goals (8) and tied for fifth in assists (14). Alvarez is tied for fourth in points (21) and fourth in assists (15). Pickering is fifth in the league in goals (9) and tied for first with six power play tallies. Kyla Bear is eighth in the AHA in assists (11) and blocked shots (40).
 
Pickering is tied for sixth in the league with graduate student defender Mia Tsilemos with 43 blocked shots apiece. Kelley is seventh with 169 face-off wins and sixth in the league winning 56.1 percent of her draws. Senior forward Megan McCormick is tenth winning 49.5 percent of her face offs and senior forward Jordyn Bear is eighth in the league with 156 face-off wins and tied for first with two short-handed goals.
 
Coe is fourth in Atlantic Hockey America with a 2.34 goals-against average, while Bellina is fifth with a 2.41 GAA. Coe is sixth in save percentage (.916) and Bellina is seventh (.914). Bellina is fourth averaging 26.0 saves per game and Coe is sixth averaging 24.82 stops per contest.
 
National Rankings
RIT is second in Division I with 22 power play goals and 6th converting 27.8 percent of its power play chances. The Tigers are 10th with 63 goals, 12th in assists (97), 15th in scoring offense (2.86) and 20st in penalty-killing percentage (81.9%).
 
Alvarez is 20th nationally averaging 0.71 assists per game. Pickering is tied for second in Division I with six power play goals, while Coe is 20th with a .591 winning percentage. Aquaro is tied for 16th with four power play goals.
 
About Penn State
Penn State enters the weekend ranked 11th in this week's USCHO Division I poll and is 17-4-1 overall and leads Atlantic Hockey America with an 8-0-0 record. The Nittany Lions went 2-0 at the East West Challenge at Minnesota, beating Bemidji State 4-1 and No. 3 Minnesota 6-2 the following day.
 
Penn State leads Atlantic Hockey America and is fifth in Division I averaging 3.77 goals per game. The Nittany Lions are fifth in Division I and first in the AHA allowing 1.77 goals per contest. Penn State is fourth in AHA and 16th in Division I converting 20.2 percent of their power plays and second in the conference killing off 81.7 percent of their opponents' power plays.
 
Junior forward Tessa Janecke leads the team and Atlantic Hockey America with 35 points. She is seventh in Division I averaging 1.59 points per game and face-off wins with 358. She is 12^th in Division I averaging 0.86 assists per game and is sixth averaging 0.73 goals per game.
 
Junior goalie Katie DeSa leads the AHA and is ninth in Division I with a 1.61 goals against average and is 18th in Division I with a .926 save percentage.
 
RIT vs. Penn State
Penn State is 35-19-7 all-time against RIT. The Tigers went 1-2-1 in four regular season games last season, including a 3-2 overtime win on Jan. 13. The Nittany Lions swept RIT in the AHA Semifinals.
 
Ranked Opponents
RIT plays four teams ranked in this week's USCHO Division I Women's Poll. The Tigers are 1-4-1 splitting a pair of games against No. 6 Colgate (Oct. 11-12) and went 0-1-1 versus 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. 11 Penn State (Jan. 10-11, Feb. 14-15).