Hockey Heads to RIT Friday

SYRACUSE (6-11-8, 4-3-4 CHA) at RIT (8-14-3, 2-8-1 CHA)
Date & Time	Friday, Jan. 23, 7 p.m.
Location	Gene Polisseni Center \| Rochester, N.Y.
TV	Time Warner Cable SportsChannel
Web Stream	America One
Listen (free)	WITR
Game Notes	Syracuse \| RIT
Live Stats	Cuse.com
Cuse Social Media	@Cuse
Hockey Social Media	@CuseIce

'Cuse Continues CHA Road Swing
- Following a loss and tie against No. 9 Mercyhurst last weekend, the Orange will take on RIT for a single game -- the second matchup between the teams this season -- at RIT on Friday.
- The game is Syracuse's first game in RIT's brand new Gene Polisseni Center.
- The Orange now sit in third in the CHA's standings after only picking up one point against Mercyhurst this past weekend.

'Cuse vs. RIT
- This is the 10th meeting between the two teams in program history.
- Syracuse is 5-3-1 all-time against the Tigers.
- Syracuse is 1-2-1 in games played at RIT.
- 'Cuse and RIT have played some barn burners over the last two years, with five of the nine games between the two teams going to overtime.
- Alysha Burriss and the Orange dominated the last matchup between the teams, Burriss scored a hat trick en route to a 4-2 win. Her performance earned her CHA Player of the Week.
- Eleven different members of the current Orange have recorded points against the Tigers.
- Jessica Sibley 7 (three goals, four assists), Akane Hosoyamada 7 (three goals, four assists), Allie LaCombe 5 (two goals, three assists), Nicole Renault 5 (one goal, four assists), Melissa Piacentini 4 (three goals, one assist), Alysha Burriss 3 (three goals), Larissa Martyniuk (three assists), Julie Knerr (two goals, two assists) and Danielle Leslie 2 (two assists), Kaillie Goodnough (one assist) and Heather Schwarz (one goal) each scoring against the Tigers.

Scouting the Tigers
- Four different players have double-digit points for RIT so far this season. Celeste Brown leads all scorers with 13, followed by Lindsay Grigg (11), Mackenzie Stone (11) and Jess Paton (10).
- Ali Binnington has started 14 games in net for the Tigers and has a 6-7-1 record. She currently has a save percentage of .949, which is tops in the CHA.
- The Tigers currently sit at sixth in the CHA with five points (2-8-1) and hold an 8-14-3 record overall.

Milestone Watch
- Forward Melissa Piacentini is three goals from tying Margot Scharfe for first on the all-time scoring list in Syracuse history with 41 goals.
- She's also tied the single-season record for most power play goals in a season at seven.
- Akane Hosoyamada is four games from tying Margot Scharfe for the most games played in a career at 144.
- Previously this season, Nicole Renault set the program record for goals by a defender with 13, passing Jacquie Greco.

Burriss Earns CHA Rookie of the Week
- Forward Alysha Burriss was named CHA Rookie of the Week for her goal in the Orange's 1-1 tie with No. 9 Mercyhurst last Friday.
- Burriss has now scored four goals in her last three conference games, including a hat trick against RIT in the team's earlier meeting this season.
- She has 17 points on the year, which ranks third amongst rookies in the CHA.

Freshmen Phenoms
- Freshman forwards Stephanie Grossi, Alysha Burriss and Emily Costales have made an immediate impact on the Orange up front, while teammates Megan Quinn and Dakota Derrer have each played strong on the blue line for the Orange.
- Grossi and Burriss (who are first and second on the Orange with 21 and 17 points respectively) make 'Cuse one of three teams with a pair of freshmen leading the team in scoring (joining Colgate and Minnesota State).
- Additionally, Grossi and Burriss are one of only four freshmen tandems to combine for over 35 points. Joining Kenzie Kent and Tori Sullivan from Boston College (46 combined pts.), Wisconsin's Annie Pankowski and Emily Clark (41 combined points) and Minnesota's Kelly Pannek and Cara Piazza (40 combined points).

Not So Tini on the Power Play
- Junior forward Melissa Piacentini has been clutch in extra-man opportunities for the Orange so far this season.
- Piacentini ranks tied for second in the nation and tied for the CHA lead with seven power play goals.
- Piacentini has accounted for 50-percent of Syracuse's power play goals this season.
- 58-percent of her total goals this season have come as pert of the power play.

Grossi Dishes Out the Assists
- Freshman Stephanie Grossi leads the Orange with 21 points on the year, with the main reason being her ability to set up her teammates.
- Grossi has 14 assists on the season (25 games) which ties for the league lead ranks fourth in the nation amongst rookies (44th overall).

Road Warriors
- Syracuse's road games have come in bunches this season, including a stretch of 13-of-14 away from home.
- Two of the team's eight longest road trips have come this season, inclulding the eight-game span that ties a program record which 'Cuse is currently on.

Good Things Happen With Grossi on the Ice
- Syracuse is plus-13 when Stephanie Grossi is on the ice this season, that ties for the best production in the CHA.
- It's three goals better than the next closest rookie (Sarah Robello of Mercyhurst) at plus-10.
- Melissa Piacentini's plus-4 rating is the next highest on the Orange.

LaCombe Dominating the Dot
- Winger Allie LaCombe has been a pleasant surprise since she began taking draws for the Orange.
- She leads the Orange and CHA with a .648 faceoff percentage.
- She has taken more faceoffs as the season has worn on, averaging more than 10 faceoffs taken per game over the last-six games after taking just nine faceoffs in the first-11 games of the season.
- LaCombe's .648 save percentage ranks fifth nationally.
- She is winning more than 70 percent (.702) of her faceoffs in CHA games, which ranks second nationally in the most faceoffs won in league play.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday.

Syracuse University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Alysha Burriss

Emily Costales

Dakota Derrer

Kaillie Goodnough

Stephanie Grossi

Akane Hosoyamada

Julie Knerr

Allie LaCombe

Danielle Leslie

Larissa Martyniuk

Melissa Piacentini

Megan Quinn

Nicole Renault

Margot Scharfe

Heather Schwarz

Jessica Sibley

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