Grossi’s Hat Trick Powers Orange Over CHA Rival RIT, 7-1

Wednesday, October 21

Syracuse, NY

7 p.m.

Syracuse University

3-3-0 (1-0CHA)

RIT

1-4-0 (0-1CHA)

RIT

Syracuse

Grossi's hat trick is the first of her career.

Grossi’s Hat Trick Powers Orange Over CHA Rival RIT, 7-1

10/21/2015 10:57:00 PM | Ice Hockey

Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y.- Sophomore Stephanie Grossi scored her first collegiate hat trick while dishing out two assists for the Syracuse women's ice hockey team on Wednesday night, leading the Orange past College Hockey America rival RIT by a final score of 7-1 at Tennity Ice Pavilion.

Grossi's five points ties Isabel Menard on the Syracuse (3-3, 1-0 CHA) single-game records list for most points in a contest. After losing in double overtime of the conference championship last year to RIT (1-4-0, 0-1), Grossi and the Orange dominated the Tigers from start to finish. Grossi's hat trick is the first for the Orange since sophomore Alysha Burriss registered three scores on Dec. 6, 2014, also coming against RIT.

"I think the team played great. We all played a full 60 minutes. All around, it was a great team win," Grossi said. "Before tonight, I was frustrated that I wasn't capitalizing on my opportunities. I kept working, came out today and just happened to get lucky"

The Orange had plenty more scoring opportunities compared to the Tigers, outshooting RIT 38-17 in the contest. Syracuse's seven goals ranks third all-time in program history for most goals in a game, dating back to 2010 in a game against UConn.

"We had a lot of opportunities and were finally cashing in. We were very opportunistic tonight," head coach Paul Flanagan said. "We had Steph Grossi scoring some highlight-reel goals. They were beautiful goals that made us know we had it going on."

Seniors Melissa Piacentini, Jenn Gilligan and Nicole Renault also had it going on in the victory. Piacentini tallied a team-high four assists while Gilligan made 15 saves in between the pipes to secure the win. Renault scored a goal and dished out an assist for the Orange.

Grossi gave Syracuse a 1-0 lead just over nine minutes into the first frame, collecting a rebound in front of the crease to blast it home. Burriss then made it 2-0 about a minute later, accepting a pass from junior Jessica Sibley, beating RIT goaltender Jenna de Jonge for the score and taking Syracuse into the second frame up 2-0.

The Orange started to pour it on in the second period, starting only 10 seconds in. After winning the faceoff, Grossi collected a pass from junior Larissa Martyniuk, dangling through RIT defenders and burying a shot top shelf to put the Orange up 3-0. Redshirt senior Nicole Ferrara then continued her scoring streak at the 3:19 mark, utilizing a backhand shot that also went top shelf past de Jonge. After the Ferrara goal, de Jonge's night was over, but Syracuse's offense certainly was not.

Grossi scored her third goal as the Orange were short-handed with just over five minutes left in the period, give Syracuse an encouraging 5-0 lead. RIT scored its only goal of the contest at the 19:32 mark of the second frame, as it was Logan Land beating Gilligan. The Orange took a 5-1 lead into the third period and still were not done scoring.

Renault made it a six-goal game 1:28 into the third period, blasting a power-play goal past RIT's new goaltender Brooke Stoddart. Sophomore Emily Costales finished off the Tigers at the 4:31 mark by making it 7-1.

Syracuse will play its next six games on the road, starting this Saturday when the team takes on coach Flanagan's former squad St. Lawrence at 2 p.m. Live stats can be accessed via Cuse.com.