Hockey One win from First Ever NCAA Tournament Berth

Saturday, March 7

Erie, PA

3 p.m.

Syracuse University

RIT (No. 6 seed)

Hockey One win from First Ever NCAA Tournament Berth

3/7/2015 9:50:00 AM | Ice Hockey

'Cuse takes on RIT in CHA Championship game at 3 p.m.

SYRACUSE (11-14-10) vs RIT (14-18-5)
Date & Time	Saturday, March 7, 3 p.m.
Location	Erie, Pa.
Web Stream	See Below
Game Notes	Syracuse
Live Stats	Cuse.com
Cuse Social Media	@Cuse
Hockey Social Media	@CuseIce

Watch Live:

Tournament Time
- The Syracuse hockey team takes on RIT in the CHA Championship after defeating Penn State on Friday.
- The winner of the game gets the CHA's first-ever automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament.
- The Orange split the regular season series with RIT (2-2-0).

How They Got Here
- Syracuse defeated Penn State 2-0 behind goals from Allie LaCombe and Kaillie Goodnough and an 11-save shutout from Jenn Gilligan during a strong defensive performance.
- RIT took down top-seed Mercyhurst on its home ice on Friday 4-1 to advance to Saturday.

'Cuse at the CHA Tournament
- Saturday's CHA Championship will mark the 13th CHA Tournament game for Syracuse as a program.
- Syracuse is 6-6-0 in CHA Tournament games.
- The Orange is 0-3-0 in CHA Title games all-time.
- A final would mark 'Cuse's fourth trip the the title game, going 0-3 in the previous three attempts.
- Syracuse is 1-0-0 against RIT in postseason play
- Ten different members of the Orange have recorded points in the CHA Tournament, with Melissa Piacentini (two goals, two assists) and Akane Hosoyamada (four assists) and Allie LaCombe (four goals) leading the way with four each.
- Heather Schwarz 3 (two goals, one assist), Nicole Renault 3 (one goal, two assists), Jessica Sibley 2 (one goal, one assist), Julie Knerr 2 (one goal, one assist) Danielle Leslie 2 (two assists), Kaillie Goodnough 2 (one goal, one assist), Larissa Martyniuk 1 (one assist).
- Jenn Gilligan's 11-save shutout on Friday was her first CHA Tournament experience

'Cuse vs. RIT
- This will be the 13th meeting between the two teams in program history.
- Syracuse is 6-5-1 all-time against the Tigers.
- Syracuse is 1-0 in the posteseason against RIT.
- 'Cuse and RIT have played some barn burners over the last two years, with six of the 10 games between the two teams going to overtime and nine of 12 being decided by one goal.
- Alysha Burriss has already seemed to take a liking to playing against RIT, scoring five goals in the Orange's two wins against the Tigers this season. Her performance earned her CHA Player of the Week before the Tigers scored in overtime after a late game-tying goal split the series at 1-1-0 on the year in January. She later scored two goals in the Friday's win during the final regular season weekend before the Tigers took a 1-0 win on Saturday.
- The teams are 2-2-0 against each other this season.
- Thirteen different members of the current Orange have recorded points against the Tigers.
- Jessica Sibley 8 (4 goals, 4 assists), Akane Hosoyamada 8 (3 goals, 4 assists), Allie LaCombe 7 (2 goals, 5 assists), Nicole Renault 6 (one goal, five assists), Melissa Piacentini 6 (four goals, two assist), Alysha Burriss 6 (5 goals, 1 assist), Larissa Martyniuk 3 (3 assists), Julie Knerr 4 (2 goals, 2 assists), Danielle Leslie 4 (4 assists), Kaillie Goodnough 1 (1 assist), Heather Schwarz 3 (2 goals, 1 assist), Stephanie Grossi 1 (1 assist) and Megan Quinn 1 (1 assist) each scoring against the Tigers.

On Fire Since February
- Syracuse enters the CHA Title game on a tear after going 5-1-1 since the calendar turned to February.
- The Orange jumped from No. 4 to No. 2 in the CHA standings over the span of the month.
- A big reason why is the play of Melissa Piacentini and Jenn Gilligan recently. Piacentini recorded nine points in six games in February, including three multi-point games. Gilligan allowed just 1.39 goals since the final weekend of January.
- Syracuse's only loss in that span is a 1-0 stumble at RIT in the regular season finale.

Piacentini Sets Goals Record
- Forward Melissa Piacentini is used a three-goal weekend to against Lindenwood to break the all-time goals scored record.
- Margot Scharfe previously held the record at 42. Piacentini enters this weekend with 44.
- Piacentini's record-breaking goal came on the power play, marking her 10th PPG of the season, which leads the nation (she now has 11).

Defensive Dominance
- February's hot play has been in large part due to the Orange picking up its defensive effort allowing under 1.5 goals per game in its last six contests.
- This is over 1.3 goals per game less than its season average.
- Overall, Syracuse is allowing under 22 shots on net per game since the calendar flipped to February, down two shots per game on goal as well. Gilligan Named CHA Goaltender of the Month for February
- Goaltender Jenn Gilligan was named the CHA Goaltender of the Month for February this week for helping lead the Orange to the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament and posting a 4-0-1 record in five starts.
- Gilligan allowed 23 saves per contest in the month and averaged under 1.6 goals against per game over that span.
- Her play helped lead the Orange from fourth to second in the CHA standings during the month, and she was the netminder for each of the team's games over its five-game unbeaten streak to start the month, which was the second-longest in the nation at that time.
- Gilligan allowed just one goal in four of her five starts last month

Puck drop is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Saturday