Hockey Home-and-Home Series vs. RIT Starts Friday

Series Details: at RIT (Friday, Feb. 9/6 pm) | vs. RIT (Saturday, Feb. 10/2 pm)
Location: Friday: Gene Polisseni Center (Rochester)/Saturday: Upstate University Medical Arena (Syracuse)
Watch: Flo Hockey: Friday | Cuse.com: Saturday
Live Stats: Friday | Saturday
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Syracuse: News | Roster | Schedule | Notes

A home-and-home series against RIT this weekend will feature the first game on Friday in Rochester and the second game in Syracuse at the Upstate University Medical Arena at the Oncenter, the home of the Syracuse Crunch. The Orange will play RIT on Friday, February 9 at 6 pm at the Gene Polisseni Center. On Saturday Syracuse will host RIT on the home ice of the Syracuse Crunch, the AHL affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning, at 2 pm. Admission to the Syracuse-RIT game is free and parking is available on downtown streets in Syracuse for no charge on Saturdays. Fans should enter through the State Street arena entrance.

Syracuse's partnership with the Syracuse Crunch started in 2008-09, the first year of the Orange ice hockey program. The game against RIT is part of a Syracuse-Rochester doubleheader on 'Women in Sports' day. The game against RIT will be the 14th for the Orange on the Crunch home ice since Syracuse began the ice hockey program in 2008-09, including an exhibition game against the Minnesota Whitecaps, a professional hockey team that competed in the Western Women's Hockey League (2004 to 2011) and the National Women's Hockey League, which became the Premier Hockey Federation (2015 through 2023). Syracuse last played on the home ice of the Crunch in 2019-20 against St. Lawrence.

More About the Orange:

Syracuse defenseman Rachel Teslak claimed the CHA Defenseman of the Week Award for her play against Lindenwood. The Cranbrook, British Columbia native had a total of seven points for the weekend, including a career high of three points on Friday. She closed out the series with a total of three goals and two assists.
Syracuse special teams rank among the top 20 nationally. The penalty kill unit is tied for third in the country and leads the CHA with six shorthanded goals. The 'Cuse power play is ranked 14th nationally and fourth in the CHA with 18 power play goals and 16th in the country and third in the CHA in power play percentage (.198). Syracuse's six shorthanded goals ties for the most in one season in Orange program history. In the series at Lindenwood last weekend, Syracuse had two power play and two shorthanded goals. Seven different Syracuse skaters have scored power play goals this season, including forward Darci Johal, who is tied for sixth in the nation with two power play goals. In addition to Johal, Rachel Teslak (3), Alexandria Weiss (3), Sarah Thompson (3), Kate Holmes (2), Tatum White (2) and Kailey Langefels (1) all have power play goals this season. Johal also has two shorthanded goals this season. Forwards Rayla Clemons, Sarah Thompson and Tatum White and defenseman Rachel Teslak each have one shorthanded goal this year.
Forward Tatum White joined the Syracuse 50 Point Club with two points at Lindenwood (2/2). She added an assist on Saturday (2/3) to increase her career point total to 51 (17 goals and 34 assists). Four other Orange skaters are approaching club membership, including Darci Johal (49 points), Sarah Thompson (48 pts), Alexandria Weiss (46 pts.) and Kate Holmes (43 pts.)

Between the Syracuse-RIT game and the Syracuse Crunch games on Saturday, the Crunch will host a 'Women in Sport' Panel in the Empire Room at the Marriott Syracuse Downtown from 4:30 to 6 p.m. The panel will feature Boston Celtics SVP, Marketing and Content Nicole Federico, Syracuse Crunch Vice President of Communications and Digital Media Megan Cahill, American Hockey League Vice President, Hockey Operations/Governance Melissa Caruso, Syracuse University Hockey Associate Head Coach Heather Farrell and Syracuse University Executive Senior Associate AD/Communications Sue Cornelius Edson.

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