Series Notes
- Lindenwood returns to College Hockey America action this weekend with a two-game series against RIT. Game one will be on Saturday at 7 p.m. (eastern) in Rochester, N.Y., and the second game will be the following day at 2 p.m. (eastern).
- Lindenwood and RIT are two of the three newcomers to the CHA this season. The Lady Lions are 1-1-0 against the other first-year program, Penn State, while RIT is 1-0-1 against the Nittany Lions.
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If either the Lady Lions or Tigers are able to sweep this series, they will open up a lead in the race for the fourth spot in the conference standings. That is important as the third and fourth-place teams host the first-round conference tournament series.
- Lindenwood's
Chelsea Witwicke currently ranks seventh in the CHA in defenseman scoring. She has seven points on the season and has scored at least one point in five straight games.
- Lindenwood has been playing its best defense over the last month since moving to the NCAA level. The Lady Lions have allowed three or fewer goals in five of the last six games. In the last four games, they are allowing just 2.5 goals a game.
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The Lady Lions will be on the road for the first time since a Nov. 9-10 series at St. Cloud State. Lindenwood is 0-6-0 away from Wentzville this year.
- RIT is having its first home game since Nov. 10. It is 0-3-1 at Ritter Arena in 2012-13.
- RIT is in its first year as a NCAA Division I member in women's hockey. The Tigers are the defending NCAA Division III National Champions.
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Lindenwood and RIT will be meeting for the first time in women's hockey action.
A Look Back At St. Cloud State
- Lindenwood ended its four-game homestand with two losses at the hands of St. Cloud State. The Lady Lions lost game one by a 3-1 score and fell 3-2 in the second game.
- The Lady Lions were outshot 48-22 in game one, including a 20-5 mark in the second period when they allowed all three goals.
- Lindenwood tied the second game at two with just 70 seconds remaining, but St. Cloud State scored just 32 seconds later for the last-minute victory.
- Lindenwood's goalies,
Nicole Hensley and
Taylor Fairchild, combined to save 93.3 percent of the shots they faced against the Huskies.
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Jocelyn Slattery and
Chelsea Witwicke each had two points in the series with one in each game.
- Lindenwood did a good job limiting its penalties in the series, committing just three minors in each contest.
- The Lady Lions were 0-for-four on the power play during Friday's game but they improved on Saturday with two goals while having the man advantage.
Lindenwood Notes
- Lindenwood has a +5 plus/minus over the last four games. While teams have been at even strength in that span, the Lady Lions have outscored opponents 5-4.
- Lindenwood has scored a power-play goal in four out of the last five games and has six power-play goals in that span. The Lady Lions are converting on 27.3 percent of their power plays in those games.
- Over half of the team's goals this season have come on the power play (10 of 19).
- The Lady Lions have gotten good point production from their two transfers as
Chelsea Witwicke and
Jocelyn Slattery have a combined two goals and nine assists.
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Lyndsay Kirkham is 13th in the CHA in freshman scoring with five points.
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Alyssa West and
Lyndsay Kirkham are tied for fifth in the conference with three power-play goals, and Kirkham and
Chelsea Witwicke are tied for 16th in power-play points with four apiece.
- Goalie
Nicole Hensley is fifth in the CHA with a .912 save percentage and is second with 455 saves.
- Lindenwood has committed four or fewer penalties in five out of the last six games.
- The Lady Lions took a season-high 40 shots in the final game against St. Cloud State.
- Through 14 games, Lindenwood has the same record as its first NCAA season. It has shown huge improvement though, especially defensively where it is allowing 49 less goals than it did during the first 14 games last year.
CHA Notes
- Mercyhurst is the lone nationally-ranked team out of the CHA. The Lakers are No. 7 in the USCHO poll and No. 5 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.
- This series will be the final CHA contests before the calendar turns to 2013.
- The Lady Lions have four non-conference games the week of New Year's before finishing the season with 14 CHA games.
About the Tigers
- RIT is fourth in the CHA in scoring offense (2.47 goals/game) and scoring defense (2.76 goals a game). It is second in power play scoring percentage (18.2%), but also has the most penalty minutes in the CHA with 12.9 a game.
- Kim Schlattman leads the team with eight goals and Ariane Yokoyama is the team leader with seven assists. Both players have a team-high 10 points.
- Ali Binnington has been the top goalie with four wins, a 2.53 GAA, and a .905 save percentage.
- Head coach of RIT is Scott McDonald. He is the all-time leader in wins at the school. In seven seasons, he has a record of 141-31-12.
