ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Rochester Institute of Technology scored three unanswered goals during the decisive second period to deal the Union College women's hockey team a 4-1 defeat in non-conference action on Friday afternoon at the Gene Polisseni Center.
 
Junior Maren Friday had the lone goal of the game for Union (3-4-0), but penalties and a rough start to the second period were too much for the visitors to overcome. Emma Pickering and Kylie Aquaro both had a goal and an assist to lead RIT (3-2-0).
 
After a back-and-forth opening eight minutes, Union took its first penalty of the game and then Friday was whistled for a five-minute major 18 seconds later. However, junior Sophie Matsoukas made four saves on the five-on-three and two more on the subsequent five-on-four to keep the game scoreless. Less than 30 seconds after stepping out of the box, Friday then gave her team some momentum by crashing the net to score her first goal of the year with 7:21 left in the period.
 
The Garnet Chargers played with energy for the remainder of the frame and went into the locker rooms with that one-goal edge, but the game changed quickly at the start of the second period. Pickering tied the game just 36 seconds into the middle stanza, and Aquaro found the net 1:12 later to put the Tigers ahead. Three Union penalties hindered the comeback attempt in the frame and the Tigers added another with 5:12 on the clock to grab a 3-1 lead.
 
Another major midway through the third period halted any thoughts of a Union comeback, as the Tigers converted on their seventh power-play chance of the afternoon to account for the final score. Union applied some pressure later in the frame with Matsoukas pulled, but the visitors could get no closer.
 
Union committed seven penalties on the afternoon and spent over a quarter of the game shorthanded. The penalty-kill unit successfully killed off the first five chances, including a pair of five-on-three disadvantages, before RIT finally cashed in the second major of the game to finish the day at 1-for-7. Union was 0-for-2 on the power play.
 
Matsoukas finished the game with 22 saves, while Sophia Bellina made 21 saves for the Tigers.
 
Union and RIT will complete their two-game series tomorrow at noon in Rochester.