Syracuse at RIT Playoff Preview
2/19/2026 10:07:00 AM | Ice Hockey
'Cuse Will Play the Tigers Saturday
Syracuse at RIT: February 21 (3 p.m.)
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Syracuse Links: Notes | News | Roster | Schedule
RIT Links: Notes | News | Roster | Schedule
PUCK DROP
- Syracuse returns to RIT's Gene Polisseni Center in Rochester, New York, for the AHA Quarterfinal round on Saturday. A high stakes win or go home game for both teams in playoffs.
- 'Cuse split with the Tigers 2-2 in the regular season. The Orange won one game at Gene Polisseni Center on Oct. 24 5-2 but lost a game there 4-2 on Feb. 7, two weeks ago.
- Syracuse earned the number five seed in the AHA after falling short to the number four seed Tigers by one point in the regular season standings.
- Puck drop is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Saturday at the Gene Polisseni Ice Center. The game will be streamed on FloHockey and radio broadcasted on witr.rit.edu or and locally on WITR 89.7 FM
SYRACUSE IN THE WINTER OLYMPICS
- Syracuse women's ice hockey is being represented across three different nations, USA, Canada and Japan.
- Two Orange alum and current head coach Britni Smith are competing in Milan for gold in this year's Olympic Winter Games. Melissa Piacentini '16 will be Team USA's Video Coach, Smith will serve as an Assistant Coach for Team Canada, and Akane Hosoyamada '15 played for Team Japan making her third Winter Olympics appearance.
- USA finished 4-0 in the preliminary group round outscoring opponents 20-1 over the four matches. Including a 5-0 win over Canada to finish the group stage. The US have not given up a goal in playoff matches defeating Italy 6-0 in the Quarterfinals and Sweden 5-0 in the Semifinals. USA will face Canada in the gold medal game to compete for its third ever gold medal.
- Canada went 3-1 in group pool-play, with the only loss coming from USA. But despite the loss, Canada was dominant in pool play outscoring opponents 14-1 in its three pool play wins. Canada allowed only two goals so far in playoff contention while defeating Germany 5-1 in the Quarterfinals and Switzerland 2-1 in the Semifinals. Canada will be seeking its back-to-back and sixth overall gold medal when the team faces USA again for redemption.
- The USA vs. Canada gold medal game is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. on Thursday February, 19.
- Japan finished 1-3 in Group B, the lone win coming from a 3-2 victory over France. Unfortunately, Hosoyamada and Japan will not continue into the quarterfinals as the team failed to qualify and finished in ninth place.
THE AHA PLAYOFFS ARE HERE
- This weekend marks the start of the second Atlantic Hockey America postseason tournament. Seven teams will compete for the automatic bid into the NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Championship tournament.
- Syracuse earned the No. 5 seed finishing with a conference record of 10-11-3 and 33 AHA points. The other seeds are No. 1 Penn State, No. 2 Mercyhurst, No. 3 Lindenwood, No. 4 RIT, No. 6 Robert Morris, and No. 7 Delaware.
- The first round will feature the two lowest seeds Robert Morris and Delaware hosted at Lindenwood on Thursday. The winner of that game will play Lindenwood Saturday morning in the single-game Quarterfinal. Syracuse travels to RIT for a win or go home Quarterfinal on Saturday.
- The winners of the quarterfinal will travel the following weekend to either Penn State or Mercyhurst (lowest remaining seed goes to Penn State) for a best-of-three Semifinals series.
- The AHA Championship game will be hosted by the higher seed on March 7 to determine the winner of the AHA postseason and will receive the automatic bid into the NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Championship tournament.
