Pittsburgh, Pa. ? The Robert Morris University women's ice hockey team came back from two goals down in the third period to tie the St. Cloud State Huskies, 3-3, in the second annual Skate for the Cure game at the RMU Island Sports Center Saturday afternoon.
Skate for the Cure was a huge success as it drew the Colonials largest crowd of the season in hopes of raising funds and awareness for breast cancer research.
Junior Kristen Miles (London, Ontario / London Devillettes) started the game off with her first goal of the season off of the power-play 7:21 into the first period. Miles, with help from sophomore Mallory Giambra (Rochester, N.Y. / Rochester Edge) and junior Megan Picinic (Cliffside Park, N.J. / Princeton Tigerlillies), sent a shot from the right circle past the Huskies goaltender for the early 1-0 lead.
Later in the period, St. Cloud evened the score at 1-1 when Meaghan Pezon nabbed her team-leading sixth goal of the season with 3:37 left to go in the frame.
The score stayed the same until late in the second period when the St. Cloud special teams awoken in great fashion. The Huskies broke the tie with their first power-play goal of the game at 16:16 and again on a short-handed opportunity at 17:15 to take a 3-1 lead into the final stanza.
With déjà vu setting in, Robert Morris flipped the momentum into their favor and mounted a come-back with two goals in the final frame.
Sophomore Jacki Gibson (Burlington, Ontario / Burlington Barracudas) brought the Colonials within one midway through the period. The sophomore pulled the loose puck out of a scrum in front of the net and banked it off of the goal post for the Colonials second power-play score of the day at the 7:51 mark.
With less than five minutes to play in regulation, freshman Kylie Rossler (Regina, Saskatchewan / Regina Rebels) gave the home team a new slate with her first goal of the season. Rossler, completely uncovered at the blue-line, received a pass from teammate Miles for the wide-open slap shot at 15:37.
The Colonials defense buckled down through the rest of regulation and in over-time, stifling the Huskies offense, which let loose the only three shots of the bonus time.
In their third consecutive game with 10-plus penalties called, Robert Morris was 2-13 on the power-play while St. Cloud was held to one goal on four opportunities.
Junior Brianne McLaughlin (Sheffield Village, Oh. / Ohio Flames) played her seventh game of the season, stopping 35 of 38 shots while finishing the entire 65 minutes.
It'll be a short week for the Colonials as they take a trip up I-79 this Tuesday, Oct. 30, to face College Hockey America foe and #3-ranked Mercyhurst in a one-game showdown at the Mercyhurst Ice Center in Erie, Pa. Face-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
