Pittsburgh, Pa. ? Oct. 10, 2008 ? The Robert Morris Colonials opened up the 2008-09 home and conference season with a victory over new CHA member Syracuse. Brianne McLaughlin (Sheffied Village, Oh. / Ohio Flames) posted her seventh career shutout and first of the season with a 1-0 victory.

The Robert Morris Colonials started off period one in control as sophomore Sara O'Malley (Guelph, Ontario / Hamilton Hawks) netted the first goal of the game eight minutes into the first period. O'Malley took the puck off a blocked shot by Samantha Ullrich (St. Louis, Mo. / Team Illinois U-19) and found an opening in the upper right corner of Syracuse goalie Lucy Schoedel's net. Freshman Brianna Delaney (Stittsville, Ontario / NCCP Raiders) and Ullrich added the helper.

For the rest of the period both the Syracuse and Robert Morris had similar scoring opportunities, as the Colonials fired 10 shots to the Orange's eight. Robert Morris took advantage of their lone power-play of the first period with a score, while Syracuse went zero for two.

McLaughlin put up eight saves, while Schoedel stopped nine pucks.

At 9:11 left in the second period, Syracuse had a perfect opportunity to tie it up when freshman Janelle Malcolm sped off on a break-away and was faced one-on-one with McLaughlin. The senior goalie shifted to her right to prevent the score and secured Robert Morris the 1-0 advantage.

Senior Ali Proodian (Canton, Mich. / Honeybaked U-19) answered back with a close call for the Colonials, as she launched a shot that bounced off the cross bar with five minutes left in the second. Neither team was able to connect in the final minutes of the second.

Robert Morris outshot the Orange again in the second period nine to six, with McLaughlin tallying six saves and Schoedel notching another nine saves.

The third period remained relatively quiet, with both teams making attempts at the net, but neither team succeeding to score.

The Orange made one last attempt to tie it up by taking the goalie out in the final minutes of the third to gain the six man advantage. The Colonial defense was able to surpass the Syracuse attack to earn the 1-0 victory.

McLaughlin finished with 21 saves and Schoedel ended the game with 31.

The Colonials are now 2-1 overall, which is their best start in school history. The Colonials return to the RMU Island Sports Center tomorrow at 7:35 p.m. to take on the Orange for a second time.