Erie, Pa. – March 6, 2009 – In the semifinals of the CHA Tournament the Robert Morris University Colonials and the Wayne State Warriors battled through the longest overtime in CHA Tournament history, which ended in a heartbreaking, 4-3, loss for the Colonials. Robert Morris was 35 seconds away from securing the programs' first CHA Tournament win, but the Warriors played relentless in the final seconds of regulation to tie things up.

For the third consecutive game against Wayne State, Robert Morris notched the first goal of the game. At 5:29 in the first period freshman Brianna Delaney (Stittsville, Ontario / NCCP Raiders) slipped behind the net and passed the puck to Maria Stoa (Bloomington, Minn. / Eden Prairie) who was waiting in front of the net to fire the puck into the net for her fourth goal of the season. Sophomore Sara O'Malley (Guelph, Ontario / Hamilton Hawks) was also credited with an assist.

Wayne State was able to tie things up before the end of the first period when Bailey Lane triggered a shot the clanked off the far post of RMU's goal and into the net for her first collegiate goal. Janet Babchishin and Emily Berzizne dished out the helpers on the play.
The second period was not very action packed as only a combined seven shots were made by both teams to leave the score knotted at one heading into the final period.

The Colonials regained the lead at 8:38 during an extra-man advantage when sophomore Kylie Rossler (Regina Saskatchewan / Regina Rebels) scored in similar fashion to the Colonials first goal. Rossler took a pass from senior Megan Picinic (Cliffside, N.J. / Princeton Tigerlillies) who was lurking behind the net and got the puck past Warrior goalie Delayne Brian to take the 2-1 lead.
At 12:36 Wayne State evened things up, 2-2, when Melissa Boal rifled a shot from the near side of the ice and found the back of the net off assists from Jill Sznadzik and Natalie Payne.

With 3:27 left in the period Delaney grabbed a pass from O'Malley, skated around the Warrior defense and flipped the puck into the upper shelf to take the 3-2 lead.

When it looked like the Colonials had the game all wrapped up, Stoa was called for a hooking infraction to give the Warriors the extra-man advantage. Wayne State then pulled its goalie to grab the 6-4 advantage, which led to Melissa Boal scoring the game-tying goal to force overtime.

At the end of regulation Brianne McLaughlin (Sheffield Village, Ohio / Ohio Flames) made 22 saves to Brian's 14 and the Colonials were successful on one-of-four power-plays, while the Warriors were two-of-five.

Throughout overtime, both teams played intense hockey with Wayne State firing off six shots and Robert Morris taking five. Despite the aggressive play by the Colonial defense, Wayne State's Natalie Payne was able to score the game-winner after 15 minutes in the extra period.

Robert Morris closed out the 2008-09 season with a 12-20-3 record, while Wayne State improved to 20-8-2 and will face the No.1 seed Mercyhurst tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. in the CHA Championship game.

Head Coach Nate Handrahan:
"I am extremely proud of our team and the way they played this year," said head coach Nate Handrahan. "They deserved a better fate and I am disappointed that this is how we have to send off our first graduating senior class. They all played hard and gave it everything they got. We will love them forever."