Box Score Columbus, Ohio - Jan. 2, 2010 - The Robert Morris University Colonials opened up the second-half of their season with a 4-1 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday afternoon at the OSU Ice Rink. In the contest junior Sara O'Malley (Guelph, Ontario / Hamilton Hawks) scored the Colonials' lone goal, which marked the third straight contest O'Malley has captured at least one goal.
The loss drops the Colonials to 5-12-1 overall, while the Buckeyes improve to 8-7-4 overall.
Ohio State gained an advantage in the first period by firing off 14 shots to the Colonials one, which led to a fast OSU 2-0 lead in the starting stanza. At 3:20, Ohio State put a mark on the scoreboard when Brittany Carlson captured an unassisted play by rifling the puck through the Colonial defensemen and between the pipes just 3:20 into the first period.
Less than two minutes later the Buckeyes added to their lead on a shorthanded play. Christina Mancuso and Kim Theut took off on a breakaway. Theut skated the biscuit down the ice and sent it to Mancuso who scored OSU's first short-handed goal of the season. Shannon Reilly was credited with the second assist.
The Colonials were able to bounce back before the end of the first period when O'Malley found the puck in front of the Buckeye net and flipped it in to cut into OSU's lead 2-1. Junior Carissa Ketcher (Mound, Minn. / Bemidji State) added the helper on the play, marking her first point as a Colonial.
The shots evened out in the second period with Ohio State taking nine and Robert Morris sending off five; however, neither team was able to capitalize on any shots leaving the score unchanged heading into the final stanza of action.
Despite a solid effort by the Colonials, the Buckeyes added to more goals to their collection in the third period, while holding RMU scoreless to secure a 4-1 lead. At 11:47, Raelyn LaRocque scored OSU's third goal off assists from Hokey Langan and Laura McIntosh.
The Buckeyes finalized the 4-1 score with a power-play goal by Melissa Feste, marking her eighth of the season off assists from Paige Semenza and Reilly.
Ohio State outshot the Colonials 34 to 15 and went one for three on the power-play, while holding Robert Morris scoreless on five chances. Junior goalie Daneca Butterfield (Kronau Saskatchewan / Notre Dame Hounds) tallied 30 saves in the contest, while OSU's Chelsea Knapp tallied 14 saves.
The Buckeyes and the Colonials return to the OSU Ice Rink tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. for game two of the series.
