Complete Game Notes in PDF

Robert Morris vs. Sacred Heart
Friday, January 22- 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, January 23 - 7:05 p.m.
RMU Island Sports Center - Pittsburgh, Pa.

Last Time Out - This past weekend the Colonials dropped two contests to the Wayne State Warriors by scores of 1-0 and 3-2. The games marked the fourth and fifth games of the season that the Colonials fell to their opponent by just one goal. In game one, Robert Morris and Wayne State fought through two scoreless periods, but the Warriors were able to break the deadlock with a goal at 7:31 in the third period, which ended up being the game-winner. Freshman goalie Kristen DiCiocco recorded 18 saves in the defeat. In game two, Robert Morris scored two 3-on-5 goals within two minutes of each other to take a 2-0 lead in the second period. Freshman Kathleen McDonald scored the first tally at 6:22 and rookie Jamie Joslin added the second goal at 7:35. However, the Warriors responded with back-to-back goals a couple minutes later to knot the score 2-2 and then scored a shorthanded goal in the third period to earn the win. The two losses bring the Colonials all-time record against Wayne State to 2-18-0.

Scouting the Sacred Heart Pioneers - The Pioneers took on Neumann in a two game series last week and fell to the Knights by scores of 5-3 and 10-4. In game one, the Knights scored three goals in the first period to take a 3-0 lead heading into the second period. SHU's Brittany Hartman scored a power play goal at 4:23 in the second period, which was followed by another Pioneer goal by Lauren Fontaine at 7:42 to cut Neumann's lead to 3-2. However, before the expiration of the second period, the Knights scored their fourth goal to set the score at 4-2. Fontaine scored her second goal of the contest at 1:21 to make it a one-goal game again, but Newmann scored another goal with 50 seconds left in the period to take the 5-3 win. In game two, four different Pioneers scored goals, but Sacred Heart was dominated by the Knights who scored 10 goals throughout the contest.

The Pioneers are led by Lauren Fontaine who has accumulated 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points. Brittany Hartman is second on the team with nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points and Kate Dunlop is third with six goals and 10 assists.  The Pioneers probable starting goalie is Emily Siira. She has earned four of the team's wins and has collected 400 saves and a .862 save percentage. The Pioneers are headed by Tom O'Malley who is in his sixth season with the team and helped transition the team from Division III to Division I.

Quotes from Coach Handrahan - "We need to get back to executing the fundamental skills of the game, such as crisp passing, hitting the net, finishing plays off and having a better overall urgency.  Our team needs to put together two full 60 minute performances and if we do that, we should be happy with the result, whatever it may be."

On the Internet - All Robert Morris men's and women's hockey home games can be heard live on the internet by visiting www.rmucolonials.com. Gero Von Dehn returns for his sixth season of play-by-play.

Last Meeting - The last time the Colonials and the Pioneeers met was in a two-game series on Jan.24 and Jan. 25. Robert Morris topped Sacred Heart by scores of 7-2 and 12-0. In RMU's 7-2 win over the Pioneers sophomore Brianna Delaney led the Colonials with two goals and two assists, while Chelsea Walkland led in assists with three, while also adding one goal. RMU was up 2-1 after the first period with goals by Walkland and Delaney. Former Colonial Megan Picinic scored the only goal in the second period and RMU had a scoring surge of four goals in the third with SHU tallying only one score to earn the 7-2 victory. The next night, the Colonials earned an even more impressive victory by shutting out the Pioneers 12-0. In the win junior Maria Stoa captured her first career hat trick, Chelsea Walkland recorded a career-high five points with four assists and one goal, Brianna Delaney tallied her second consecutive two-goal, two-assist performance and as a team the Colonials recorded a program record of three shorthanded goals.

Oh My O'Malley - So far this season, Sara O'Malley has been the most reliable scorer for the Colonials. She currently leads the squad with 10 goals and is second on the team with 18 points.   She has scored at least one point in 13 games and has collected five multi-point games, including a two-goal game in RMU's 4-1 win against Minnesota Duluth.

Joslin Jams - Freshman Jamie Joslin is the only Colonial to have scored at least one goal in the past two series. She scored one goal and against Connecticut and scored another goal in RMU's 3-2 loss to the Warriors, which brings her goal total to four. She now leads all Colonial rookies for goals scored and is tied with freshman Jennifer Kindret with seven points.

The Difference is One - Although falling to the Wayne State Warriors in both games last weekend, the Colonials fell by only one goal in each contest. Throughout the season, Robert Morris has dropped five contests by just one goal.

Blues of Twos - This season the Colonials have had players score two points 16 times with Sara O'Malley and Brianna Delaney performing the feat five times apiece. However, no Colonial seems to be able to break the two-point barrier. Since the program's beginning there have been 25 occasions where a Colonial has scored at least three points in a game with the record being held by Maria Olausson, who scored seven points against Chatham on October 27, 2006.

Colonials Against Nationally Ranked Teams - The Colonials have faced five nationally ranked opponents so far this season and have put on spectacular showings in every game. On November 6, the Colonials topped the No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers 3-1, which marked their second win over a nationally ranked opponent this season. They defeated No. 4 Minnesota Duluth, 4-1 on October 3, 2009. In addition, although falling to No. 10 Boston University on October 9 and No. 6 Wisconsin on Nov 7, they forced both teams into overtime. In three out of six losses to nationally ranked opponents the Colonials have only been defeated by one goal.

Power Recovery - The Colonials have recently been struggling on the power play, but on January 8th they were able to end their streak of games without a power play goal by scoring two against Connecticut at Mellon Arena. This past weekend they continued to improve on the power play, as both of the goals they scored against Wayne State were scored on the power play. Although they are still last in the CHA with a .128 conversion percentage, they are ranked second in the league for penalty killing percentage with a .848 percentage. They have allowed just 15 opponent power-play goals on 99 attempts.

Kelsey in the Klutch - Although Kelsey Thomas has only scored three goals so far this season, two of them have been at crucial points for the Colonials. She scored her first goal against Maine 44 seconds into overtime to win the game for the Colonials 1-0. In RMU's game against Niagara, Thomas found the net with eight seconds left in the third period to knot the score 2-2 against Niagara and force overtime.

First and Foremost - When the Colonials score the first goal of the contest they will more than likely win the contest. Robert Morris is 5-3-0 when scoring the first goal of the contest and has won every game when they have scored the first goal.

The Woes of Overtime - The Colonials conquered their streak of eight winless overtime games played on October 24, 2009 when a goal by Kelsey Thomas gave RMU a 1-0 win over Maine in the extra period. However, the Colonials soon started another streak of winless overtime games. They fell to Wisconsin 3-2 after 3:13 in overtime on Nov. 7, 2009 and left their game against Niagara knotted 2-2 after five minutes of overtime on Nov. 15, 2009. Since the program's beginning the Colonials are 3-9-9 in overtime games.

Gibson at a Glance - Not only is senior Jacki Gibson a solid defenseman for the Colonials, but she is also a reliable playmaker for RMU. This past weekend she added to her point total by assisting on a goal in RMU's 3-2 loss to the Warriors. She is currently tied for third on the team with seven helpers and has also registered two goals this season, which sits her third with nine points. She is ranked seventh in league for defenseman scoring.

Delaney Delivers - Sophomore Brianna Delaney currently leads the Colonials with 11 assists and nine goals for 20 points. She captured her 11th assist this past weekend by assisting on Kathleen McDonald's goal. She is ranked ninth in the league for points and is tied for fourth in the CHA for power play goals scored with five. She has scored at least one point in 15-of-23 games and has tallied five multi-point games, including tallying two assists in RMU's 3-1 upset over No. 6 Wisconsin. She also scored an unassisted goal in RMU's 4-1 win over No.4 Minnesota  Duluth.

Olympic Bound - Brianne McLaughlin - Former RMU goalie Brianne McLaughlin was selected as one of three goalies to the 2010 U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Team. The U.S. team, which includes three goaltenders, six defensemen and 12 forwards, will continue competing in the Qwest Tour until departing for the Olympics on Feb. 7. The opening ceremonies are slated for Feb. 12, with Team USA's first game taking place on Feb. 13 against China.                      

The roster highlights six Olympians and 19 World Champions. The team was selected from the 23 players who made up the 2009-10 U.S. Women's National Team. The group has been training in Blaine, Minn., at the National Sports Center's Schwan Super Rink since early September, in addition to competing on the Qwest Tour and in two international tournaments. 

McLaughlin was a member of the 2009-10 U.S. Women's National Team, the 2008-09 U.S. U-22 National Team and was a participant in the 2009 Frozen Four Skills Challenge. In addition, last year she became the NCAA Division I All-Time Career Saves Leader with 3,809 and was named to the All-CHA First Team. Her résumé includes three USCHO.com National Defensive Player of the Week honors, 12 CHA Defensive Player of the Week awards and four consecutive years on the All-CHA team.

Preseason Predictions - Robert Morris was selected second in the 2009-10 College Hockey America women's ice hockey coaches' poll, which is the highest the Colonials have ever finished since the start of the program. Defending conference champion and national runner-up, Mercyhurst collected four first-place votes and 16 points as the preseason favorite to win the conference. Robert Morris landed the second spot with 12 points and Wayne State was chosen third, earning one first-place vote and nine points. Syracuse grabbed the fourth spot with eight points and Niagara closed out the poll in fifth with five points.  Sophomore Brianna Delaney was the only Colonial to earn a spot on the Preseason All-CHA Team. Mercyhurst led the league with five members of the Preseason All-CHA team, while Wayne State had two and Syracuse had one.