Game Notes in Complete PDF Format

Robert Morris vs. Connecticut
Friday, January 8 - 2:00 p.m.
Mellon Arena
Saturday, January 9 - 4:00 p.m.
RMU Island Sports Center

Last Time Out - Robert Morris is coming off a two-game series loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes. They fell in game one by a score of 4-1 with junior Sara O'Malley scoring RMU's only goal. Junior goalie Daneca Butterfield finished the game with 30 saves. In game two, Ohio State scored the first goal of the contest just 42 seconds into play. Once again, RMU's most reliable scorer Sara O'Malley was able to find the net at 4:18 in the first period to tie the score, 1-1. However, the Buckeyes quickly escalated to a 4-1 lead by adding three more goals to their total before the end of the first period. Ohio State was able to score two more goals before the end of regulation, while holding RMU scoreless to finalize the score 6-1.

Scouting the Connecticut Huskies - This past week the Huskies took on Dartmouth in a two-game series. Connecticut topped the Big Green 3-2 in game one and battled Dartmouth to a 3-3 tie in game two. UCONN's Casey Knajdek scored her first career goal to start game one at 1:22 in the first period. Before the end of the first period Amy Hollstein added another score to give the Huskies a 2-0 lead. Dartmouth captured the lone goal of the second period to cut into Connecticut's lead and then scored again just 21 seconds into the third period to tie the game 3-3. However, the Huskies were able to find the net before the end of regulation to earn the 3-2 win. Unlike game one, Dartmouth started off game two with the first two goals, but UCONN answered back with a goal from Hollstein and two power play goals from Michelle Binning giving it a 3-2 lead. Dartmouth captured a power play goal at 10:05 in the third period to knot the game 3-3.

Michelle Binning leads the Huskies with 10 goals and 16 points, while Cristin Allen leads the team with 12 assists and is third on the team with 13 points. Monique Weber is second on the squad with eight goals and six assists for 14 points. The Huskies probable starting goalie will be Alexandra Garcia. She has earned six wins this season and has a .915 save percentage and a 2.01 GAA.

Connecticut is headed by Heather Linstad who is in her 10th season with the Huskies. Prior to coming to Connecticut, she coached at Northeastern and has collected 281 wins between both schools, which places her third on the all-time win list for active NCAA Division I women's ice hockey coaches and fourth on the all-time list.

Quotes from Coach Handrahan - "We put together our schedule this year to help prepare our young team for the future. We have played in some great games and even won a few big ones, but we are sticking with our plan. Having a great team like UCONN coming here is another step in that direction. I expect them to be a well coached, hard working team. Should be fun."

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.

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 17 points. She is currently on a four-game scoring streak, having scored at least one goal in RMU's past four games.  She has scored at least one point in 12 games and has collected five multi-point games, including a two-goal game in RMU's 4-1 win against Minnesota Duluth.

Colonials and the Hockey East - Although this will be RMU's first meeting against the Connecticut Huskies, they will not be the first Hockey East team the Colonials have faced. Over the years, Robert Morris has established a 9-12-1 record against teams in the WCHA with two of them coming this year against Maine. In past years RMU has earned wins over Maine, Vermont and Northeastern.

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 Struggle - The Colonials have recently been struggling on the power play and have only scored three power-play goals in their last eight games. They are currently last in the CHA with a .115 conversion percentage, having capitalized on just 10 of 87 opportunities. However, the Colonials are ranked second in the league for penalty killing percentage with a .852 percentage. They have allowed just 12 opponent power-play goals on 81 attempts.

Kindrit Killin It ... - Freshman Jennifer Kindret leads all Colonial rookies with three assists and six points. In RMU's impressive  3-1 win over Wisconsin, Kindret tallied two of RMU's three goals, which makes her one of only two Colonials this season to record two goals in one game. She recorded another goal earlier in the season in RMU's win over Maine. This past weekend at Ohio State she assisted on one of Sara O'Malley's goals.

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. She is tied for first with Jennifer Kindret for rookies scoring with three goals.

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.

Captain Pappas - Junior captain Whitney Pappas has proved her ability to lead this team in the 2009-10 season. She is currently tied for third on the team with three goals. She scored the Colonials first goal of the season against Minnesota Duluth on October 2 and assisted on RMU's second goal then next night against Duluth when the Colonials won 4-1. On October 9, she recorded the game-tying goal against No. 10 Boston to send the contest into overtime and she scored one goal and one assist in the series against St. Lawrence.

Butter on a Roll - Over the past four seasons the Colonials have had a strong goalie to secure the Robert Morris net. A few months ago this goalie, Brianne McLaughlin, was chosen to compete on the U.S. National Team and many were wondering if RMU would be able to fill this position with someone as strong. However, junior goalie Daneca Butterfield stepped up to the challenge and has been resilient and consistent from the start of the 2009-10 season. She has been a key factor in both RMU wins over No. 4 Minnesota Duluth and No. 6 Wisconsin. Combined from both wins she totaled 73 saves and a .973 save percentage. After 19 games she has established a .908 save percentage, a  2.99 GAA and has been named CHA Defensive Player of the Week three times this year.

Struggles at Home - After the first-half of the season the Colonials have been having a tough time on home ice with only a 1-5-0 record. This season is the first time since 2006-07 that Robert Morris will start the second-half of the season below .500 on home ice. However, the Colonials won their last home game and will look to build a streak upon that victory this weekend.

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.