Pittsburgh, Pa.  - Jan. 8, 2010 - For the second season the Robert Morris University Colonials appeared in the Pittsburgh College Showcase and fell to the Connecticut Huskies, 4-2 on Friday afternoon at Mellon Arena. The Colonials played an aggressive third period, scoring the final two goals of the contest, but their late comeback was not enough to surpass the Huskies four goal cushion.  

The first period remained relatively quiet until Connecticut's Maude Blain grabbed her first career goal on a short-handed play. Brittany Murphy intercepted the puck on a RMU power-play and handed it off to Kelly Horan, who took off on a breakaway. Horan sent the puck to Blain who fired it past junior goalie Daneca Butterfield (Kronau Saskatchewan / Notre Dame Hounds) to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

Just like the first period there was no scoring for the first half of the period. At 12:22 UConn's Michelle Binning added to the Huskies lead when she squeezed the puck through Butterfield and the near goal post. Monique Weber and Amy Hollstein assisted on the play.

Less than two minutes later the Huskies found the net for the third time of the contest when Tiffany Good scored a power play goal off assists from Maude Blaine and Murphy. Following UConn's third goal the Colonials made a goalie change and freshman Kristen DiCiocco (Niagara Falls, Ontario / Stoney Creek Sabres) entered the game.

The Colonials outshot the Huskies 12 to 10 in the second period, but were unable to connect on any of their shots.

Connecticut took a 4-0 lead at 9:43 in the final stanza of action when Lisa Stathopulos fired the puck into the RMU net. Jennifer Chaisson and Jody Sydor were credited with the assists on the play.

The Colonials refused to give up and scored two goals before the end of regulation. At 11:38 freshman Jamie Joslin (Richmond Hill, Ontario / Aurora Panthers) scored RMU's first goal of the contest and third of her career off assists from freshmen teammates Dayna Newsom (Oakville, Ontario / Oakville Ice) and Cobina Delaney (Stittsville, Ontario / Ottawa Senators) during a power play.

With three minutes left in regulation, Robert Morris pulled its goalie and with less than a minute left in the contest was given a power play to gain a 6-on-4 advantage. Jacki Gibson (Burlington, Ontario / Burlington Barracudas) gave sophomore Brianna Delaney (Stittsville, Ontario / NCCP Raiders) a perfect pass in front of the net and Delaney solidly struck the puck into the net at 19:41 to finalize the score 4-2. Sara O'Malley (Guelph, Ontario / Hamilton Hawks) was credited with the second assist.

Robert Morris outshot the Huskies 29 to 21 and went two-for-seven on the power play, while Connecticut went one-for-four.

The Colonials duo of Butterfield and DiCiocco made 17 saves, with Butterfield making 13 stops, while Connecticut netminder Alexandra Garcia grabbed 27 saves.

The Huskies and Colonials return to the ice tomorrow for game two of the series at the RMU Island Sports Center at 4:00 p.m.