Moon Township, Pa. - Junior Kristen DiCiocco (Niagara Falls, Ontario / Stoney Creek Jr. Sabres) and freshman Rebecca Vint (Caledon, Ontario / Brampton Junior Thunder) of the Robert Morris University women's hockey team swept the weekly awards given out by College Hockey America (CHA) as announced in a league release Tuesday.
Vint earned CHA Player of the Week honors along with CHA Rookie of the Week accolades while DiCiocco was selected as the CHA Goaltender of the Week.
It marks the second time this season that RMU has swept the CHA's awards and the third time since mid-November that the Colonials have had at least two student-athletes honored in the same week.
DiCiocco has now earned the goalie of the week award after each of the last three weeks in which RMU has competed, becoming the first Colonial netminder to accomplish this feat since her current assistant coach, Brianne McLaughlin, pulled the trick in 2006. Additionally, with freshman Courtney Vinet (Camrose, Alberta / Edge School) winning the same honor in November, Colonial goaltenders have combined to secure this distinction in each of the last four weeks in which Robert Morris has played.
DiCiocco, who claimed her fourth overall league honor, started both games in net this past weekend against nationally-ranked Bemidji State and nearly helped the Colonials pull off a pair of upsets. She posted a team season-high 36 saves Friday against the Beavers as part of the RMU Hockey Showcase at Consol Energy Center. It was the second-highest mark of her career and her eighth 30+ save performance for the Colonials. DiCiocco concluded the series by registering 24 more stops against Bemidji State.
Entering the 2012 calendar year, DiCiocco has a 1.78 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. If she can maintain those averages, both of those figures would eclipse the current marks in the Robert Morris single-season record book.
With her awards, Vint becomes the first Colonial in school history to earn multiple player of the week honors in the same season. The pair of honors also represent the fifth and sixth of her young career. Furthermore, with Vint taking this accolade again, a Robert Morris rookie has now earned weekly league recognition in eight of the last 12 regular-season weeks in which RMU has competed.
After a 19-day layoff for the Colonials, Vint began the second half of the campaign in similar fashion to the way she began the season in October as the freshman tallied a multi-point performance against nationally-ranked Bemidji State in the RMU Hockey Showcase. It was her eighth multi-point outing in her first 16 collegiate games as she also moved into a tie for third in single-season school history in goals scored. The following afternoon Vint provided an assist to push her team-leading point total to 27 as RMU rallied before narrowly falling to the Beavers, 3-2.
Along with DiCiocco, Vint is closing in on surpassing current RMU records as she is on pace to top RMU's current high marks for points, goals and assists in a season. She also ranks among the top 10 nationally in goals per game (.88) and is fourth nationally in points per game among rookies (1.59).
Robert Morris will continue non-conference play this weekend with a two-game set at Providence. The Colonials and Friars will meet Friday, Jan. 6, at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 7, at 1:00 p.m.
