Box Score

Pittsburgh, Pa. – Behind some help from local Pittsburgh product Ashley Vesci (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Lawrence Academy [Mass.]), the Robert Morris University women's hockey team earned a split against No. 7/8 Boston University with a 3-0 victory this afternoon.

Vesci, a sophomore forward, registered the first goal of her career at the 10:08 mark of the first period. Junior forward Katie Fergus (Oakville, Ontario / Burlington Jr. Barracudas) caused a turnover in the Colonial offensive zone and saw Vesci cutting towards the net. Fergus then fed Vesci the puck, and the Steel City native pushed it past Boston goaltender Victoria Hanson to give the Colonials an early 1-0 lead.

RMU would hold that lead going into the second period, thanks to some stellar goaltending from freshman Jessica Dodds (London, Ontario / London Jr. Devilettes). The Colonials earned a 5-on-3 power play thanks to an interference call on Caroline Campbell and a checking penalty on Lillian Braga. A turnover would give Boston's Louise Warren a breakaway attempt, but Dodds stonewalled the senior forward to keep it at 1-0.

The Colonials would capitalize by lighting the lamp less than a minute later. Now on a 5-on-4 power play, senior captain Kristen Richards (Toronto, Ontario / Niagara University) would find freshman forward Brittany Howard (St. Thomas, Ontario / Burlington Jr. Barracudas) down the right end, and the first-year player would rifle a shot on net. Hanson made the initial save, but the puck rebounded right to fellow freshman Maeve Garvey (Oakville, Ontario / Burlington Jr. Barracudas), who would then bat it in for her second goal of the season.

After a roughing penalty on junior forward Rebecca Vint (Caldeon, Ontario / Brampton Junior Thunder) with 1:05 left in the third period, head coach Paul Colontino would call a timeout to set up his defense for the upcoming Terrier power play. Boston would pull their goalie to make it a 6-on-4 advantage, but the RMU penalty kill unit held strong and didn't allow a shot on net. Senior defenseman Kylie St. Louis (Windsor, Ontario / Southwest Wildcats) would bury the empty-netter from the far blue line with 42 seconds left to set the final.

Dodds earned her second-straight shutout with 21 saves on the afternoon.  The freshman netminder – who was named co-Goaltender of the Week by the CHA after her performance against Bemidji State last week – currently holds a scoreless streak of 124:04.

The win gives the Colonials their second-straight Saturday win of three goals, and also is the first win over a nationally-ranked opponent since Feb. 8, 2013, when RMU defeated No. 7 Mercyhurst, 4-2.

The Colonials move to 4-2-0 and will continue their homestand next weekend as they face Vermont. The first game is set for Friday at 7:05 p.m. from 84 Lumber Arena.