Robert Morris Colonials (9-3-0) vs. Lindenwood Lions (0-10-2)
Friday, Nov. 15 / 84 Lumber Arena - Pittsburgh, Pa. / 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 16 / 84 Lumber Arena - Pittsburgh, Pa. / 3:05 p.m.
Top Story -
Robert Morris' five-game winning streak ended last Friday at the hands of in-state rival Mercyhurst, but the Colonials came back on Saturday to split the series and stay ahead of the nationally-ranked Lakers in the CHA standings. The latter of the two contests featured goals from
Katie Fergus,
Rebecca Vint, and
Kelsey Gunn, and saw freshman goaltender
Jessica Dodds earn her seventh win of the season. At 9-3-0 overall, RMU is in a tie for the second most wins nationally with Boston University and Boston College.
Series vs. Lindenwood - The Colonials are 7-3-0 all-time against Lindenwood, with all of those losses coming last season. The Lions took three out of the four regular season meetings with RMU in 2012-13, but were swept in a thrilling CHA Quarterfinal series this past March. Game 1 of that series featured the longest game in Colonial program history, as it lasted a total of 108 minutes before
Cobina Delaney lit the lamp in the third overtime to win it 2-1. In Game 2's 2-0 victory,
Kristen DiCiocco earned second shutout of the season after stopping all 24 shots she faced.
Scouting Lindenwood - Lindenwood is still searching for their first win of the 2013-14 campaign, but they do hold ties against Bemidji State and RIT. This is the longest the Lions have gone without a win to start the season in their history as a Division I program - in their other two seasons, they went 10 games before capturing their first victory of the season. Junior forward Kendra Broad leads Lindenwood in points on the season with five (2 goals, 3 assists), and sophomore goaltender Nicole Hensley has made a nation-high 447 saves - 136 more than second place. Hensley also made a NCAA record 90 saves in last season's CHA Quarterfinal Game 1.
Last Time Out - The Colonials took on No. 9 Mercyhurst last weekend for their CHA home opener and came away with a split against their in-state rivals. The split moved RMU's record to 6-5-1 in their last 12 meetings with the Lakers and 4-1 in their last five home contests with Mercyhurst.
The series started off on a sour note, as the Colonials fell in Friday's opener, 2-0.
Junior goaltender Courtney Vinet earned the start between the pipes and played well, stopping 32 of 34 shots. However, the Colonial power play unit went 0-9 on their opportunities, while the Lakers received second period goals from Emily Janiga and Jaclyn Arbour.
Amanda Makela, the CHA Goaltender of the Month, picked up the shutout victory with 31 saves.
RMU took the rubber match on Saturday, 3-2.
The Colonials picked up all three of their goals in the first period, and in turn, forced Mercyhurst to remove Makela for the first time this season.
After a poor performance on the power play the day before, RMU capitialized on their first two man advantages with goals from junior forwards Katie Fergus and Rebecca Vint. Fergus picked up her second goal of the season after sophomore linemate Ashley Vesci fed her the puck in the crease. Vint tallied her team-high sixth of the campaign when she skated from end to end and buried the puck past Makela.
Junior defenseman Kelsey Gunn scored her first goal of the season with 3:15 remaining in the period, as she forced a turnover and sniped one top-shelf.
Kathy Donohue found the back of the net in the second period to cut the lead to two, and Janiga picked up her second goal of the series in the third period to make it a one-goal game. However, freshman goaltender Jessica Dodds made 15 of her 25 saves in the final stanza to win her seventh game of the season.
On The Doorstep - The Colonials earned votes in both the USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine Women's College Hockey and United States College Hockey Online (USCHO) polls this week, marking the third week in a row that RMU has been recognized in both national rankings.
Robert Morris hit double-digit votes on both polls for the first time in program history, earning a record-breaking 15 from USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine and a program-high 10 from USCHO.com.
The Colonials are on the doorstep of the Top 10 in both national rankings, slotting in as the first team in the 'receiving votes' category. RMU is just four points behind No. 10 Mercyhurst in the USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine poll, and seven behind the Lakers in the USCHO.com Poll.
This is the fourth time that the Colonials have been recognized by national poll this season. RMU received votes in the USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine rankings after their 6-2 exhibition victory over the Toronto Jr. Aeros at the end of September, and then respectively picked up one and two votes in the USCHO.com and USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine polls following a sweep of Vermont on Oct. 25-26. The Colonials received five votes from USCHO.com and 10 votes from USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine in last week's polls after a sweep of Penn State at Pegula Ice Arena.
Lion Tamers - Junior forward Rebecca Vint has been the biggest thorn in Lindenwood's paw over the last two years, as she's tallied 13 points (8 goals, 5 assists) in 10 games against the Lions. Vint has registered points in eight of 10 meetings with Lindenwood, and has scored multiple goals twice (Oct. 7, 2011 and Nov. 13, 2011).
Fellow classmate Katie Fergus has also enjoyed a lot of success against the Lions. Fergus has compiled 10 points (5 goals, 5 assists), including two assists in Game 2 of the CHA Quarterfinals last season. The junior forward picked up her first career multi-goal game in a 7-2 victory over Lindenwood on Nov. 8, 2011.
Last season, it was Maddie Collias who enjoyed playing the Lions the most. The junior forward tallied four goals and an assist in six meetings with Lindenwood, including two goals in the 5-2 win on Jan. 12, 2013 and the tying goal in Game 1 of the 2013 CHA Quarterfinals.
I'll Take The Saturday Special - The Colonials have enjoyed Saturdays moreso than Friday evenings in this early season, as they have won all five games played on the weekend's first day.
Robert Morris has used Saturdays as bounce-back days this year, with three of those five weekend wins coming after a Friday loss. The Colonials did this in their opening series against RPI, as they outlasted the Engineers in overtime to win 3-2, and then picked up a big 3-0 victory against No. 7/8 Boston University following a 5-2 loss the night before. RMU came back from last Friday's 2-0 defeat to Mercyhurst with a 3-2 victory to split the series.
The Colonials also have clinched two sweeps on Saturdays, as they beat Bemidji State 3-0 on Oct. 12 and defeated Vermont on Oct. 26.
RMU plays on three more Saturdays in 2013, as they host Lindenwood on Nov. 16 and RIT on Dec. 7, and travel to Syracuse on Nov. 23.
October's Glory Maples - Following a blistering start to their collegiate careers, freshmen Brittany Howard and Jessica Dodds were honored by the CHA in their October monthly awards last Tuesday.
Howard, a St. Thomas, Ontario native, was named CHA Player of the Month after coming out of the month with the conference lead in assists (13), points (17), power play points (6), and game-winning goals (2). The forward also ranks first, tied for first, tied for fourth, and tied for second in those respective categories, nationally.
After collecting her first career goal and assists in a 3-0 victory over RPI on Oct. 5, there hasn't been a game that Howard hasn't registered at least a point in. The freshman carries a nine-game point streak into this weekend's home series, and has tallied multiple points in six of those contests. In wins over Vermont (1 goal, 2 assists) and at Penn State (3 assists), Howard collected a career-best three points.
Dodds, a London, Ontario native, was honored with the CHA Rookie of the Month award. The goaltender leads the CHA in wins (6) and goals against average (1.49), is tied for first in shutouts (3), and slots third in save percentage (.932). Nationally, Dodds ranks tied for fourth, eight, tied for third, and 13th in those respective categories.
Dodds made her collegiate debut on Oct. 5 against RPI, With the Colonials facing being swept, the freshmen held the Engineers to just two third-period goals, and earned her first win of her career in overtime. Dodds then earned starts in Saturday contests at Bemidji State and against No. 7/8 Boston University, and shut down both offenses to pick up her first two career shutouts.
Storming Out of the Gates - A start of 9-3-0 means this is the third straight season in which the Colonials compiled a winning record in their first 10 games. Â
RMU's best start through 12 games came in the 2011-12 CHA Championship year, as the Colonials began that campaign 10-1-1. RMU started with victories in their first three games before dropping the final game of a series to Minnesota State. The Colonials bounced back with a sweep at RPI, took a two-game set with St. Cloud State with a win and a tie, and broke out the brooms against future CHA member Lindenwood.
RMU ended up winning two more games against Colgate and Yale, but fell to Quinnipiac to end their unbeaten streak at eight games.
Record Watch - Senior assistant captain Thea Imbrogno ranks in the career top five in Robert Morris program history for points, goals and assists. 12 games into 2013-14 season, Imbrogno ranks tied for second in career points and second in career assists. Imbrogno also ranks tied for third in career goals scored with 44. If she finishes the year similar to her previous three seasons, then she could end up threatening at the top marks in all of those categories.
Imbrogno also holds spots in the same categories for single season performance. She worked her way into the single-season record books after an impressive sophomore campaign. Imrbrogno ranks second in single-season points, tied for fourth in single-season goals scored and second in single-season assists.
Junior forward Rebecca Vint reset the single-season record book last season as a freshman, and added onto that with a successful sophomore campaign. 12 games into the 2013-14 season, Vint ranks fourth in career points, tied for third in goals, and fifth in assists. She also holds the program's single-season records in points, goals, and assists, and cracked the top five in points (third) and goals (tied for fourth) after her second season.
If Imbrogno breaks Brianna Delaney's career marks in her senior campaign, Vint could topple them in her final season as a Colonial in 2014-15.
Delayne's Debut - Former Robert Morris goaltender Delayne Brian made her professional debut on Sunday as she started between the pipes for the Calgary Inferno against the Brampton Thunder.
Brian stopped 23 of 25 shots and held the Thunder scoreless in an overtime period to earn the Inferno's first point of the season, but Brampton won in a shootout to pick up their first victory of the year.
The Inferno are 0-1-1 through two games. Brian leads the team in goals against average (1.85), saves (23), and save percentage (.920).
Looking Back - The Colonials have played twice on Nov. 15 and twice on Nov. 16 in program history.
RMU is currently 0-2 on Nov. 15 with both contests coming against Niagara.
In 2008, the Colonials fell to the Purple Eagles by the score of 3-2 at the RMU Island Sports Center. Robert Morris went up 2-0 with goals from Brianna Delaney and Jenny Montelone, but gave up three unanswered goals in the second and third periods to give up the lead. Brianne McLaughlin made 25 saves in the loss.
In 2009, RMU skated to a 2-2 at Niagara. Facing a 2-0 deficit, Delaney scored 9:52 into the final period to bring the Colonials within one, and then Kelsey Thomas tied it with eight seconds remaining. Deneca Butterfield stopped 22 shots on the contest.
The Colonials are 1-1 on games played on Nov. 16.
In 2007, Bemidji State snapped RMU's four game winning streak with a 3-2 victory. The Colonials fell down 3-0 early, but almost pulled off the comeback with power play goals from Sara O'Malley and Kristen Miles. Brianne McLaughlin made 23 saves on the contest.
Last season, RMU picked up a 3-2 win against RPI in the Empire State. Maddie Collias, Thea Imbrogno, and Delaney all tallied goals in the victory, while Kristen DiCiocco made 25 saves to pick up her fifth win of the season.
