Robert Morris Colonials (0-2-0, 0-0-0 CHA) @ Maine Black Bears (1-0-0, 1-0-0 Hockey East)
Friday, October 3, 2014 / Harold Alfond Sports Arena – Orono, Maine  / 7:00 PM
Saturday, October 4, 2014 / Harold Alfond Sports Arena – Orono, Maine  / 1:00 PM

Top Story – Robert Morris hits the road this weekend for its first games outside the Steel City in 2014-15 as the Colonials take on Maine. The Colonials knocked off the Black Bears last season on Black Friday, 4-2, behind a historic four-goal performance from Brittany Howard. RMU was strong on the road last season, compiling a record of 10-3-2 away from the friendly confines of 84 Lumber Arena. The Colonials are coming off a disappointing start last weekend as they were swept by Bemidji State at home by the scores of 5-2 and 3-1. RMU had previously lost their first two games of the season in 2007-08, when they dropped contests to No. 2 Mercyhurst and No. 1 Wisconsin.


 
Series History – The Colonials have been successful against the Black Bears in their program history, going 7-3-1 in 11 meetings with Maine. Those seven victories include a thrilling 1-0 overtime win on Oct. 24, 2009 when Kelsey Thomas lit the lamp just 44 seconds into the extra frame. RMU's first games as a NCAA Division I program were played versus the Black Bears on Oct. 8-9, 2005, as Kristen Miles scored the program's first goal in a 3-1 defeat. Since Maine swept the Colonials in that 2005-06 season, RMU has won seven of its last nine meetings against the Black Bears, with a lone 4-2 loss on Nov. 26, 2010 being the only blemish.
 
Scouting Maine – Maine comes into this meeting having won its season opener, defeating New Hampshire, 2-1. Junior defenseman Kelsey MacSorley was named Hockey East's Warrior Hockey Player of the Week after scoring the game-winning goal in that contest. The Black Bears finished 2013-14 with an overall record of 7-20-5 and a mark of 5-13-3 in conference. Maine returns its top scorer in junior forward Audra Richards, who had 15 goals and three assists a season ago. Also back for the Black Bears is junior goaltender Meghann Treacy, who posted a .907 save percentage and a goals against average of 3.03 as a sophomore.
 
Last Time Out – Robert Morris began the 2014-15 season this past weekend against the Bemidji State, eager to build off the momentum of its record of 24-8-3 from a season ago. However, the Beavers would have none of that as they swept the Colonials in two games.
 
BSU took the first game, 5-2, behind a three-goal third period.
 
Rebecca Vint and Erin Staniewski each scored for the Colonials, as the latter's goal was the first of her career. Brittany Howard and Megan Eady assisted on Vint's tally, while Garvey and Gunn picked the helpers for Staniewski.
 
Jessica Dodds made 30 saves in defeat.
 
The series finale saw RMU go up early, but ultimately fall 3-1.
 
Staniewski potted the lone Colonial goal, scoring on the power play off assists from Maddie Collias and Katelyn Scott.
 
Courtney Vinet stopped 21 of 23 shots she faced in the loss.

Know Your Enemy – With this season's Colonials squad only playing Maine once in their history, it's easy to pick out a player who has stood out.
 
Brittany Howard scored twice in the second period and twice in the third to lead RMU to a 4-2 victory over the Black Bears on Nov. 29, 2013. The four-goal effort was the third best single-season performance in program history.
 
Assisting on three of those goals was Rebecca Vint, which established a new career-high for the forward.

Offensive Defenseman – Senior defenseman Erin Staniewski scored twice this past weekend against Bemidji State, giving her the first CHA Player of the Week of the season.
 
The last Colonial defenseman to collected CHA Player of the Week honors was Kylie St. Louis, who shared the award with Kelsey Thomas after a six-point weekend (3g, 3a) at Lindenwood on Nov. 14, 2011.
 
The program single-season record for goals by a defenseman is six, which was set by Jamie Joslin during the 2009-10 season. Anneline Lauziere broke the school record for points by a defenseman last season with 18.

The 100 Club – Senior assistant captain Maddie Collias played in the 100th game of her career last weekend against Bemidji State, becoming the 30th player in program history to reach the century mark.
 
Three other seniors are within striking distance of "The 100 Club" this season. Katie Fergus already topped the mark in the CHA Semifinals last seaosn.
 
Rebecca Vint and Katelyn Scott need to play in one and two contests, respectively, to reach 100 career games played. Erin Staniewski is 18 contests shy of the century mark.
 
Kelsey Gunn is 11 games away from 100, although she played 26 of those at Niagara University in 2011-12.
 
New assistant coach Chelsea Walkland is the program's all-time leader for games played with 140.

A Household Name – Robert Morris continues to make its presence in the national scene as it was recognized by this week's USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine Poll.
 
The Colonials received four votes in the rankings and are one of three teams - future RMU opponents Northeastern and Quinnipiac being the others - that are in the 'receiving votes' section of the poll.
 
USCHO did not release a poll this week.

One is Good, Two is Better – When Erin Staniewski lit the lamp in the Colonials' season-opener against Bemidji State, she had set a new record for most games played (80) before scoring her first goal.
 
The previous mark was set by Jenny Monteleone, who went 78 games before pushing the puck past a Niagara goaltender on Nov. 15, 2008.
 
In addition, Staniewski became the seventh different player to score the first two goals of her career in consecutive games. The senior defenseman joined Jamie Ferrentino, Kathryn Traynor, Mallory Giambra, Jamie Joslin, Kathleen McDonald, and Katie Fergus among those to accomplish the feat.
 
Five RMU players have scored their first two career goals in the same game: Vanessa Zwegers (Feb. 18, 2006 vs. Sacred Heart), Jessica Riley (Jan. 21, 2007 at Northeastern), Courtney Langston (Jan. 23, 2010 vs. Sacred Heart), Rebecca Vint (Oct. 7, 2011 vs. Lindenwood), and Anissa Gamble (Oct. 26, 2013 vs. Vermont).

A Streak Ended – Despite denting the scoreboard first in their game against Bemidji State last Saturday, the Colonials fell 3-1 to the Beavers and saw a streak come to an end.
 
Prior to that loss, RMU had gone 22-0-1 in its last 23 games when scoring first. Last season alone, the Colonials were 20-0-1 in that situation.
 
The last time RMU lost a game in which it scored first happened on Feb. 15, 2013 when it Lindenwood in overtime, 3-2.

On This Date in History – The Colonials have played four times on Oct. 3 and Oct. 4 in their history, compiling an overall record of 2-2-0.
 

• October 3, 2008: Robert Morris 3, No. 3 Minnesota 2
  • Brianne McLaughlin, Sr., G; 63 saves
• October 3, 2009: Robert Morris 4, No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth 1
  • Daneca Butterfield, Jr., G; 45 saves
  • Sara O'Malley, Jr., F; 2 goals
• October 4, 2008: No. 3 Minnesota 7, Robert Morris 1
• October 4, 2013: RPI 3, Robert Morris 0