Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Robert Morris University women's hockey team returned to the ice in dominant fashion following a two-week break from action, and defeated the Maine Black Bears, 5-1, Friday evening at 84 Lumber Arena.
 
The Colonials (8-5-2) ripped off 41 shots and held the Black Bears (6-10-0) to just 18 attempts on the night.
 
Freshman Amber Rennie recorded her second two-goal game of the season and third multi-point effort of her young career in the win. Senior captain Ashley Vesci accounted for one goal and one assist, while junior defenseman Mikaela Lowater maintained an impressive point streak with two helpers.
 

Robert Morris came alive in the second period and managed to score three consecutive goals in a 2:15 span. Down by one, freshman Caitlyn Sadowy netted the equalizer on her first career goal to put the Colonials on the board at 13:02 in the second period. Fellow rookie Rennie buried her eighth of the season 32 seconds later to quickly put the home team ahead, 2-1. Vesci followed up and went five-hole on Maine goaltender Mariah Fujimagari to cap the scoring streak and grow the Colonials' lead to two goals.
 
RMU put on quite the display of two-way hockey in the third period, as the Colonials scored two more goals and held Maine to just four shots on net in the frame, the first coming with 3:32 remaining in the game. Rennie tallied her second goal of the game and team-leading ninth goal of the year 12:50 into period three to put the Colonials further ahead, 4-1. Sophomore Amanda Pantaleo posted her second goal of the season, a power-play tally, with 2:55 on the clock to secure the non-conference victory for the home team in its imposing return to the ice after two weeks away from competition.
 
The Colonials drew the first penalty of the evening, as redshirt sophomore Brittany Howard skated through multiple Maine defenders and drew a slash at the 7:46 mark in the opening period. The Black Bears struck first on the night as they capitalized on the special teams situation, when Morgan Sakundiak roofed one over RMU goaltender, junior Jessica Dodds. The goal marked the first shorthanded tally of the season for Maine and helped the squad to an early 1-0 lead, but the  visitors' advantage would not hold.
 
The Robert Morris penalty kill fended off four Maine power play opportunities, while the Colonials went one-for-six on the man advantage.
 
The puck drops for Game 2 of the non-conference series on Saturday, Nov. 28 at 3:05 p.m. as part one of a Colonials doubleheader. The Robert Morris University men's hockey team takes on Sacred Heart at 7:05 p.m.
 
                                                                              
Quoting Head Coach Paul Colontino
On the big win coming off of a bye weekend…
It's a nice win to get back into things, without a doubt. A lot of times, when you have that bye weekend and you get the 10 or 13 days' rest without playing; it's hard to get back into the habits you've been trying to develop all year long. I thought our first period was pretty good. We liked it, for sure. But man, did we really swing back into things the second and third. We mentally took our game to another level. I think we just did the little things we've been trying to focus on much better. We got rewarded for it, so that was huge. It's a nice victory, but it's only one. We enjoy tonight and get ready for another tough game tomorrow.
 
On feeling less pressure coming out of a bye weekend when facing a non-conference opponent…
We always get caught up with our league standings and we all put pressure on ourselves to do well in our league, and that's our goal. So I think knowing that this doesn't go against the league standings, it's a nice little bonus where you get to work out a few kinks without being penalized in that sense. But overall, we try to treat our opponents the same whether it's in our league or out of our league and just try to continue to develop our good habits.
 
 
Hot Streaks
Junior Mikaela Lowater extended her current point streak to five games. The defenseman has registered a combined 3-4-7 in her last five outings. Lowater ranks fifth nationally among defensemen in points per game (1.00).
 
Power Up
Sophomore Amanda Pantaleo's two goals this season have both come while Robert Morris was on the power play.
 
Killin' It
Robert Morris has successfully killed off its last 13 consecutive penalties, dating back to Nov. 7 at RIT.
 
 
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