Pittsburgh, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University women's hockey team completed a two-game sweep of the Maine Black Bears with a 3-0 shutout victory on Saturday evening at 84 Lumber Arena.
As the Colonials' (9-5-2) offense continued to get hot, their defense simultaneously slowed down the Black Bears (6-11-0) through three periods of competitive hockey. RMU improved from 11 shots in the first period to 18 in the third, while Maine went from outshooting Robert Morris by one in the first frame, to taking just four shots in the final stanza.
Senior captain
Ashley Vesci scored her second goal in two games to spark the offensive momentum for the home team. Junior
Mackenzie Johnston put together a two-point effort with an assist on the Vesci goal and a goal of her own in the third. Junior defenseman
Mikaela Lowater sealed the deal with a power-play tally late in the final period. Redshirt sophomore
Brittany Howard also recorded her ninth multi-point effort of the season with two helpers.
Despite a number of quality scoring chances in the first period, the Colonials could not get one to go until late in the second. Johnston screened the goalie as Vesci fluttered the puck past two Maine defenders at 18:10 and into the net for her second goal in two games and eighth of the season.
Johnston helped the Colonials increase their lead to two, as she remained persistent with the puck and poked in her own rebound after multiple attempts right in front of the net. The goal was her fourth of the season and it increased her point total to 10 on the year.
Robert Morris ran into a precarious situation late in the third, when two Colonials got called for two-minute minors within 28 seconds of each other. Maine pulled their goalie during the two-man advantage to put maximum pressure on the Colonials defense, but with the help of some solid stops made by junior goaltender Jessica Dodds, RMU kept the Black Bears at bay. The Colonials went six-for-six on the penalty kill through 60 minutes.
Lowater sealed the deal at 17:07 in the third with a goal down low that slipped just past the skate of Maine's Meghann Treacy.
The Colonials hit the road for their next four games, beginning with a two-game series at College Hockey America rival Mercyhurst on Friday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 5 at 2 p.m.
Quoting Senior Captain Ashley Vesci
The key to tonight's victory after yesterday's big win…
After you beat a team the first night, especially 5-1, the next day when you come back, you sort of have this feeling that it's going to be easy. So we try to remind ourselves, 'No, it's not going to be that easy.' Instead, we go back to the locker room and tell ourselves, 'We're going to go 10 times harder today.' So we just tried to encourage everyone to work really hard.
On the magnitude of her goal and getting her squad on the board…
It was huge. We really needed it, at the end of a shift like that, too. We had so many opportunities and [the line] is starting to get tired. It was like we couldn't buy a goal and then a little fluttery shot goes in and it changes the whole momentum of the game, so it's huge.
On forcing Maine to play at Robert Morris' tempo…
We're really proud of that. It's a great thing to be able to do. It's easy to see that a team is slower, and you can play slow and stay down at their level. But instead, we said, 'Okay, they've got a couple of slower skaters. Let's see how fast they're willing to go, how far we can push them.' By the end of the game, they had to have been tired. They had a short bench. We were just outworking them all over the ice.
Hot Streaks
Junior Mikaela Lowater extended her current point streak to six games. The defenseman has registered a combined 4-4-8 in her last six outings. Lowater ranks fifth nationally among defensemen in points per game (1.00). Senior captain Ashley Vesci is riding a three-game point streak, with two goals in her last two appearances. In 16 games this season, she has already beat her goal count (8) from the previous two seasons (6 in 2014-15 and 6 in 2013-14).
Another Game, Another Shutout
Junior goaltender Jessica Dodds recorded her fourth shutout of the season and 10th in her career with tonight's 3-0 victory.
Leading the Way
Redshirt sophomore Brittany Howard's two assists in today's game increased her season point total to a team-leading 20 (7-13-20).
Block Party
RMU out-blocked Maine, 23-11.
Killin' It
Robert Morris has successfully killed off its last 19 consecutive penalties, dating back to Nov. 7 at RIT.
Follow RMU Women's Hockey:
@RMUWHockey
@rmu_w_hockey
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