Robert Morris Colonials (9-17-3, 6-8-2 CHA) vs. RIT Tigers (10-17-3, 4-11-1 CHA)
Friday, February 13, 2015 / 84 Lumber Arena – Pittsburgh, Pa. / 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, February 14, 2015 / 84 Lumber Arena – Pittsburgh, Pa. / 3:05 p.m.

Top Story – Robert Morris fell to fourth in the College Hockey America standings following being swept by Syracuse this past weekend. The Colonials now sit three points behind the Orange and a point ahead of Lindenwood with four games remaining in the regular season. RMU will be celebrating the careers of seniors Maddie Collias, Katie Fergus, Kelsey Gunn, Katelyn Scott, Erin Staniewski, and Rebecca Vint, and junior Megan Eady this weekend in its final home series of the regular season. The senior class has won a program-record 67 games during their career with the Colonials, while Eady has been a part of 48 wins at RMU.


 
Series History – The series between Robert Morris and RIT has never lacked drama. The Colonials trail the Tigers by the slimmest of margins at 6-7-1, with 10 of the 14 contests coming down to one goal. In fact, the first five meetings between RMU and RIT were all one-goal affairs. The two teams split a series in January, with the Colonials winning the first game by the score of 2-0 before the Tigers rebounded with a 3-2 victory in the rubber match. Last season, RMU won its first three games over RIT, but dropped the final two, including a 4-1 defeat in the CHA semifinals. With the Colonials' well-documented close history against Syracuse (11-9-8), maybe it's just something about conference opponents that don the color orange.
 
Scouting RIT – RIT, the CHA Tournament reigning champs, has struggled this season with an overall record of 10-17-3 and a 4-11-1 mark in conference. A bright spot on the Tigers is senior netminder Ali Binnington, who has posted a goals against average of 1.87 and a .931 save percentage in 19 starts. The other 11 starts between the pipes have been split between junior Jetta Rackleff and sophomore Brooke Stoddart. Rackleff has compiled slighty better stats than Stoddart, but the latter won CHA Goaltender of the Week on Feb. 2. Offensively, senior captain Celeste Brown leads the team in goals and points with nine and 15, respectively. One of RIT's biggest weaknesses is that it can't stay out of the box, tying for the nation lead in penalties.
 
Last Time Out – Robert Morris dropped both games of a crucial series at Syracuse this past weekend.
 
The Colonials fell to the Orange in the opener, 2-1.
 
Syracuse struck first seven minutes into the game after Julie Knerr corralled a loose puck and backhanded a shot near side underneath the pad of Jessica Dodds.
 
RMU tied it up 3:21 into the closing stanza as Maddie Collias slipped the puck under the padding of Jenn Gilligan. Megan Eady was credited with the lone assist.
 
The Orange scored the game-winner three and a half minutes later as Nicole Renault lit the lamp on a power play.
 
Dodds made 36 saves in the loss.
 
Syracuse completed the sweep with a 3-1 victory over the Colonials.
 
The Orange again struck first as Laurence Porlier buried a rebound in the second period.
 
Natalie Fraser tied it up on a two-on-one breakaway as she one-timed a feed from Ashley Vesci.
 
Syracuse tallied the winning goal at the 6:14 mark of the third period when Heather Schwarz scored on a rebound. Alysha Burriss would later ice the game with an empty-netter.
 
Dodds stopped 28 of 30 shots in the defeat.
 
Know Your Enemy – Rebecca Vint has been consistent against RIT in her career, compiling three goals and three assists. Last season on Feb. 14, Vint scored a third-period, short-handed goal to give RMU a 2-1 victory over the Tigers in Rochester.
 
In the teams' previous series, Maddie Collias tallied a power-play goal and set up another en route to a two-point weekend. She has collected three points in total against RIT.
 
Jessica Dodds has made seven starts against the Tigers, compiling a goals against average of 1.71 and a .933 save percentage.
 
Thank You Seniors – This weekend marks the last time that six Colonial seniors and a junior will play a regular season game at 84 Lumber Arena.
 
Maddie Collias, Katie Fergus, Kelsey Gunn, Katelyn Scott, Erin Staniewski, and Rebecca Vint will end their careers as the winningest class in program history, compiling a record of 67-49-13.
 
Megan Eady will be graduating in May after three seasons at RMU. She has been a part of 48 wins during her career.
 
Johnston Runs January Jewels – Mackenzie Johnston was named CHA Player of the Month after pacing the league with six goals and tying Mikaela Lowater for the conference lead in points with nine.
 
The sophomore forward registered three multi-point performances in January, including a career-high three-point effort (1 goal, 2 assists) in a 7-1 shellacking of Lindenwood on Jan. 24. That game sprung her to CHA co-Player of the Week honors with Lowater.
 
Dodds Hitting Her Stride – Robert Morris has taken the "new year, new me" approach in 2015 and sophomore goaltender Jessica Dodds is no different, excelling thus far in the New Year.
 
Since the turn of the calendar, Dodds has compiled a 1.90 goals against average and a save percentage of .942. She blanked RIT with 34 saves on Jan. 9, and stopped 40+ pucks twice - against No. 4 Quinnipiac (Jan. 16) and Mercyhurst (Jan. 30).
 
Dodds' 2015 success has lowered her goals against average (3.36 to 2.73) by 0.63 and raised her save percentage (.890 to .913) by .023.
 
Block Party – Robert Morris currently leads the nation in blocks per game and total blocks. The Colonials have stopped 528 shots from reaching their goaltenders and have blocked an average of 18.21 shots per contest, 0.68 more than second-place Bemidji State.
 
Mikaela Lowater leads the team with 72 blocks, ranking her fifth nationally. Among forwards, Rebecca Vint is in a four-way tie for ninth with 37.
 
This is familiar territory for RMU, as it has ranked in the top four nationally in blocks in 2012-13 and 2013-14. The Colonials slotted third two seasons ago with 489 blocks, and were fourth last season with 575.
 
Avoiding the Sophomore Slump – Mackenzie Johnston and Rikki Meilleur have flourished in their sophomore campaigns, excelling in their expanded scoring roles after scoring little as freshmen.
 
Johnston (10g, 7a) and Meilleur (9g, 4a) join Alissa Dorman, Megan Picinic, Kristen Miles, Ashley Vesci, and Maddie Collias as players who have increased their point total by at least 10 between their first and second seasons.
 
Both sophomores have upped their point totals by 11 so far this season, seven fewer than the difference in Dorman's scoring output from 2005-06 to 2006-07.
 
Great Scott – Katelyn Scott is one of 15 candidates for the 2015 BNY Mellon Wealth Hockey Humanitarian Award, which is presented annually to college hockey's finest citizen.
 
This is the fifth consecutive year in which Robert Morris has had a student-athlete up for the award. Scott joins Whitney Pappas (2011), Brianna Delaney (2012), Cobina Delaney (2013), and Brandi Pollock (2014) as recent Colonial candidates. Pappas was eventually named a finalist for the honor.
 
Networking with the Colonials – Fans can follow the Colonials on Twitter @RMUWHockey to get updates on the team throughout the season. The account has the 16th most followers among NCAA Division I women's hockey teams at 1,359.

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