Pittsburgh, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University women's hockey team saw its season come to a close this afternoon as the Colonials were swept in the College Hockey America (CHA) Quarterfinals by the Rochester Institute of Technology, 1-0.
Similar to yesterday, third-seeded Robert Morris (11-19-5, 8-8-4 CHA) held statistical edges in shot attempts (81-37), shots on goal (31-14), and face-offs (38-19). However, sixth-seeded RIT (13-18-5, 5-12-3 CHA) used a strong defensive effort with 31 blocks and 31 saves from Ali Binnington to move on to the CHA Semifinals, where it will play top-seeded Mercyhurst.
The Tigers scored the game's lone goal 3:11 in when Lindsay Grigg ripped a shot from the left circle on a two-on-one rush.
The Colonials went their first of five power plays 7:38 into the contest when senior
Rebecca Vint drew a hooking call skating down the left boards. Vint came within inches of tying the game up on the delayed call as she beat a RIT defenseman with a nifty toe-drag, but Binnington stuck her pad out to rob the captain.
RMU put together an opportunity almost immediately on the man advantage when sophomore
Rikki Meilleur carried the puck towards the cage. Her shot was stopped, but the rebound hung around in the crease for a few seconds; however, no one was there to slot it home.
With 1:05 remaining in the opening frame, the Tigers went on the power play after junior
Megan Eady was booked for checking. The Colonial penalty kill unit stood tall however, not allowing a shot while a man down.
Freshman
Katherine Murphy drew a checking call with 11:48 left in the middle stanza to put RMU on the power play for the third time in the game. The Colonials' best chance came when sophomore
Mikaela Lowater corralled the puck with some breathing room in the slot. However, her shot hit a Tiger blocker in front of the crease.
The unfriendly pipe made an appearance at the 12:15 mark of the frame when freshman
Jessica Gazzola carried the puck down the right side on a two-on-one breakaway. Her shot clipped the glove of Binnington, then drew iron to keep the hosts scoreless.
RMU continued to create odd-man rushes as the period came to a close. Sophomore
Jessica Dodds set one up with a nice pass along the boards to freshman
Amanda Pantaleo, but the rookie's feed trickled inches away from the stick of sophomore
Rikki Meilleur at the doorstep. The Colonials had another chance in the final minute of the frame, but seniors
Katie Fergus and
Maddie Collias couldn't connect on a pass.
The hosts' best chance of the game came with five and a half minutes left as junior
Ashley Vesci carried the puck along the left boards. A free lane to the cage opened up when a RIT defenseman slipped, but Vesci couldn't pull the trigger on the breakaway.
Dodds kept RMU within striking distance two minutes later as she robbed Marissa Maugeri with a great pad save at the doorstep.
The sophomore netminder stayed on the bench following a timeout with 1:40 left, giving the Colonials an extra skater for one final push. However, RMU could only generate one shot on net as it watched its season come to a close.
Dodds stopped 13 shots in the loss.
Robert Morris finishes the season at 11-19-5 and says goodbye to six seniors (Collias, Fergus,
Kelsey Gunn,
Katelyn Scott,
Erin Staniewski, Vint) and a junior (Eady). The Colonials will return three of its four leading scorers in 2015-16 and 2013-14 All-CHA Second Team selection
Brittany Howard, who missed the majority of the 2014-15 campaign due to injuries.
