Pittsburgh, Pa. – Head coach Paul Colontino and the 2015-16 Robert Morris University women's hockey team named senior Pittsburgh native Ashley Vesci the captain of this year's Colonials squad, while fellow senior Leah Carlson and junior Rikki Meilleur will act as assistants to the captain.
 
With a quick turnaround between the first official day of on-ice practice and the first game of the year, the captains were selected just three days prior to the season opener.
 
All three expressed a great amount of gratitude and pride in being chosen to take on such vital roles.
 
Vesci served as an alternate captain a season ago, and was selected to wear the "C" in her final year with the Colonials.
 
"It's a great honor to have from my teammates," said Vesci. "It's nice to know that they respect me enough and trust me with such an important role on our team."
 
Carlson echoed Vesi's sentiments and reiterated that she and the captains would continue to build on a work ethic they've already worked to instill within the team.
 
"Nothing changes," she emphasized. "We're just going to keep working hard. The three captains that we have this year, we all work really well together already and I'm just really excited about this season."
 
Meilleur, a forward, registered career-high goals (10), assists (6) and points (16) last season after posting just two points as a freshman, and hopes to progress even further this year as a player and a leader.
 
"It's really exciting that I was nominated as an assistant captain," she said. "It's nice to be respected by the team and I know that I respect them all. Just going in to the season, I think the three of the captains are going to work well together and I think that we'll put on good leadership on and off the ice."
 
The puck drops on the 2015-16 season this Friday, Sept. 25 at 7:07 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 26 at 4:07 p.m. at No. 9 Bemidji State in Bemidji, Minn. RMU opens its home slate at 84 Lumber Arena on Friday, Oct. 9 at 7:05 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 10 at 3:05 p.m. against Merrimack.
 
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