Pittsburgh, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University women's hockey team rang in the new year with a convincing 6-1 win over Providence Saturday evening at 84 Lumber Arena.
With tonight's victory over the Friars (6-12-0), the Colonials (11-6-4) matched their win output from a season ago.
Junior
Mackenzie Johnston posted a career-high tying three points with a goal and two assists. Sophomore
Katherine Murphy and freshman
Sarah Quaranta each tallied two points with one goal and one assist apiece. Murphy's goal was her first of the season and second in her career. Redshirt sophomore
Brittany Howard extended her six-game point streak with two assists.
The Colonials and Friars traded goals in an action-packed second period. Robert Morris led 1-0 after the first 20 minutes, and Johnston carried the Coloials' first period momentum right into the second with a power-play goal on a breakaway to give the home team a 2-0 lead 1:26 into the frame. Junior goaltender Jessica Dodds was credited with her first assist of the season and fourth of her career.
Providence responded with its first goal of the game at 8:18 in period two to shrink the Colonials' lead to one, but sophomore Natalie Fraser put RMU back up by two with a shot just above the blue line that took a timely bounce into the net. Quaranta cut through traffic in front of the net and poked in a shot past Providence goalie Madison Myers to cap the second period and extend the Robert Morris lead to three.
RMU put the game away with a third period power-play tally. Junior Maeve Garvey found a wide open corner in the Providence net and cashed in on an assist from senior Anissa Gamble and Murphy to give the Colonials a substantial 5-1 advantage. Murphy struck late on the power play to secure the sizeable victory.
Freshman defenseman Kirsten Welsh put the Colonials on the board with the first goal of 2016 on a 4-on-3 power-play one-timer to open scoring on the night 16:16 into the first period.
The Colonials' special teams shined once again, as the power play went 4-for-6 and the penalty kill unit held Providence to an 0-for-5 mark on the man advantage.
Robert Morris returns to 84 Lumber Arena Sunday, Jan. 3 for Game 2 of the non-conference series versus Providence at 2 p.m.
Quoting Head Coach Paul Colontino
On returning from the holiday break with a big win…
It feels great. The players worked hard all week to shake off the rust from the Christmas break, which is always tough. When you have a couple weeks off, it's going to happen. They put the time in, which was great. We got a lot done this week. I thought the game was a tough game right off the hop. It was physical and it had a nice pace to it. I think we were able to maintain both the physicality and the pace of it throughout the 60 minutes, which really helped us down the stretch.
On the consistency of the offense…
They have faith in each other. They know that one of them is going to come up with a goal, and at the same time, they know it could be them. When you have that mindset and that attitude, you're always in it because you know as an individual you aren't carrying the whole load. You know your teammates can get the job done and you can get the job done. If you look at the stat sheet, we get scoring from everywhere, which is really helpful. It's huge. No one line has to carry us, no one individual has to carry us. I think that's part of the key is just knowing in that locker room there's a bunch of them in there that can score and put up numbers.
Leading the Way
Redshirt sophomore Brittany Howard's two assists in tonight's game increased her season point total to a team-leading 28 (10-18-28) and extended her current point streak to six games. She leads the Colonials in goals (tied with Amber Rennie), assists and points. Howard's two points earned in tonight's win elevated her to seventh all-time in career points (70) at RMU. She is now tied with Kelsey Thomas for fifth all-time in career assists (43).
Squad Goals
The Colonials have scored three or more goals in six of their last seven games. RMU's offense ranks 8th in the nation in goals per game (3.19). RMU's six goals in tonight's win match its season high.
Power Up
Robert Morris has recorded one or more power-play goals in 10 of their last 11 games, including the last four straight.
Something Special
The Colonials' power play and penalty kill units rank third and sixth in the nation, respectively. Their combined special teams is fifth in the national rankings.
Follow RMU Women's Hockey:
@RMUWHockey
@rmu_w_hockey
Robert Morris University Athletics
