Pittsburgh, Pa. – Syracuse made a late surge in the third period, but the Robert Morris University women's hockey team's two goals in the first held strong, as the Colonials secured a 2-1 victory over the Orange Saturday afternoon in 84 Lumber Arena.
 
Robert Morris (7-1-4, 3-0-1) remains undefeated in College Hockey America (CHA) action following the first two weekends of league play against the teams predicted to finish first (Syracuse [2-5-3, 2-1-1]) and second (Mercyhurst [2-7-1, 1-3-0]) in the CHA coaches' preseason poll.
 
Freshman Aneta Ledlova scored her second goal of the season, and fellow rookie Jaycee Gebhard increased her season scoring total to six goals. Redshirt junior Brittany Howard and sophomore Maggie LaGue extended their point streaks to two and three respectively with an assist apiece. LaGue blocked a team-leading five shots. Senior Mackenzie Johnston also tallied a helper and finished the day plus one. Senior netminder Jessica Dodds made 35 saves through 60 minutes of action and allowed just one goal.
 

Syracuse made a determined push for a goal in the third period, as shots were largely in favor of the Orange through the final 20 minutes of action. Dodds and the Colonials penalty kill went three-for-three in the third, but Syracuse's Lindsay Eastwood managed to break through for the Orange and cut the Colonials lead to one after Syracuse pulled goaltender Abbey Miller to add the extra skater. With less than two minutes remaining after the Syracuse score, the Orange ran out of time to make up ground and RMU's two early goals held up for the victory.
 
RMU and SU both had multiple special teams opportunities in the second period, but neither team could convert. Syracuse's best scoring chance of the second period occurred on the Colonials power play. RMU turned the puck over at center ice, and a Syracuse breakaway ensued, but Dodds made the big stop to keep the Orange from scoring shorthanded. The Colonials earned a 5-on-3 chance late in the frame, but the Orange remained vigilant on defense to keep the second period scoreless.
 
Ledlova and Johnston teamed up on a highlight reel-worthy play to put Robert Morris on the board at 5:29 in the opening period. Johnston fed a pass to Ledlova on the breakaway, and Ledlova deked around Miller to score. Less than three minutes later, Gebhard saw the puck sailing high off a shot from Howard on the power play and redirected it down and into the net to extend the Colonials lead to two.
 
The Colonials' first 12 games of the season have certainly not been lacking excitement. Eleven of the 12 contests have ended in either a tie, or by a one-goal margin.
 
"It's much better when your team is in a close game because you're more into the game and I feel like I'm more focused every time that we're playing in a really close match up," said Dodds of the tight scores this season.
 
Dodds and head coach Paul Colontino have noticed the defense coming along quite nicely, and stepping up in league action as the Colonials are averaging two goals a game in CHA play.
 
"If my defense wasn't there for me, there'd probably be a lot more goals against me," Dodds admitted. "What's nice is that when I'm in the net, every time I get a shot, typically it's only one or two shots. After that, my defense clears it out and they're really good at blocking shots. How I'm succeeding is from us playing a full team game. Forwards are putting the pucks in net, the defensemen are blocking shots and I'm just trying to help my team out."
 
"We're getting solid defense from our defensemen," Colontino added, "but we're also getting scoring from them. They're contributing on the power play and even five-on-five. They've evolved very well over the first 12 games here. They get more confident and they're developing new tools. They're skating the puck better, we're moving the puck better, our transition game, we think is getting a little bit better. The defense keeps evolving which is good and it's what you have to do. I think we have to continue to get stronger though. We've got more room to grow."
 
Robert Morris travels to Rochester, N.Y., next weekend to take on another CHA opponent, RIT, on Friday, Nov. 11 at 6 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m.
 
 
Home Ice Advantage
Robert Morris remains undefeated on home ice this season (5-0-3).
 
Getting It Done
Sophomore defenseman Maggie LaGue leads the nation in power-play assists (six), and blocked shots (42), and ranks fourth in power-play points (seven). Junior defenseman Katherine Murphy fills the No. 3 spot with 36 blocked shots.
 
Trending
Redshirt junior Brittany Howard has posted a point in 10 of 12 games on the young season, including seven of the Colonials' last eight. Freshman Jaycee Gebhard and sophomore Maggie LaGue have posted a point for RMU in all but three outings.
 
Milestone Watch
Head coach Paul Colontino is seven wins away from his 100^th career victory as head coach of the Robert Morris University women's hockey team.
 
 
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