MANKATO, Minn. -- Offense did not come easily to either side at the Verizon Center on Saturday, let alone to the highest scoring team in College Hockey America in 2016-17, but
Brittany Howard still showed the same prowess that netted her the individual conference scoring crown last season.
The redshirt senior forward and offseason NWHL draftee sniped her first goal of the new campaign 40 seconds into overtime to break up a goalie duel give the No. 9/9
Robert Morris women's hockey team a 2-1 win over Mankato in its 2017-18 opener. It was the first of her 13 career game-winners to come in the sudden-death period, her 55th collegiate goal altogether, and her 133rd all-time point, leaving Howard in need of only two to become the program's all-time scoring champion.
RMU senior goaltender
Elijah Milne-Price showed poise, making 23 saves that included a nice glove stop with eight minutes left in regulation and the game still in the balance. Her counterpart, Katie Bidulka, turned aside 26 shots for Minnesota State (1-1-1), doing everything she could to preserve her team's upset bid, but timing was everything for the Colonials.
After a scoreless first period, Amanda Conway beat Milne-Price 6:03 into the second to give the Mavericks a 1-0 lead that looked like it might stand up with Bidulka standing tall. However, Robert Morris drew its fourth power play of the contest in the final minute, and junior defender
Kirsten Welsh made Demi Gardner pay for her hooking infraction by beating Bidulka with a wrist shot from the right circle with 12 seconds to intermission.
Fellow blue-liner
Katherine Murphy picked up the primary assist, with forward
Sarah Lecavalier picking up her first point since transferring from North Dakota on the secondary helper.
The Colonials, on the other hand, were flawless on the penalty kill, staving off Mankato's fourth and final chance with less than five minutes left in the third period, and RMU quickly took command of play in the extra session.
Howard's initial shot was blocked, but she got it back on the right side and fired one from close range of which Bidulka seemed to get a piece, but nothing more.
Robert Morris, which defeated a Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) opponent for just the 13th time in program history, will try to collect another one when it meets MSU once more in Mankato at noon Sunday.
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