COLUMBUS, Ohio -- History of the morbid kind repeated for the Robert Morris women's hockey team, which found itself in a four-goal deficit in its series opener with No. 8/8 Ohio State that turned into a 5-0 non-conference loss at OSU Ice Rink Friday night.

It is the first time Robert Morris has lost consecutive games since Feb. 20-26, 2016. Since then, the Colonials are 7-1-1 following a loss, postseason defeats notwithstanding. The 2013-14 and 2016-17 seasons remain the only ones in program history in which RMU did not drop back-to-back contests at any point.

For the third time this season, Colonials transfer forward Sarah Lecavalier found herself lined up against former University of North Dakota teammate Charly Dahlquist, daughter of former Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Chris Dahlquist. The younger Dahlquist finished with one assist on the second goal by Tatum Skaggs early in the second period, which brought about an RMU goaltending change.

Lauren Bailey replaced Elijah Milne-Price with 16:34 to go until the ice cut, and she finished the night with 22 saves, her most since appearing in the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament game at top-ranked Wisconsin Mar. 11, 2017. Now with a .910 career save percentage, Bailey has moved into a sixth-place tie on the program's all-time charts with Robert Morris Hall-of-Famer and former U.S. Olympian Brianne McLaughlin.

Despite taking the loss, Milne-Price moved past one of her old teammates, Class of '14 netminder Courtney Vinet, for the sixth-most career saves in RMU history. The next stop she makes will make her the sixth Colonials goalie to record 400 career saves.

Bailey and Milne-Price entered the series eighth and ninth in team history, respectively, in career saves-per-game average.

Unfortunately, at the other end, Robert Morris, which came in averaging the fifth-most shots on goal per game in the nation (35.89), was unable to solve Kassidy Sauve, who made 34 saves, including 19 in the third. The Colonials still boast a 18 goal margin in third periods that ranks third in Division I.

Dapper Dan Charities Sportswoman of the Year nominee Brittany Howard was limited to four shots, as she continues to sit on 72 career goals, needing just two more to surpass her former teammate, Rebecca Vint '15, as RMU's all-time leader. They are the only two Colonials to ever top 70.

Howard, still the top scorer in College Hockey America (CHA) coming off last year's points crown, entered Friday with 90 career assists, tied for the second-most of any active NCAA player. Her 162 lifetime points remain the second-most in D-I.

Vint's current team, the Isobel Cup champion Buffalo Beauts of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), travel to Pittsburgh for a special neutral-site game against the Connecticut Whale Sunday. The Beauts drafted Howard with the league's tenth overall pick back on Aug. 17, 2017.

No. 9 Robert Morris (12-5-3, 6-2-2) concludes its series, as well as the non-conference portion of its 2017-18 regular season, with the Buckeyes (14-5-4, 8-2-4-3) Saturday. The opening faceoff from OSU is set for 3:07 p.m.

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