PITTSBURGH -- The new lighting installed at Colonials Arena over the holiday break was a hit with all who visited the venue for the first time in 2018, making the No. 8 Robert Morris women's hockey team all the more eager to turn on the light that mattered most.

Robert Morris defeated Syracuse 5-2 at the RMU Island Sports Center Friday night behind a second-period onslaught that humbled reigning College Hockey America (CHA) Goaltender of the Year Abbey Miller in their first meeting since last year's tightly-contested CHA Tournament Final.

Miller made a commendable 27 saves, but the Colonials (12-3-3, 6-1-2), now unbeaten in six of their last seven home games against the Orange (5-12-2, 4-4-1), got critical goals from Caitlyn Sadowy and Amber Rennie, plus a gutsy game from erstwhile playoff heroine Jessica Gazzola, to open up a three-point lead over idle Mercyhurst atop the conference standings.

Furthermore, they showed off that scoring depth entirely at even strength, not committing a penalty the entire game for the first time in program history.

"She's a very good goalie, and we did a nice job getting some shots on goal and pucks to the net, and we got a nice rebound goal," head coach Paul Colontino said. "With a goalie like that, you really do have to get people in front of her, then you have to get shots on her. I thought we did a nice job in all sorts of ways."

RMU, maintaining pressure after outshooting Syracuse 10-4 in the first period, broke through with two goals in the first three minutes of the second. Maggie LaGue, coming off her team history-making 50th career assist as a defender in the fall finale, rung in the new year by flicking Gazzola's rebound at the opposite side of the net past Miller for the first goal of her junior campaign.

Setting up Gazzola was Jaycee Gebhard, who picked up her CHA-leading 16th assist of the season and passed Cobina Delaney for ninth place on the Robert Morris charts with her 66th career point. Not long thereafter, Sadowy alertly followed up on an Emily Curlett shot between the circles for a 2-0 Colonials lead.

"We knew we needed to get on her quickly," Sadowy said of the Syracuse netminder. "We knew she gave up rebounds if we put the pucks where we wanted them. We just had to keep shooting and trying to get pucks through."

Alysha Burriss kept Syracuse alive with the first of her two goals on a breakaway midway through the contest. Elijah Milne-Price settled down, however, finishing with 21 saves for her conference-best 11th win, thanks to a huge insurance marker late in the second.

Gazzola dragged the Orange defense to the net with her, then made a cheeky drop pass to Rennie, who beat an unsuspecting Miller from the left side with just over a minute remaining. It was her career-high 11th goal of the season, also making her just the eighth player in RMU history to net 30 career goals.

"There were four girls on me and Rennie pulled over, and I heard her on my left side, so I just kind of dished it over," Gazzola explained. "I just kept going straight to the net, and she put it in back of the net. It was really nice."

Also chasing history was reigning CHA scoring champion Brittany Howard. After Natalie Marcuzzi got the last stick on a Natalie Fraser shot from the right point to make it 4-1, Howard provided the final margin with a long-range empty netter that gave her a conference-high 18 goals on the year and 72 lifetime.

The fabled center from St. Thomas, Ontario and Dapper Dan Sportswoman of the Year nominee now needs just two more tallies to surpass Class of '15 teammate Rebecca Vint as the leading goal-scorer in program history.

She'll try to add to her historic total, and Robert Morris will try to add to its CHA lead in its rematch with Syracuse Saturday at 3:05 p.m. at the RMU Island Sports Center.

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