Women's Hockey | 10/12/2018 12:45:00 AM

PITTSBURGH -- The Robert Morris women's hockey team meets the Engineers of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) at the RMU Island Sports Center Friday and Saturday afternoon. RPI is the third consecutive opponent from the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference with which the Colonials are beginning their 2018-19 season.

Both opening faceoffs are scheduled for 3:05 p.m. EDT at Colonials Arena. Friday's game begins a women's/men's doubleheader, as the Robert Morris men's hockey team opens its 2018-19 regular season with a 7:05 p.m. contest against Bowling Green.

The series, as with all women's hockey home games, will be carried live on the CHA Digital Network (subscription required).

The first 200 fans to the Island Sports Center Friday afternoon each receive a 2018-19 women's and men's schedule magnet, compliments of Primanti Bros. and Mario's Family Italian Restaurant. A free, continuous shuttle will run between Lexington and Concord Halls on the RMU campus and the ISC front doors 2:00-10:00 p.m. Friday.

In addition, fans can register for the Clearview FCU "Penalty Box Trivia Challenge" prior to both games for a chance to win $50.

Call 412-397-4949 or visit rmucolonials.com and/or Ticketmaster for tickets.

Robert Morris (1-3-0) vs. RPI (0-2-1) - Oct. 12-13, 2018
Fri., Oct. 12 (3:05 p.m.) - LIVE STREAM ($) | LIVE STATS | TICKETS
Sat., Oct. 13 (3:05 p.m.) - LIVE STREAM ($) | LIVE STATS | TICKETS

The Colonials are 9-8-3 all-time versus the Engineers, and they have gone unbeaten in ten of their last 11 meetings (8-1-2). Their last victory on home ice over RPI was a 6-3 decision Oct. 7, 2016, in which Jaycee Gebhard and Amber Rennie combined for five points (3 G, 2 A).

Previously, they had enjoyed a 3-2 overtime triumph at home Oct. 5, 2013. Rebecca Vint set up Kylie St. Louis for a dramatic game-winner with 1:19 left after the Engineers had scored twice with just over a minute to go in regulation to force OT.

RMU has gotten points in nine of its last 12 games against the ECAC (6-3-3).

Key Notes

• Robert Morris is coming off a pair of hard-fought defeats at two-time NCAA Division I champion and consensus No. 1 Clarkson. This is only the second time since Feb. 12-13, 2016 the Colonials have been swept in a regular-season series, a span of 78 regular- and postseason games.
 

• The Colonials scored their first three power play goals of 2018-19 against the Golden Knights. Amber Rennie and Jaycee Gebhard each collected their first '18-'19 tallies on special teams Friday, and Kirsten Welsh added a third-period PPG Saturday. Welsh, concurrently, moved into a tie with original Colonial Kristen Miles '09 for fifth in RMU history with her 15th PPG all-time.

• The last road series between these teams resulted in an RMU sweep in Troy, New York Oct. 16-17, 2015. In a 2-0 win at Houston Field House in the opener, Sarah Quaranta established a three-game point streak at the time with a key faceoff win and assist on Ashley Vesci's insurance goal. In the finale, Quaranta set up a power play goal by Amber Rennie, and Kirsten Welsh added another 1:11 later in a 3-1 Colonials victory. All four goals came in the first period.
 

• Jaycee Gebhard was named the RMU Athletics Student-Athlete of the Week after netting a goal and an assist in both games at No. 1 Clarkson. Gebhard is in an early sixth-place tie in Division I scoring with six points (2 G, 4 A), and she is tied for the College Hockey America scoring lead through four games.

• Gebhard has moved into the overall Division I lead with her 71 faceoff wins. Her .645 faceoff win percentage ranks second in College Hockey America and 17th in Divsion I entering Friday. She finished 28-12 (.700) from the dot in RMU's first home series, versus St. Lawrence, Sept. 28-29.

• Anjelica Diffendal scored her first goal of the regular-season in the second period last Saturday at No. 1 Clarkson. It was her first official goal since Feb. 24 at Syracuse, when she helped Robert Morris break its single-season mark for goals. That goal also proved to be the game-winner as RMU clinched its second straight College Hockey America regular-season championship.

• Gebhard enters this series averaging 1.27 points per game all-time, which is currently good for second in program history. Brittany Howard (1.31), her former linemate, and Rebecca Vint (1.06) are the only RMU players ever to finish over a point per game for their collegiate careers.

An "A" For Effort
• Jaycee Gebhard led College Hockey America with her 25 assists in 2017-18, tying for 14th nationally. Gebhard, now seventh in career apples at RMU (53), finds herself in a sixth-place tie in Division I with her four helpers, which is also good for the College Hockey America assist lead entering Friday.

Chasing History
• With her third-period goal at No. 1 Clarkson Oct. 6, Jaycee Gebhard moved past longtime teammate and fellow Saskatchewanian Amber Rennie for the lead in their career goals race. Gebhard's 37 goals put her in sole possession of seventh in Robert Morris history, leaving Rennie in eighth, with 36, entering Friday. In addition, Gebhard also moved into a seventh-place tie with Megan Picinic '09, one of the original Colonials, with her 13th career power play goal.
•  Maggie LaGue got onto the scoresheet for the first time in '18-'19 with an assist, the 62nd of her career, on Welsh's goal Oct. 6. LaGue entered her senior year as the all-time program leader in assists by a D-man, and she took sole possession of fourth place overall from Rebecca Vint '15 with that third-period apple.

Iron Sharpens Iron
• With its series at No. 1 Clarkson, RMU has now faced a top-ranked team in 17 games all-time. Last weekend was the first time it had done so in the regular season since Nov. 19-20, 2010, when it hosted Wisconsin. The last time the Colonials had met No. 1, prior to 2018-19, was also against the Badgers, in their first-ever NCAA Quarterfinal game on Mar. 11, 2017. This fall semester at Robert Morris will mark the first time in program history the Colonials will have faced the reigning national champ, national runner-up (Colgate, Nov. 9-10) and one of last season's D-I quarterfinalists (Minnesota, Dec. 7-8) all in the same regular season.

What's In A Name?
• Courtney Kollman has become the second member of the Kollman Family to play NCAA Division I hockey. Her father, Tim Kollman, suited up for the men's D-I program at Alaska Anchorage 1988-1991.
• Wasyn Rice is the daughter of a National Hockey League prospect. Robert-Tye "R.T" Rice was invited to Vancouver Canucks development camp in July 2017.
• Before Leah Marino joined the Colonials, her No. 12 uniform was worn by Class of '18 defender Leah Carey, who assisted on the CHA title-clinching goal in 2017. Marino is the first Californian to play at RMU and its westernmost U.S.-born player since another Leah, Leah Carlson '16, joined the program from Copper Center, Alaska.

They Are "Soph"
• Emily Curlett matched her career high with six blocked shots versus St. Lawrence Sept. 29. Curlett led all CHA defenders in 2017-18 with 70 blocked shots, which ranked second among all NCAA rookies.
• Lexi Templeman finished the 2017-18 season with a .559 faceoff win rate that ended up third among CHA rookies. She has gone 18-for-32 from the dot to begin 2018-19, and her .562 faceoff win percentage ranks eighth in CHA. Last Friday, Templeman earned her first power play point of the season on Jaycee Gebhard's third-period goal. She tied for the team lead with five power play goals as a rookie.
 

You Feel Shame For Two Minutes, And Then You Get Free
• RMU killed off 11 penalties in a single game Nov. 25, 2016, against No. 5 Clarkson at the Windjammer Classic. The Colonials had made 11 successful kills in their first 12 attempts (91.7%) to begin the 2018-19 season before No. 1 Clarkson interrupted that hot streak with an Elizabeth Giguere power play goal Oct. 6.

Race Cars, Lasers, Aero-Planes...
• The first goal of the 2018-19 season for the Colonials, Sept. 29 versus St. Lawrence, belonged to Mackenzie Krasowski, which was her first goal as a collegian, and earned Gillian Thompson her first career assist. The Keswick, Ontario native Krasowski shares both a uniform number, 18, and a pre-college team, the Toronto Jr. Aeros (where Thompson was her teammate) with Class of '18 Colonial Jessica Gazzola. Last year's team captain, Amanda Pantaleo, is also a Jr. Aeros alumna. Five different players from that junior team have now played for Robert Morris in the past four calendar years.

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