PITTSBURGH -- The patience of the
Robert Morris women's hockey team was tested again Saturday afternoon, as was its poise. This time, the virtue of its patience was a hard-earned series split from its ECAC counterpart and their upstart goaltender.
Lovisa Selander gave the Colonials (2-4-0) more fits, but it was rookie
Arielle DeSmet, at the other end, who got a 3-1 win over RPI in her collegiate debut at the RMU Island Sports Center, thanks to a timely goal by junior forward
Jaycee Gebhard and more stifling defense.
"I always say, nobody 'deserves' to win, and nobody 'deserves' to lose. It's all about what happens on the ice," said head coach
Paul Colontino, whose team has gone unbeaten in 11 of its last 13 meetings with the Engineers (1-3-1). "Today, I thought we put together a much better 60 minutes, though we still fought the puck a little bit in front of the net. Their goaltender, again, was outstanding."
Selander withstood a mostly relentless Robert Morris attack for the second day in a row until roughly the midpoint of the third period. Josefine Hansen was nabbed for a trip in the neutral zone, which put the RMU power play to work, and the second time proved to be the charm for that unit.
Sophomore forward
Lexi Templeman worked a give-and-go with Gebhard along the far boards. Templeman, camped in the corner, fed Gebhard as she cut through the right wing circle, and the assistant captain roofed her shot for her third goal of the season, breaking a 1-1 tie with 9:25 to play.
Prior to Gebhard's game-winner, fellow junior
Natalie Marcuzzi had gone down uncomfortably behind the Engineers' goal and suffered what initially appeared to be a serious leg injury. The two-time College Hockey America Student-Athlete of the Year, however, toughed it out, and her tenacity paid off in the game's final moments, which turned out to be its most crucial ones.
Kirsten Welsh took a tripping call of her own with 3:06 left in regulation, after DeSmet had slid to her right to make a save on Sabrina Repaci that preserved the one-goal lead. Marcuzzi won the ensuing faceoff to the left of her first-year netminder, and after the Colonials killed their fifth penalty of the series in as many chances, she sailed a perfect puck from inside her own blue line into an empty RPI net to put the game on ice with 58 seconds remaining.
First-time winner DeSmet also picked up her first assist as a collegian by kicking that puck out to Marcuzzi.
"She worked hard throughout the game, and she hit the boards pretty hard. But she shook it off, found a way to get going again for the kill and got that empty-netter. That's a nice little reward for getting back on the horse and getting back out there," said Colontino.
"That's where I got hurt, too, so that's a hard spot for me to watch someone go crashing into the boards like that," said senior forward
Caitlyn Sadowy, referring to the preseason arm injury that wiped out her sophomore campaign. "She didn't look good when she got off, but when she was on the bench with EMS, she said, 'Nope, nope, I'm good.' Then she took a little skate and said she was fine, and it was nice to see her get that goal to end it all."
After RMU couldn't get a bounce in the series opener, it was, perhaps, fitting that Sadowy and the Colonials got a fortuitous one for Saturday's first goal. She sent a puck from long range toward Selander that was bouncing all the way, and it tricked the Swedish senior for the only score of the opening period with 5:39 to play.
Rookie forward
Courtney Kollman, who has skated on Gebhard's line for most of the young season, earned her first career point on the primary assist.
"We just had to keep shooting," Sadowy said. "I just tried to get it on net, and hope that my wingers, or somebody else, was driving the net. Next thing I know, it bounced over [the goal line] and was in the net."
Robert Morris did everything in its power to add to that lead, outshooting RPI 16-1 in the second period and allowing only nine shots on goal altogether. DeSmet was bested only by a Blake Orosz redirection of a centering pass from Repaci that tied the game 2:09 into the third.
Gebhard and Templeman both helped their goaltender by blocking shots during the pivotal PK, as did veteran defender
Maggie LaGue and rookie
Wasyn Rice. The Colonials have posted an 89.5% success rate on the penalty kill that tops CHA and ranked 11th in Division I by game's end.
"It feels great just to have the first one under my belt," said DeSmet, who spelled
Lauren Bailey for the first time Saturday. "[The team] battled hard, they got under sticks, and there were a lot of loose pucks they were able to clear up the boards. 'Bailes' gave me a lot of encouragement...and to have that support from a senior was really nice going into my first game."
"She looked very confident and very comfortable," Colontino said. "She's been working incredibly hard in practice, so I think she earned everything she got today."
Next week, RMU will try to earn its first win in conference play, and take a significant first step toward a third straight regular-season title and reclamation of the CHA postseason crown, when it visits arch-rival Mercyhurst for the first time since the 2018 tournament final.
The opening faceoffs from the Mercyhurst Ice Center in Erie, Pennsylvania are scheduled for 6:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. EDT Oct. 19-20.
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