PITTSBURGH -- The
Robert Morris women's hockey team was challenged offensively by one of the premier goaltenders in College Hockey America Friday afternoon, compelling her senior counterpart to elevate her own game in order to earn a result.
Lauren Bailey matched her season high with 23 saves in net for the Colonials (3-5-1, 1-1-1), who settled for a 2-2 tie with Lindenwood (1-5-1, 0-2-1) at the RMU Island Sports Center in their first CHA home game of the 2018-19 season.
The Freeland, Michigan native has allowed only three even-strength goals over her last four starts. In addition, she extended RMU's unbeaten streak in overtime games to 14 (5-0-9), which dates back to a 3-3 draw at Merrimack Oct. 22, 2016.
A transition play that culminated in a Hannah Alt wrist shot from inside the left circle beat Bailey 3:22 into the third period, ultimately forcing the OT.
"We have to all come out as a team tomorrow. Everyone has to show up," said Bailey after her team was unable to take the extra point. "We're finding our chances, but we've just got to bury. It'll come."
Robert Morris was playing without converted defender
Sarah Lecavalier due to an upper-body injury, leaving head coach
Paul Colontino to play all six of his natural defenders regularly. Lindenwood, for its part, leveled the ice after seeing it tilted in the first period.
The Colonials had to kill successive tripping penalties to
Emilie Harley, then Bailey stoned Taylor Girard on a short-handed breakaway with 14:14 to go in the second. She would also deny Sierra Burt on a breakaway with her right leg pad with 9:43 left in the third period.
Jolene deBruyn, who made 41 stops on the day, weathered the early storm for Lindenwood. The Lions managed a tie after 20 minutes despite being outshot 18-4 in the first period by Robert Morris, which used the game's first power play to turn up the heat.
Megan Wagner was sent off for a body check 5:45 into the first period, and just over a minute later, the Colonials were awarded a penalty shot when Alexandra Larson was nabbed for closing her hand on the puck in the crease. deBruyn closed her five-hole on
Maggie LaGue, who attempted the first RMU penalty shot since Rebecca Vint took one at Bemidji State Oct. 12, 2013, to keep the game scoreless.
Girard made the Colonials pay, briefly, for the missed opportunity by finishing a one-timer from Burt at the side of the cage for a 1-0 lead with 8:54 remaining. A too-many-players penalty put the Lions on their heels again, as
Lexi Templeman answered for Robert Morris just 2:07 later.
Jaycee Gebhard kept the power-play sequence alive at the left point, then passed right to the tape of the sophomore forward. Templeman, the All-CHA Rookie Team honoree who shared the 2017-18 team lead in power play goals (five), deked around deBruyn and slid the puck past for her second goal of the season.
Gebhard, who now has 13 points (7 G, 6 A) lifetime against Lindenwood, put Robert Morris in front after it had killed off another penalty to Harley, who redeemed herself with the secondary helper 13:12 into the middle frame.
Amber Rennie crashed the net, and Gebhard tried setting her up for a redirect that, on second attempt, appeared successful. Officials reviewed the play for a distinct kicking motion, but it passed muster and later became Gebhard's team-leading fifth goal of the year when it was determined her shot-pass had instead gone off the skates of two different Lindenwood back-checkers and over the line.
Now with 12 points to top RMU, the junior assistant captain moved into a fourth-place tie with four others in the early stages of the NCAA scoring race.
She also had the only two shots on goal for the Colonials in the extra period, including the only one on a power play spanning the final 1:18 of the game that made it through to deBruyn.
"Their transition game was pretty quick. We just need to be a little more diligent in picking up players on the backcheck," Gebhard said. "I think we just need everyone to step up for 60 minutes to win these kind of games, not just forty minutes here, thirty minutes there. But I definitely think the defense stepped up."
The two teams reconvene at Colonials Arena Saturday at 1:05 p.m. EDT, part of a women's/men's doubleheader with the RMU men's team facing RIT in another 7:05 p.m. game.
Admission to Saturday's women's game is free, as part of Family Weekend 2018 at Robert Morris University and the team's concurrent Halloween celebration.
Fans attending both Saturday games are encouraged to wear Halloween costumes for a contest sponsored by the RMU Band. The winner, announced during the second intermission of each game, receives store credit to the Island Sports Center Pro Shop.
In addition, all are welcome to register for the Clearview Federal Credit Union "Penalty Box Trivia Challenge" during each of this weekend's women's and men's games for a chance to win $50.
Once again, the women's game can be seen live on the CHA Digital Network (subscription required).
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