Women's Hockey | 11/22/2018 9:53:00 PM

PITTSBURGH -- The Robert Morris women's hockey team hosts the seventh-ranked Big Red of Cornell University for the first time in program history Friday and Saturday afternoon. Both opening faceoffs are scheduled for 3:05 p.m. ET at the RMU Island Sports Center, and both games can be seen live on the CHA Digital Network (subscription required).

Fans can visit the Island Sports Center lobby on gameday for tickets. Admission to each game is $1.00 for all fans wearing a jersey.

In addition, fans are welcome to sign up for the Clearview Federal Credit Union "Penalty Box Trivia Challenge" prior to both contests for a chance to win $50.

The first 200 to arrive at Colonials Arena on Saturday will receive a free RMU Santa Claus hat, courtesy of Sewickley Savings Bank.

Robert Morris (6-7-3, 4-1-1) vs. #7/7 Cornell (5-1-3, 4-1-1) - Nov. 23-24
Fri., Nov. 23 (3:05 p.m.) - LIVE STREAM ($) | LIVE STATS
Sat., Nov. 24 (3:05 p.m.) - LIVE STREAM ($) | LIVE STATS 

The Colonials have one victory in three all-time meetings, with 2018 Robert Morris Athletics Hall-of-Famer Brianna Delaney scoring the equalizer and game-winner in a 2-1 win Nov. 1, 2008. Kristen Miles earned the primary assist on both RMU goals, 13:21 into the second period and 4:12 into the third.

The Colonials are unbeaten in seven of their past nine games overall (4-2-3). They are 8-5-0 all-time against Ivy League schools, and they have earned at least a point in 11 of their last 16 outings (7-5-4) against Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) squads.

RMU last beat a ranked team Nov. 25, 2017, a 3-2 sudden-victory win over No. 5 Ohio State on the Island. Brittany Howard forced OT before netting the decisive goal.

Key Notes

• October CHA Player of the Month Jaycee Gebhard has climbed up to third in the NCAA scoring race. Gebhard led the Colonials with four points (PPG, 3 A) in their series with Minnesota State Nov. 16-17, and her 23 points (10 G, 13 A) are only one behind national co-leaders Elizabeth Giguere (Clarkson) and Emma Maltais (Ohio State). Her 12 power play points (4 G, 8 A) lead Division I.

• Furthermore, Gebhard has maintained the overall NCAA lead with her 219 faceoff wins. Her .590 faceoff win percentage is third in CHA coming into Friday. RMU, as a team, has the most faceoff wins in Division I (540).

• Gebhard has a point in nine straight games, matching her career high. Her last such run was Jan. 28-Mar. 4, 2017, when she went on make RMU history by winning CHA Rookie of the Year and Women's Hockey Commissioners Association (WHCA) National Rookie of the Year. Her six-game goal streak Oct. 20-Nov. 9, 2018 was her longest as a collegian.

• 2017-18 CHA Student-Athlete of the Year Natalie Marcuzzi got the Colonials on the board versus MSU Nov. 16 with her fourth goal of the season, tying her career high. She also scored first for RMU against No. 10 Colgate Nov. 10, marking the first time in her career she earned goals in back-to-back games.

• Lexi Templeman has registered a point in seven of her last eight games. Her 12 assists put her second in CHA and tied for sixth in D-I, while her six power-play helpers are tied for the conference lead and fourth nationally. 

• Two-time CHA Rookie of the Week Arielle DeSmet made 18 saves against Minnesota State Nov. 17, her third start of the season. DeSmet carries a 1.49 GAA that ranks second among NCAA rookies with at least four appearances. 

• Maggie LaGue recorded her career-high fourth goal of the season versus Minnesota State Nov. 16. With 78 career points, LaGue is the second-highest scoring defender in RMU history, 10 points back of fellow senior Kirsten Welsh.

• When last the Colonials met the Big Red, Cornell was the USCHO (United States College Hockey Online) No. 1 and took both games of their Oct. 22-23, 2010 series in Ithaca, New York. Sara O'Malley (2 G, A) and Dayna Newsom (G, 2 A) combined for six points for RMU.

• Cornell is the third ranked team the Colonials have faced this season. A 2-2 tie with No. 10 Colgate Nov. 10 marked the 21st time in program history that RMU earned at least a point from a nationally ranked opponent.

Resume Builder
• Robert Morris sits No. 23 in both the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) and the PairWise rankings that affect NCAA Tournament seeding. Ten of its 14 non-conference games this season have come against teams that ended 2017-18 in the final D-I polls.

Worth The Wait
• Robert Morris went 3-0-4 in overtime in 2017-18. After its 4-4 tie with Minnesota State Nov. 16, the Colonials have not lost in their last 16 games that went to overtime (5-0-11), dating back to a 3-3 tie on Oct. 22, 2016 at Merrimack.

Chasing History
• Jaycee Gebhard became the fifth Robert Morris player to amass 100 career points with her power play goal Nov. 9. Now with 45 goals all-time, Gebhard is in sixth place on the RMU career chart. Gebhard passed Kristen Miles '09 for sixth in RMU history with her 16th power play tally Nov. 17.
• Gebhard and Amber Rennie tied Megan Picinic '09 for fourth in Colonials history with eight career game-winning goals after each got one at RIT Nov. 2-3. Each needs one more GW to match Brianna Delaney for third in RMU lore.

All's Well That Welsh Ends
• Kirsten Welsh scored 2:51 into overtime for a 3-2 win over St. Lawrence Sept. 29, and she scored with :20.9 left to force OT versus Minnesota State Nov. 16. Dating back to the 2016-17 season, RMU is unbeaten in 26 of the past 31 games in which Welsh has recorded at least one point.

They Are "Soph"
• Emily Curlett matched her career high with six blocked shots versus St. Lawrence Sept. 29 and registered five in home games against RPI (Oct. 12), Lindenwood (Oct. 26) and Minnesota State (Nov. 16). Curlett led CHA defenders in 2017-18 with 70 blocks and leads the NCAA with 58 after finishing second in Division I in blocked shots as a rookie.
• Lexi Templeman finished the 2017-18 season with a .559 faceoff win rate that ended up third among CHA rookies. Templeman has maintained the CHA lead (.658) through Wednesday and ranks sixth in the NCAA. Her .709 faceoff win percentage in home games is currently fifth in D-I after going 21-for-29 from the dot against MSU Nov. 16-17.

You Feel Shame For Two Minutes, And Then You Get Free
• Robert Morris has made 54 successful penalty kills this season, which ties the Colonials for the third-most in the NCAA, and 32 have come at home, which also ranks third nationally. They are 88.0% on the PK (22-for-25) in their previous series against ECAC opponents this season.

The Third Period Is Our Period
• Robert Morris enters this weekend with 19 third-period goals this season, tied for the third-most in Division I, and its +5 goal margin in third periods is tied for fifth in the NCAA. Its three-goal comeback versus MSU Nov. 16 marked the first time since Nov. 26, 2016 (Windjammer Classic vs. St. Cloud State) that the Colonials erased a multiple-goal deficit in the third period to earn at least a point.

In Our Defense...
• Last season, the Colonials amassed 102 total points from their defensive corps, ultimately tying them with national champion Clarkson as the highest-scoring unit in Division I. Entering Friday, the 2018-19 squad has combined for 11 goals from its defensive corps, which ties it for the Division I lead. Individually, Kirsten Welsh is one off the NCAA lead among defenders with her five goals, and her ten points are tied for ninth.

Flashback Friday
• The last series for Robert Morris against an Ivy League school resulted in a sweep at Brown Oct. 20-21, 2017. An 11-0 win in the opener marked the first time in the Colontino era the Colonials scored and won by double-digit goals. Emilie Harley, Emily Curlett and Lexi Templeman collected their first collegiate goals, and Sarah Lecavalier netted her first since transferring from North Dakota. In the finale, RMU rallied for a dramatic 3-2 victory, as Amber Rennie tied the game with 12:39 left in the third period, and Natalie Fraser won the game with two seconds left in regulation.

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