PITTSBURGH -- An in-house symphony of classic television themes entertained fans of the Robert Morris women's hockey team prior to its final home game of the fall semester, spanning main titles from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, to Friends, to The A-Team.

What junior assistant captain Jaycee Gebhard did after the puck dropped was apropos of throwing hats in the air, as she proved she'd be there for the Colonials, who love it when a plan comes together.

Coming off a successful Teddy Bear Toss game, Robert Morris (8-8-4, 6-1-1) put down Penn State 4-1 at the RMU Island Sports Center Saturday behind a Gebhard hat trick that fueled a sweep of the College Hockey America rival Nittany Lions (7-9-2, 2-6-0). It propelled the Colonials past idle Mercyhurst and into the CHA lead by one point going into the last week of play before their holiday break.

Both of last season's CHA Tournament finalists have the inside track on first-round playoff byes, with Gebhard doing her part to push RMU to a third straight regular-season crown.

The 5'3" Plenty, Saskatchewan native capped the team's longest homestand since the 2012-13 season (Dec. 7, 2012-Jan. 19, 2013) with her second career HT and first since Nov. 26, 2016 (Windjammer Classic vs. St. Cloud State).

"Obviously, it felt good, and obviously, it can't happen without my linemates and teammates. I found myself around the net a little bit more tonight, but it was an all-around good effort by our team, and I just happened to be in the right spot," she said.

Gebhard has registered a point in 13 consecutive games, continuing her longest point streak as a collegian. It is now also the longest point streak in Robert Morris history, and the longest once since the 12-game run Nov. 4, 2016-Jan. 14, 2017 by former teammate Brittany Howard '18.

Being in the right place at the right time has put Gebhard in first place, for the time being, in NCAA scoring. With 32 points, she and Elizabeth Giguere share the top spot, and Gebhard's 14 goals also put her in a tie for the national lead with Maureen Murphy (Providence) and Loren Gabel, Giguere's Clarkson teammate.

"I was just kind of hoping to come in and made an impact [this season] with Brit gone," Gebhard said. "It's been nice to be able to contribute every game and help our team win. I'm not really thinking about that, just about getting wins and scoring whenever I can to help the team."

"If you're one of her teammates, and you see what she does, and how often she does it, I can't imagine how that can not resonate with you. I can't imagine how you can't absorb that, because her work ethic is just uncanny," said head coach Paul Colontino.

His Colonials are now unbeaten in 13 of 16 meetings with PSU on home ice since 2012, and Gebhard made it so with 1:54 remaining in the second period.

A shot taken by Maggie LaGue from center point was denied by Jenna Brenneman, but fellow senior tri-captain Amber Rennie slipped the rebound to her former Notre Dame Hounds companion. Gebhard flipped it over a prone Brenneman at the side of the net for a 2-0 RMU lead.

It held up as her conference-leading fifth game-winning goal of the season and tenth of her career, moving Gebhard past Robert Morris Athletics Hall-of-Famer Brianna Delaney for third all-time. Rennie, meanwhile, extended her own career-best point streak to six games.

LaGue, in picking up her 72nd career assist, passed Thea Imbrogno '14 for second in Colonials history.

"I don't know...all the girls who put the puck in the net definitely helped," she laughed. "I've just tried sticking to my game, not trying to force plays and giving it to the right people at the right time."

Robert Morris got a big penalty kill early in the third period with LaGue in the box for an illegal check, but Penn State did use special teams to will its way back into the game. With Emily Curlett off for slashing, Jessica Adolfsson snapped a shot from center point through a screen and past Lauren Bailey with 9:49 left in regulation.

The sophomore defender would get a measure of revenge, and help land a big counter-punch for the Colonials, just 2:05 later. Curlett's slap shot from the right point was deflected in behind Brenneman by Gebhard at the side of the Lions' cage to make it a 3-1 game.

Meanwhile, Curlett, for the second Saturday in a row, established a new career high in blocked shots, finishing with eight. The NCAA leader now has 83 blocks on the season. LaGue also set a new personal best by blocking nine shots, eclipsing the eight she recorded versus Penn State Jan. 26, 2018.

Gebhard easily finished into an empty net with 52 seconds to go and Brenneman pulled, taking a clearing attempt from Curlett along the near boards.

Bailey cemented the victory with 34 saves, including 16 in the third period, setting a season high for the second time in as many days.

In the second period, the Nittany Lions picked up their physical play in front of Bailey in their efforts to tie the game. The senior goaltender went snow angel to prevent Sophie Slattery from finishing a backdoor play, and from putting away the rebound, with just over 13 minutes left in the middle frame. Bailey, again, denied Slattery on a second-chance play from her back moments later.

RMU opened the scoring with a rebound goal. Junior forward Natalie Marcuzzi drove the net through the right wing circle on a two-on-one, putting in the follow-up shot for her career-high fifth goal of the season with four minutes left in the first period.

Senior forward Sarah Quaranta, who leads active Colonials with eight career assists against PSU, set up Marcuzzi.

"Obviously, Jay's hat trick was well-deserved and well-earned, but we got different kinds of goals, which I think was huge," Colontino said. "To put up four today, and three yesterday, for us, is a good step forward."

"We had a really good week of practice and came into the weekend knowing it was a tough league opponent," said LaGue, Friday's Teddy Bear Toss organizer, of the team's on- and off-ice excellence. "Being focused and knowing what our gameplan was the entire time, sticking to it and executing is what really made us successful this weekend."

Robert Morris concludes the fall portion of its 2018-19 regular season with a non-conference series at No. 2 Minnesota Dec. 7-8, its first visit there since 2008. The opening faceoffs from Ridder Arena in Minneapolis are scheduled for 8:07 and 2:07 p.m. ET next Friday and Saturday, respectively.

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