Women's Hockey | 12/4/2018 10:40:00 AM
PITTSBURGH -- The
Robert Morris women's hockey team ended its longest homestand since the 2012-13 season with a flourish last weekend, and two of its stars have been blessed by College Hockey America for their efforts.
Junior assistant captain
Jaycee Gebhard was named the CHA Player of the Week and senior goaltender
Lauren Bailey the CHA Goalie of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday afternoon. Bailey picks up her third Goalie of the Week nod of the 2018-19 campaign (Oct. 29, Nov. 5), while Gebhard collects her second Player of the Week award with Robert Morris and first since Oct. 23, 2017.
The Colonials are coming off a sweep of CHA rival Penn State at the RMU Island Sports Center Nov. 30-Dec. 1, its fourth consecutive home series. Gebhard registered her second career hat trick and first since the Windjammer Classic Nov. 26, 2016 in a 4-1 win last Saturday, leaving her team unbeaten in 13 of 16 home-ice meetings with the Nittany Lions since 2012.
It propelled Robert Morris past idle Mercyhurst and into the CHA lead by one point going into the last week of play before its holiday break. Furthermore, Gebhard set a new school record by earning a point in her 13th straight game, the longest such streak since the 12-game run Nov. 4, 2016-Jan. 14, 2017 by former teammate
Brittany Howard '18.
She flipped a rebound over a prone Jenna Brenneman, the reigning two-time CHA Goalie of the Week, at the side of the net for a 2-0 RMU lead with 1:54 to play in the second period of the series finale. 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.
Gebhard made it a 3-1 game 12:16 into the third by deflecting an
Emily Curlett slap shot from the right point past Brenneman. She finished into an empty net with 52 seconds to go to complete the HT, taking a clearing attempt from Curlett along the near boards.
In the series opener, she assisted on the Teddy Bear Toss goal scored by erstwhile Notre Dame Hounds companion
Amber Rennie in the first period of last Friday's 3-2 decision over PSU. Rennie's redirection of Gebhard's shot from above the right wing circle with 8:30 gone by in the first period prompted 672 fans, plus staffers, to throw stuffed animals onto the Colonials Arena ice to benefit the Autism Society of Pittsburgh.
With 8:56 left in the second, Gebhard finished a pretty tic-tac-toe play between the circles for an eventual game-winning power play goal.
The 5'3" Plenty, Saskatchewan native led the conference with her four goals on the week (Nov. 27-Dec. 2), which tied for the most in the NCAA in that span, and her five points also topped CHA. Gebhard, with 32 points, has moved into a tie with Elizabeth Giguere (Clarkson) for the Division I scoring lead, and her 14 goals are also tied for the national lead with Maureen Murphy (Providence) and Loren Gabel, Giguere's Clarkson teammate.
Exactly half of those points (5 G, 11 A) have come on special teams, putting Gebhard atop D-I in power play points as well. In addition, Gebhard led CHA with 29 faceoff wins this week, and she continues to be the national front-runner, with 282 this season.
Bailey, meanwhile, did plenty to aid her team's sweep of the Nittany Lions, setting new season highs in saves two days in a row. She did not allow a single five-on-five goal this week, giving up only two power play tallies in the series and an extra-attacker goal as time expired last Friday.
The 5'9" Freeland, Michigan native turned aside 30 pucks in the opener to secure her sixth win as a senior. Her sparkling glove save on PSU captain Kelsey Crow from in tight kept the Nittany Lions off the board in the final half-minute of a scoreless first period while the Colonials worked to kill a hooking penalty.
Not to be outdone, Bailey finished RMU's final home contest of the fall semester with 34 saves, her most since the 39 she made against Mercyhurst in the CHA Tournament Semifinal Mar. 4, 2016. She recorded 16 of those saves in the third period alone.
In the second period, with the Colonials up 1-0, the Nittany Lions picked up their physical play in front of Bailey in their efforts to tie the game, but she 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. The former Choate Rosemary Hall standout denied Slattery on another key second-chance play from her back moments later.
Bailey led all CHA netminders this week with her 1.51 goals-against average and .955 save percentage.
Robert Morris (8-8-4, 6-1-1) concludes the fall portion of its regular-season schedule by traveling to No. 2 Minnesota, its first visit there since 2008. The opening faceoffs from Ridder Arena in Minneapolis are set for 8:07 p.m. ET Friday and 2:07 p.m. ET Saturday.
Both games can be seen live on Big Ten Network Plus and
FloHockey.tv (subscriptions required), and fans can also listen live, for free, on GopherSports.com.
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