MINNEAPOLIS -- There were no long faces on the
Robert Morris women's hockey team Saturday afternoon, not even after a long day and even longer first half of the 2018-19 season ended with a 5-0 loss to No. 2 Minnesota (17-2-1, 9-2-1) at Ridder Arena.
Head coach
Paul Colontino, never one to lament their own schedule, has been nonetheless quick to point out how hard his ladies have worked to cross that semi-finish line. Through Saturday, the Colonials (8-10-4, 6-1-1) have already played 22 games, more than any Division I member, even their seasoned Golden Gopher counterparts.
Their non-conference slate in particular, which also wrapped up on Saturday, was the most daunting of any RMU has faced in Colontino's seven-plus seasons on the job. Robert Morris has visited the nation's consensus No. 1 and 2 teams, including the reigning two-time national champion (Clarkson), and hosted the team it beat last spring (Colgate) to successfully defend its crown.
Last season, the Gophers were the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) playoff champ and an NCAA quarterfinalist. Prior to their matchup with Robert Morris, the Colonials also endured home series against red-hot Cornell and fringe top-ten St. Lawrence of the similarly deep Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC).
"We've obviously played some pretty tough opponents and fared pretty well against them. It's a great opportunity for us to showcase our talents against these big-name teams so, when we get into CHA playoffs, finals and stuff like that, we've already seen it," said senior forward
Amber Rennie. "If we get to the [NCAA] tournament, we're more than likely going against one of the teams we've faced, so I think that'll help us hugely."
Rennie, one of three captains named by Colontino in an unprecedented preseason move, continues to mesh with fellow Saskatchewan native and former Notre Dame Hounds teammate
Jaycee Gebhard, the lone assistant captain. As the fall portion of the '18-'19 campaign concluded, the former was riding the crest of the latter's wave like never before.
Gebhard registered a point in 14 consecutive games Oct. 20-Dec. 7, establishing a new Robert Morris record. Earlier in the week she celebrated her second College Hockey America Player of the Month award in a row, as well as a CHA Player of the Week nod for her hat trick in a 4-1 win over conference rival Penn State Dec. 1.
Her historic consistency helped longtime linemate Rennie enjoy an overlapping seven-game point streak Nov. 16-Dec. 7 that was her longest as a collegian as well. Meanwhile, 2018 All-CHA Rookie Team selection
Lexi Templeman has brought further stability to the top forward unit with 18 points, good for third in the conference, and a faceoff win percentage of .670 that puts the KW Rangers prodigy in the national top five.
On Friday, Gebhard became the sixth player in program history to score 50 career goals, almost a month ago to the day she became the fifth RMU player to hit the century mark in career points (Nov. 9).
After getting a summer invite to Team Canada's National Women's Development Team, she has begun her third year at RMU with 15 tallies, just two back of national leader Maureen Murphy (Providence) and second in D-I overall. Her 33 points entering the holiday break are also good for second in the NCAA and only a pair behind front-runner Elizabeth Giguere (Clarkson).
By setting up that milestone marker, Rennie took sole possession of seventh place on the RMU career chart with 89 points. Right behind her is
Kirsten Welsh, with 88, and fellow senior
Maggie LaGue, with 84.
Welsh and LaGue, the two highest-scoring defenders in school history, not only have shared the captaincy with Rennie, but have also shared equally important roles in jettisoning the Colonials to the top of the CHA standings.
LaGue has climbed to second overall in Colonials lore with 72 assists all-time. While organizing the team's annual Teddy Bear Toss Nov. 30, the North American Hockey Academy product has tied for third nationally in points among defenders, with 15 (4 G, 11 A), and her 56 blocked shots are tied for the second-most in the NCAA.
Her career-high nine versus Penn State Dec. 1 helped cement the victory that put RMU in first place in CHA going into the new calendar year.
"I think we can really hold our heads high, especially after this weekend," said LaGue. "We've had a really tough schedule and battled through it, and had some definite highs that we can take into the second half. It's definitely a first half to be happy with."
Robert Morris leads arch-rival Mercyhurst by a single point in its quest for a regular season three-peat, and dating back to the 2016-17 stretch run, which led to the first of their back-to-back regular-season conference crowns, RMU is unbeaten in 26 of 31 games in which Welsh earns a point.
That includes a 5-1 draining of the Lakers, their most decisive win of the season, Oct. 20 at the Mercyhurst Ice Center--a building unkind to many Colonial teams in the program's earlier years.
In addition, the 2018 CHA Defender of the Year and Third Team All-USCHO honoree scored in overtime for a character-building 3-2 win over St. Lawrence Sept. 29, and her last-minute, extra-attacker goal earned a come-from-behind 4-4 tie with Minnesota State Nov. 16.
She has missed the past five games, however, with a lower-body injury, and rookie blue-liner
Gillian Thompson, after incurring one of her own, has not dressed for the last six. Making matters more challenging, junior
Sarah Lecavalier, who swapped positions this season, also missed time early in the fall with an upper-body ailment.
Still, just as the Colonials built character, they have revealed it. The short-bodied squad battled No. 10 Colgate, one of the nation's highest-scoring teams, to a 2-2 tie Nov. 10. Sophomore defender
Emily Curlett, another in the recently long line of solid two-way players at her position for Robert Morris, rattled off two third-period power play goals to forge a 3-3 tie with No. 7 Cornell on Nov. 24.
Curlett maintains a comfortable lead over LaGue for the Division I lead in blocked shots, finishing the first half of the season with 94.
"Our work ethic is always there. That's the biggest thing we have going for us," Rennie said.
In goal, senior
Lauren Bailey has picked up three CHA Goalie of the Week laurels thus far, including her most recent honor Dec. 4. Newcomer
Arielle DeSmet, when called upon, has shown plenty of potential, earning CHA Rookie of the Week nods Oct. 15 and Nov. 12.
After a couple years of riding shotgun to two all-conference netminders, Bailey seems to be coming into her own, averaging 26.2 saves over her past six appearances and topping that with 28 stops against Minnesota Saturday. During that critical sweep of PSU, she did not allow a single five-on-five goal.
As they climbed back onto their charter bus along 4th Street, with non-conference play in the proverbial rearview mirror, the thing that excited them the most--aside from the much-needed month of rest and relaxation that precedes the second half of the season--was the opportunity to zero back in on their CHA competition.
Robert Morris will get its first chance to do so in Syracuse Jan. 18-19. That is when the Colonials resume regular-season play at Tennity Ice Pavilion, the location of their '17-'18 regular-season title celebration.
"We just have to keep working and staying in shape over break, and come back in good 'game shape,'" said LaGue. "Every game matters from here on out. Putting ourselves in a good position starts with resting up, but also getting back after it."
The eventual return of Welsh, in particular, will be eagerly awaited. She is capable of bolstering a power play that is still tied for second in the NCAA with 17 goals, and her five total goals as a senior are tied for fourth among Division I defenders.
Minimally, Welsh can be an effective puck mover for that top trio of Rennie, Gebhard and Templeman, or for their supporting cast, while creating physical problems for the other team's top players with her 5'11" frame.
Speedy CHA Student-Athlete of the Year
Natalie Marcuzzi is emerging as a leader of that supporting cast. She has been clicking with blue-collar wingers
Caitlyn Sadowy and
Sarah Quaranta, having already eclipsed her career single-year high with five goals--and some critical ones, at that.
Marcuzzi got the game-winner at Mercyhurst, the equalizer versus Colgate and opened the scoring in the 2018 home finale against the Nittany Lions.
But no matter who wears the cape, these Colonials only care that their long-term goal of wearing championship ballcaps in Buffalo, come March, is still very much within reach.
"Can't get any better than finishing first going into Christmas," said Rennie. "We know there's still work to be done, but, overall, we're pretty happy."
Follow the Colonials: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Snapchat
