PITTSBURGH -- Since returning from injury to the Robert Morris women's hockey team, Brittany Howard has shown an unrelenting drive to break the program record for broken records. Most appropriately, she picked Senior Day at the RMU Island Sports Center for one last statistical coronation.

The No. 9/10 Colonials (17-6-4, 11-2-3) cruised to a 5-0 sweep of College Hockey America (CHA) rival Lindenwood (8-17-1, 6-10-0) at Colonials Arena Saturday afternoon that saw Howard score her RMU record-breaking 74th career goal late in the first period of her final home game.

"It was nice to see her get that on Senior [Day], after the amount of time and effort she's put in, and fitting. I don't know if she was waiting for it, but it worked out well," head coach Paul Colontino said.

Class of '15 teammate Rebecca Vint, currently playing with the same Buffalo Beauts squad that selected Howard tenth overall in last year's NWHL Draft, previously held the all-time mark. In addition, Howard equaled another of Vint's records with her 18th career game-winning goal, her second of the weekend.

An abbreviated power play in the waning moments of the first would set the tone for a storybook day that began with a pregame ceremony in which the London Jr. Devilettes product from St. Thomas, Ontario was recognized with her fellow upperclassmen.

"It was fantastic, and I want to thank our people as well," Colontino said. "With the pregame stuff, everything went very smoothly, and we thought it was very nice, and when we got into the game, I thought we had a great performance by our whole team."

"It was amazing, from the band, to even just the roses and the pictures, and being with Coach at the beginning of the game," Howard agreed. "It's been a great five years here at Robert Morris."

Howard blasted a shot from the right circle with 40 seconds until the ice cut that further cemented her place in program history and gave the Colonials the only offense they would need. But the Class of 2018, which also includes defenders Leah Carey and Natalie Fraser, assistant captain Katherine Murphy, forward Jessica Gazzola, goaltender Elijah Milne-Price and captain Amanda Pantaleo, had so much more to give on their special day.

Pantaleo, aided by Gazzola and Carey, rammed a loose puck past Lauren Hennessey for her fourth of the year just 18 seconds after an Emily Curlett blast from the left point made it 2-0, setting a new RMU rookie defender record with her eighth of the season.

"I was due for one, so I was glad I got to do it on Senior Day. Obviously, winning makes Senior Day so much better," said Pantaleo, who scored her first and last goals at the Island Sports Center against the same opponent. "We played together. We had four lines rolling the whole game, and everybody just gave it their all. Even though, after the first, it was only 1-0, we still kept them out. We played all three periods."

Midway through the second, after a Colonials penalty kill, Howard found Pittsburgh-born newcomer Anjelica Diffendal, who went top shelf on a 2-on-1 to extend the lead. A pretty pass by Howard from the goal line to Jaycee Gebhard helped the surging sophomore collect her sixth goal in as many games with time ticking away in the third.

Howard and Gazzola have teamed up for 29 assists in conference play, the most of any CHA duo this season.

Preceding Howard's goal was another pair of successful penalty kills by Robert Morris, which limited the Lions to one shot on both. RMU was a perfect 5-for-5 on the PK, and it is 29-for-31 (.935) during its six-game unbeaten streak, tied for the sixth-best run in the nation during that span.

Fraser and Murphy combined for four of the team's 16 blocked shots in the contest, as the Colonials defense is doing what it did a year ago, when those seniors, as juniors, led the team to its first-ever regular-season CHA title, second CHA Tournament crown and first NCAA Tournament berth: peaking at the right time.

"A penalty kill is an aspect of special teams where small, unrecognizable plays make huge differences. And we're starting to get some of those, some little plays," said Colontino, whose team has allowed just eight goals altogether on its aforementioned streak, the third-fewest in Division I since Jan. 19. "Like EJ said [Friday], the communication, a player taking half a second longer, getting better clears, reading when to jump more. I think all these little plays are, hopefully--ideally--starting to add up. We're starting to see some results."

Milne-Price made 20 saves for her fourth career shutout, the fourth-most in Robert Morris history, her second in a row and her third lifetime against LU. She is now up to tenth in the NCAA with her 1.74 goals-against average, and the CHA wins leader (16) now ranks second in D-I in that category among seniors.

Her ongoing streak of not yielding a goal has surpassed 153 minutes, one of the longest such runs ever by an RMU netminder.

"For the rest of your life, you can say, 'Last time I played there, I had that rink under control,'" Colontino chuckled. "She's worked so hard over her career to get to this point. What is nice is, she's reaping some of those rewards toward the end of her senior year, and she's had a phenomenal year to start already."

Howard, meanwhile, continues to lead the conference in points (41; 9th, NCAA) and goals (20; t-7th, NCAA), having equaled her career single-season best in the latter. Across the board, her 74 goals, 99 assists and 173 points all-time are the second-most among all active collegians.

"I can't get the smile off my face," she said. "It's a great feeling, obviously, to get the 'W' going into Mercyhurst next weekend. It's a one-versus-two battle, so it's going to be exciting, for sure."

With her first-period tally, the Robert Morris power play is scoring at a CHA-best .324 clip (11-for-34) over the past six games, an advantage the Colonials will gladly take against the Lakers, whom they meet at the Mercyhurst Ice Center next Friday at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

Another tie between Mercyhurst and Penn State in Erie Saturday allowed RMU to open up a two-point lead in the CHA standings as it celebrates the accomplishments of a senior class that has amassed 129 goals, 227 assists (356 points) and 549 saves--so far.

"I'm speechless. It feels like yesterday I played my home opener here," Pantaleo remarked.

"Our coaches said there's a lot of distractions before the game, with celebrating, but we got the job done no matter what. It's a good way to go out."

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