PITTSBURGH -- It didn't take long for Brittany Howard to announce her return to the Robert Morris women's hockey team in her own flamboyant way. Waiting to see if her presence would extend the team's unbeaten streak to five games was another matter.

Nevertheless, the No. 9/10 Colonials (16-6-4, 10-2-3) persevered with solid team defense, particularly on the PK, to edge Lindenwood (8-16-1, 6-9-0) in a tight-checking 1-0 College Hockey America (CHA) contest at the RMU Island Sports Center Friday afternoon.

"Fantastic," head coach Paul Colontino replied when asked to describe the play of that group. "I thought we made smart plays, and they were confident plays. We had good clears when we needed them, and then just making good, authoritative plays when we needed them. There wasn't a lot of ice out there...but we had great saves, we had great plays by our D, and when the forwards needed to help out in the D-zone, they were there."

RMU, seeking its second straight regular-season conference title, has retaken first place in CHA by virtue of Mercyhurst's tie with fellow in-state rival Penn State.

The Lions blocked 27 shots, and CHA Goaltender of the Week Jolene deBruyn turned aside 35, including an early second-period breakaway by Howard, but she couldn't deny the redshirt senior forward and conference scoring leader her difference-maker.

Three-and-a-half minutes into her first game since missing a series win over PSU due to injury, Howard took a right-wing feed from Jaycee Gebhard and wristed it sharply past deBruyn from the high slot area for her CHA-best 19th goal and 38th point of the season.

Howard and Class of '15 teammate Rebecca Vint, who now plays for the NWHL's Buffalo Beauts, the pro team that drafted Howard last summer, are now tied with 73 career goals, the most in Robert Morris history.

They are also the second-most of any active NCAA Division I player entering Saturday, as are the 170 career points the London Jr. Devilettes prodigy has registered.

"I never know what award she's going to get next, or what record she's going to break," Colontino quipped, "but it's awesome. She does her thing, and in a game like today, the one goal came, and that's what it comes down to sometimes, but I think she's more happy with the win than the record."

"It feels good, and, obviously, it's a pretty cool accomplishment, but I couldn't do it without my teammates," Howard said. "Like on that 3-on-2, with Rennie dishing it to Jay, and Jay just doing a little tap-back."

Gebhard, meanwhile, continued her hot streak, earning her tenth point (5 G, 5 A) in her last six outings. She took sole possession of sixth place on the Robert Morris career scoring chart with that primary apple.

Also assisting on the winning goal was junior defender Maggie LaGue, whose 56 career helpers remain the most by an RMU blue-liner.

At the other end, Elijah Milne-Price held steady for her third career shutout, two of which have come against LU, on 17 saves. That ties the senior nemtinder with Courtney Vinet '15 and Daneca Butterfield '11 for fourth-most in program history.

"Our shot-blocking was huge," said Milne-Price, the CHA leader in wins, now with 15. "Late in the second period, Nat (Natalie Fraser) and Murph (Katherine Murphy) had [a few] blocks, and they were clearing the net, which makes my job a lot easier."

She was well supported, too, as the Colonials killed off a penalty in each period and allowed only two shots in 5-on-4 play. Robert Morris has killed off 24 of 26 penalties during its aforementioned unbeaten streak, a .923 success rate that ranks seventh in the nation over that span.

RMU has allowed just eight goals in all during its 4-0-1 spurt, which also ranks seventh in D-I for that timeframe.

"We're just communicating a lot more," Milne-Price said of its recent improvement on special teams. "We're telling each other if you have time to clear it, and being eyes for a person who's in the corner battling for the puck."

Milne-Price and Howard, one of two assistant captains on the 2017-18 squad, are among the seven players to be recognized by Robert Morris Saturday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. when it meets Lindenwood again on Senior Day.

The other members of the '17-'18 leadership group, assistant captain Murphy and captain Amanda Pantaleo, along with defenders Fraser and Leah Carey and forward Jessica Gazzola, will be honored in a special pregame ceremony as well.

"It's definitely good to be back for our last set of home games, and then pushing Mercyhurst and Syracuse to finish off the regular season, and this was a good game to get back into," Howard said of being back on the ice this weekend.

"They have a great goaltender back there, and they like to pack in the slot, block a lot of shots. Getting the early lead definitely helped us, but we definitely want to cash in on a few more tomorrow."

Fans are encouraged to take part in a "Pink Out" 12:00-9:00 p.m. outside of Colonials Arena, sponsored by the Robert Morris University chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha. The men's team will conclude its series with RIT at 7:05 p.m. in the second half of Saturday's doubleheader.

In addition, fans can sign up for the Clearview Federal Credit Union Skill Shot Challenge prior to both games for a chance to win $500.

Call 412-397-4949 or visit rmutickets.com for tickets.

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