Women's Hockey | 3/1/2018 12:24:00 AM

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A formal dinner in the Lexus Club at KeyBank Center highlighted the annual College Hockey America (CHA) Awards Banquet, which seemed like just a formality after the season the Robert Morris women's hockey team just celebrated.

Brittany Howard led the group of five Colonials recognized by the conference Wednesday with her third straight All-CHA First Team selection and back-to-back Player of the Year honors. Her second consecutive CHA scoring title, which she clinched the same day her team wrapped up back-to-back CHA regular-season titles, was also made official.

Kirsten Welsh, chosen as the CHA Defender of the Year, joined Howard and goaltender Elijah Milne-Price on the first all-conference team, and fellow blue-liner Emily Curlett was chosen, along with forward Lexi Templeman, for the All-CHA Rookie Team.

Earlier in the day, Howard was named the CHA Player of the Month for February, her third player-of-the-month nod as a redshirt senior, and Milne-Price the Goaltender of the Month. The latter was concurrently named CHA Goaltender of the Week and Welsh the CHA Player of the Week for their efforts in a regular season-ending sweep at Syracuse Feb. 23-24.

Howard finished the 2017-18 regular campaign with 46 points, including a career single-season high 23 goals. The assistant captain from St. Thomas, Ontario, recently lauded as both Dapper Dan Sportswoman of the Year and a Patty Kazmaier Award top-ten finalist, enters the postseason with 77 career goals and 178 career points, both second-most among active collegians, having spearheaded the third 20-win season in program history and second in a row.

She led all CHA players in February with nine points, 1.5 points per game and a plus-9 rating. Howard also led all NCAA players in February with three game-winning goals and topped the conference with a staggering .750 faceoff win percentage (33-for-44) that ranked second nationally.

On Feb. 10 she became RMU's all-time leading goal scorer with her 74th career goal in a Senior Day triumph over Lindenwood, and, on Feb. 17, set a new Colonials record with her 19th career game-winning goal. Howard earned her 100th career assist in that same 3-2 win at Mercyhurst.

Howard quickly became the program's new all-time points leader Oct. 8, ringing up a hat trick and three assists to cap a season-opening sweep of Minnesota State in Mankato.

Milne-Price, at the other end, paced the Colonials and the conference with 19 wins, a .750 win percentage and six shutouts, a new single-season record for the program. The senior from Mississauga, Ontario was the CHA leader and NCAA co-leader in February shutouts, with four, finishing the regular season allowing just four goals in her last six starts.

She became the third goalie in RMU history to post back-to-back shutouts Feb. 10, and, on Feb. 24, became the first in school history to do it twice in the same season. On Feb. 16 set a new RMU record by going 181:09, dating back to Jan. 27, without allowing a goal. Through February, she has not allowed a goal in her last 128:29 of action.

The NCAA-best four goals allowed by Robert Morris in the final month of regular-season play had a great deal to do with the play of Welsh and Curlett on the back end. One of the nation's premier offensive defenders, Welsh ended the regular season as the all-time top scorer among D-men in RMU history, with 78 points (28 G, 50 A).

Her 12 goals as a junior set a new program record for single-season goals by a defender. Dating back to last season, the Colonials are unbeaten in 20 of 22 games in which the Blackstock, Ontario native registers a point, including the four assists she scattered over 5-0 and 4-0 wins over the Orange last weekend.

Curlett also bolstered the blue line in her first collegiate season by finishing third among CHA rookies in points, with 17 (8 G, 9 A). Her eight goals set a new single-year mark for a Robert Morris rookie defender. The Colonials boasted the highest-scoring D-corps in Division I, with 97 combined points (25 G, 72 A).

The Lapeer, Michigan native blocked 68 shots on the year to lead all CHA novices and rank second among all first-year players in D-I.

Templeman also made a name for herself right away, finishing second in the conference's rookie scoring race with nine goals, including a pair last weekend, and 19 points. The Staffa, Ontario native also finished second among CHA rookies in power play points, with eight (5 G, 3 A), and her .563 faceoff win rate was third among CHA newcomers.

Needing two more wins to make a second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, No. 9 Robert Morris (20-7-4, 14-3-3) begins its CHA Tournament championship defense Friday at the HarborCenter in Buffalo, New York, where it will play the lowest seed remaining from the quarterfinal round. The opening faceoff of the CHA Semifinal is set for 12:30 p.m.

A Colonials victory sends them to the CHA Final for the second year in a row, Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

Tickets are on sale at the KeyBank Center box office and will be available upon arrival. Tickets will again be $10 for adults and $5 for students per day.

All games are streamed on the pay-per-view CHA Digital Network, and fans can listen live on 970 ESPN Pittsburgh (online only).

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