BUFFALO, N.Y. -- One of the most successful seasons in program history came to a sobering end for the No. 9
Robert Morris women's hockey team with a 5-3 loss to Mercyhurst in the College Hockey America (CHA) Tournament Final at the HarborCenter Saturday evening.
While the result is one the Colonials (21-8-4, 14-3-3) would just as soon forget, the collegiate career of their most decorated forward, assistant captain
Brittany Howard, is one that will be talked about for quite some time.
The St. Thomas Ontario native and London Jr. Devilettes wunderkind left fans with one final highlight-reel goal, somehow beating Kennedy Blair from the near corner with 5:55 to play in the first period to effectively earn her second consecutive All-CHA Tournament Team selection and break one more of Class of '15 teammate Rebecca Vint's old marks. Howard, who finished 2017-18 with a career-high and RMU single-season best 25 goals in 31 games, ended her redshirt senior year on a five-game goal streak, tied for her second-longest run of the season.
Her 49 points were just one shy of matching her single-season best, and she bows out as a two-time CHA scoring champion, two-time conference player of the year and three-time All-CHA First Team honoree, in addition to her RMU records in career goals, assists and points, among others.
Howard, the first Robert Morris student-athlete named a Dapper Dan Sportsperson of the Year and its first top-ten finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, goes out with 79 goals, 102 assists and 181 points all-time. Those are the second-most lifetime goals and points among '17-'18 NCAA players, and she tied for the second-most helpers.
Under Howard's leadership, the Colonials scored a team-record 122 goals this season.
Throughout the campaign, she meshed with the top-line Saskatchewan duo of
Jaycee Gebhard and
Amber Rennie, both of whom have provided plenty of hope for the future of the Robert Morris offense. With Gebhard's assist on
Emily Curlett's power play goal 6:43 into the game, and with Rennie's apple on Howard's absurd tally, those two combined for 29 goals and 67 points.
Rennie netted a career-high 16 goals and registered a personal-best 29 points as a junior. Gebhard, coming off national rookie of the year plaudits, was a red-hot playmaker early in the year and heated up again down the stretch, ending on a five-game point streak and ringing up nine goals and 17 points in her last 12 outings.
Curlett's early one-timer from the left circle left her with nine goals in 33 games, a new record for an RMU rookie defender, and 18 points. The Lapeer, Michigan/Little Caesars U19 product proved up to the challenge of standing out in a first-year class that already included fellow All-CHA Rookie Team honoree
Lexi Templeman.
While Templeman came in second in CHA rookie scoring with 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists), Curlett ranked second among rookies nationally with 70 blocked shots.
Her goal was set up by blue line partner
Maggie LaGue, also slated to return after a fine junior season that saw her establish herself as the all-time program assist leader among defenders. LaGue, who became the first Colonials defender to reach 60 all-time Feb. 24, now has 61 after finishing the season seventh in D-I with a career-high 22.
Although head coach
Paul Colontino will still have plenty to be upbeat about up front, the strength of his team next season might actually be on the back end, and the two-way prowess of that defensive corps.
Kirsten Welsh will also return after completing her junior year as RMU's all-time points leader among defenders, with 78 (28 G, 50 A).
Led by the CHA Defender of the Year and all-conference first team member, the Colonials boasted the highest-scoring defense in the NCAA, with 26 goals and 102 points, in '17-'18.
Welsh will begin next season seventh on the program's all-time scoring list. Gebhard currently ranks sixth, with 83 points (35 G, 48 A), and Rennie tenth, with 72 (35 G, 37 A).
Meanwhile, Saturday also turned out to be the swan song for
Jessica Gazzola, who led her own distinguished career of on-ice excellence and community service. After aiding fundraisers for the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, the UPMC Children's Hospital and the local chapter of Our Clubhouse, she ended her run at Robert Morris with goals in each of her final four postseason games, including her third-period tip-in of a
Natalie Fraser shot that provided the final margin with 3:37 remaining.
She consistently raised her game in conference play, and her career-high 23 points (6 G, 17 A) as part of a seven-player senior class helped the Colonials stay in the national rankings for 28 straight weeks dating back to last season at one point, the longest such run in team history. They made both major polls on 17 occasions this season.
Robert Morris concludes the 2017-18 year with its second straight CHA regular-season crown and the third-most single-season wins in its history, attaining 20 or more victories for the third time in the Colontino era.
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