SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The Robert Morris women's hockey team, perhaps playing true to the form of a unit that had gone 41 days without competition, fell in overtime for the first time in nearly 27 months on Friday night.

Sophomore forward and Syracuse native Emilie Harley prolonged the second-half opener with her power play goal, but a Lindsay Eastwood blast from the right point 2:37 into the extra session that appeared to deflect off an RMU stick whizzed past Lauren Bailey to give College Hockey America rival Syracuse a 3-2 win at Tennity Ice Pavilion.

Previously, Robert Morris had gone unbeaten in 17 consecutive sudden-victory outings (5-0-12), including five others this season (1-0-4), having not dropped one since Oct. 21, 2016 at Merrimack. These teams have now played at least one regular-season OT contest in five of the last six seasons.

The Colonials (8-11-4, 6-2-1) remain one point ahead in the CHA standings after their first game of the calendar year, by virtue of an RIT victory over second-place Mercyhurst. The Lakers stay in second with 12 conference points to RMU's 13, while the Tigers and the Orange (5-16-1, 5-4-0) continue to share third place with ten points apiece.

Robert Morris rallied from a rocky start but could not survive a tenuous finish. A point-blank opportunity for Amber Rennie on the game's opening shift that was denied by Maddi Welch set the tone for a frustrating first period in which the Colonials were more persistent, but Syracuse was more opportunistic.

Emma Polaski beat Bailey on a one-timer from the high slot area to give the Orange the lead with 12:12 left in the opening frame, then talented rookie Lauren Bellefontaine doubled that advantage by finishing an odd-numbered rush 5:32 afterward before the Colonials counter-punched in the second.

Two-time CHA Student-Athlete of the Year Natalie Marcuzzi got them on the board 6:26 into the middle frame. The junior forward took a pass from Sarah Quaranta inside the right wing circle and snapped a shot top corner, over the glove hand of Welch, for her sixth of the year.

RMU continued tilting the ice, and with 9:50 until the second ice cut and another Syracuse penalty forthcoming amid a Colonials power play, Harley haunted her hometown team. After Welch stopped CHA scoring leader Jaycee Gebhard on a wrister from the right dot, Harley quickly whacked in the rebound to tie the game before the Orange could gain possession.

Bailey went on to make 30 saves, tying her second-most as a senior, including an acrobatic one to preserve the tie on which the prone netminder reached across the goal mouth with the broad side of her stick to keep the puck away in the nick of time.

Syracuse did get a bounce--or two--with about seven minutes left in regulation, when a Courtney Kollman shot from long range ricocheted off a defender's skate en route to striking the crossbar behind Welch. After the teams traded penalty kills, the Colonials withstood a long video review of a washed-out go-ahead goal with 1:24 to play that upheld the original call on the ice of the puck being kicked across the goal line.

With her assist, Gebhard continues to lead CHA with her 34 points (15 G, 19 A) and the country with her 17 power play points (5 G, 12 A). The 5'3" Plenty, Saskatchewan native and Notre Dame Hounds product tied RMU Athletics Hall-of-Famer Brianna Delaney for fourth in program history with 68 career helpers.

Senior tri-captain Maggie LaGue picked up her 73rd career apple, the second-most in RMU lore, on Marcuzzi's tally. The 5'8" Barre, Vermont native and NWHL draftee (Connecticut Whale; 5th round, 22nd pick) now has 85 points all-time.

This leaves LaGue just three points behind fellow blue-liner and captain Kirsten Welsh for the all-time program lead in points by a defender. Welsh, the 2018 CHA Defender of the Year, missed her sixth game in a row with a lower-body injury.

Robert Morris meets Syracuse again at 1:00 p.m. ET Saturday, a special start time in anticipation of Winter Storm Harper.

Meanwhile, the women's hockey team is mourning the loss of notable RMU Island Sports Center employee "Magic Myke" Stefanick, which was reported by the ISC staff on its Facebook page during Friday's game. Stefanick, who was 44, lost a lengthy battle with cancer while working in food service for the past 12 years.

Stefanick also spent 18 years working with the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, collecting over $150,000 for cancer research.

Friends will be received at R.D. Copeland Funeral Home in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania Sunday-Monday, 2:00-8:00 p.m. ET, with funeral services at 10:00 a.m. ET Tuesday.  Donations in his memory can be made to the American Cancer Society.

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