Women's Hockey | 10/14/2019 12:38:00 PM

PITTSBURGH -- For the first time since the end of the 2017-18 season, the Robert Morris University women's hockey team has made the United States College Hockey Online (USCHO) national top-10 poll.

The latest survey of coaches and journalists, released every Monday, places the Colonials at 10th out of the 41 Division I women's hockey programs in America. RMU stepped into the top 10 due to a pair of closely-contested games against No. 2 Minnesota this past weekend on Neville Island.

In the first game Friday, the Colonials rallied from a pair of deficits to force overtime in an eventual 4-3 sudden-death defeat. In Saturday's rematch, RMU led early and was tied with the seven-time national champions early in the third period before the Golden Gophers pulled away to sweep the series.

RMU (2-2-0) also received votes in this week's USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine top 10 poll. The last time the Colonials were ranked in either national poll was in March 2018, when USCHO had them ninth. 

Robert Morris, which swept Union in its opening series by a combined score of 11-1, has won the past three College Hockey America regular-season championships, in addition to a 2017 postseason title that earned the Colonials their first-ever bid to the eight-team NCAA tournament.

Over the past three seasons, head coach Paul Colontino's side has a combined record of 63-29-16, and a 42-10-8 mark in CHA play. Of RMU's five league rivals, only Mercyhurst (one vote) also appeared on the USCHO poll.

Led by senior captain Jaycee Gebhard, the second-most prolific scorer in 15 years of team history, the Colonials remain home this weekend to close a six-game homestand, hosting No. 4 Clarkson at the RMU Island Sports Center at 7 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday.