ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Robert Morris University women's hockey team performed better in its rematch against No. 5 Cornell than it had in the series opener, but the eighth-ranked Colonials couldn't get over the hump offensively, falling 3-0 on Saturday afternoon at Lynah Rink.

This weekend in upstate New York marked the first time since January 2010 that RMU has been shut out in consecutive games. Despite the offensive drought, sophomore goalie Arielle DeSmet did her part to keep the Colonials (2-5-1) in position to split the series, stopping 27 of 29 shots before the Big Red hit the empty net with just over a minute to play.

Until an unfortunate friendly-fire deflection gave Cornell (2-0-0) a 2-0 lead with 6 1/2 minutes remaining, the Colonials had a decent shot at salvaging a result. In fact, unlike Friday night's 6-0 Cornell win -- when all the goals were scored at even strength -- the Colonials played last year's ECAC regular-season champs even at five-on-five.

"I thought our overall five-on-five play was better," said head coach Paul Colontino. "We were moving our feet better, but still not where we need to be. (Cornell) did a nice job of going tape to tape with great speed."

Indeed, the Big Red did well to pressure RMU and create chances, even though the Colonials prevented them from piling up a large shot volume. The power play came through for the home team, though, when Micah Zandee-Hart wired a wrist shot under the crossbar from the left circle midway through the second.

Until then, the early edge was up for grabs. RMU junior forward Lexi Templeman had a couple of good looks on a man advantage late in the first, but couldn't beat Cornell goalie Lindsay Browning, who stopped all 35 shots she faced on the weekend.

Junior forward Anjelica Diffendal ended up with the Colonials' best scoring opportunity in the second, but an initial shot and a follow-up chance wouldn't go. The Pittsburgh native tied for the team lead with three shots on goal out of five total attempts.

Making her fifth start, DeSmet came close to matching Browning save for save, but some bad luck for RMU thwarted the goalie duel. During Cornell's fifth and final power play, Big Red winger Gilles Freschette whipped a bad-angle shot that tipped off an RMU stick and jumped behind DeSmet. 

After playing six consecutive games against top-five ranked opponents, the Colonials will officially begin their College Hockey America regular-season title defense when they face league rival Penn State on Nov. 1-2 at the RMU Island Sports Center.