Women's Hockey | 11/21/2019 4:35:00 PM

TROY, N.Y. -- Winners of four in a row and coming off a bye week, the Robert Morris University women's hockey team enters the pre-holiday home stretch with a road series at non-conference foe RPI.

ROBERT MORRIS (6-5-1, 4-0-0 CHA) 
at RPI (0-12-1, 0-6-0 ECAC)
Saturday, Nov. 23 at 3 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 24 at 1 p.m.
Houston Field House
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS 

CATCHING UP
Prior to the bye week, the Colonials edged College Hockey America foe Lindenwood in a pair of tight contests on the road.

In the second of those games, RMU rallied from 3-0 down midway through regulation to pull out its first overtime win of the season. Junior defender Emily Curlett scored her eighth goal of the season to win the game in sudden death, but classmate Emilie Harley netted a pair of goals from the blue line to force OT. Sophomore goalie Arielle DeSmet earned the win in relief, denying all 10 shots she faced.

Freshman goalie Raygan Kirk recorded her second consecutive shutout in the first game, stopping 17 shots in RMU's 2-0 win. Freshman Joelle Fiala scored her first NCAA goal in that game, part of a three-point weekend that earned her CHA Rookie of the Week accolades. Senior captain Jaycee Gebhard kept rolling, too, notching a goal and two assists to raise her season point total to 25, fourth-most in Division I. 

HISTORY LESSON
The all-time series between RMU and RPI is tight, with the Colonials owning a 10-9-3 advantage. The two sides split a two-game series last October at the RMU Island Sports Center, with Gebhard scoring the power-play game-winner in the Colonials' 3-1 triumph. RMU allowed the Engineers just nine shots on goal, as DeSmet was victorious in her NCAA debut.

Overall, the Colonials are 9-2-2 over the past decade against RPI, a stretch that includes a six-game unbeaten run (5-0-1) against the Engineers in Troy, N.Y. However, RMU hasn't paid a visit to Houston Field House since 2015-16.

OPPOSITION RESEARCH
RPI, which stands for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is winless on the season in 13 games, including six losses within ECAC conference play. However, four of the Engineers' 12 defeats have come by a single goal, highlighted by a 5-4 home thriller against No. 5 Clarkson three weeks ago.

Speaking of common opponents, RPI also took on Penn State in a two-game road set last month, losing a pair by a combined score of 5-0. Senior Blake Orosz paces head coach Bryan Vines' Engineers with four goals and five total points, while Norwegian freshman Ena Nystrøm has gotten the bulk of the playing time in goal, boasting a .930 save percentage in nine starts.

KNOW BOBBY MO
• The Colonials return 16 players from last season, headlined by Gebhard, RMU's No. 2 all-time leading scorer with 160 career points. Gebhard is on pace to beat last year's record total of 51 points, as she has already piled up 25 points (8g, 17a) and ranks second in the nation with 2.2 points per game. With 22 regular-season games left, Gebhard is 21 points shy of Brittany Howard's RMU record of 181.

• In addition to last year's CHA scoring champ Gebhard, the Colonials are powered by juniors Templeman and Curlett, both of whom made the All-CHA Second Team. Templeman, who piled up 26 assists last season, already has 15 helpers in the opening 12 games. Curlett, meanwhile, has the second-best points-per-game mark (1.3) among all Division I defenders, notching eight goals and eight assists.

• The RMU power play has been especially dynamic early, converting on 19 of 66 opportunities for a 28.8 percent success rate that ranks third of 41 Division I teams. Gebhard (3g, 12a) has factored in on 15 of those PPGs, while Curlett (7g, 3a), Templeman (2g, 8a) and sophomore Michaela Boyle (5g, 4a) have also excelled on the advantage. Junior defender Emilie Harley has five (2g, 3a) of her 10 points on the PP.

• The Colonials welcome seven newcomers, five of them forwards. Redshirt sophomore Boyle transfers to RMU from Clarkson University, where she helped the Golden Knights to the 2018 national title. Joelle Fiala (Saskatchewan), Marah Wagner (British Columbia) and Maggy Burbidge (Nova Scotia) supplement the forwards, while Anna Fairman (Michigan) and Allyson Hebert (Ontario) add to the blue line.

• Boyle has been a revelation in her first 12 RMU games, scoring nine goals and four assists, but she hasn't been the only fresh face to score early. Fiala, Hebert and Burbidge each earned their first points (all assists) on opening weekend, while Wagner (Minnesota) and Burbidge (Clarkson) earned their first goals against ranked foes. Fiala leads the Class of 2023 with five points (1g, 4a).

• In goal, freshman Kirk joins returners Arielle DeSmet and Molly Singewald. DeSmet, a sophomore from Vermont, posted a .920 save percentage in 10 appearances last season. Kirk, a Manitoban, won MVP for Team Canada in the 2019 World Under-18 World Championship. Both Kirk (.911 SV%, two shutouts in seven starts) and DeSmet (.899, one shutout in five starts) have played extensively this season. 

• According to a preseason coaches poll, the Colonials were picked to finish second in the six-team CHA, with Mercyhurst getting the top spot. RMU, which received one first-place vote, has finished in the top half of the CHA in seven of the past eight seasons. The Colonials were also heard from in the first USCHO national poll of 2019-20, receiving one 10th-place vote for an unofficial standing of 13th in the survey.

• Once again, RMU will boast a robust non-conference schedule to go with its 20-game CHA slate. Starting with October showdowns against No. 2 Minnesota, No. 4 Clarkson and No. 5 Cornell, the Colonials will challenge each of the four national semifinalists from last spring. To cap it off, defending national champ Wisconsin will be the opponent Jan. 4 in Cranberry Township, Pa.

• Speaking of the holiday season, RMU is teaming up with the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins for a first-of-its-kind four-team tournament to take place Jan. 4-5 at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township: The Battle at the Burgh. In addition to Wisconsin, the Colonials will welcome Northeastern and Colgate -- both of which finished in the USCHO top 10 last spring.

• Familiar faces return behind the bench, led by ninth-year bench boss Paul Colontino. He's assisted by associate head coach Logan Bittle '08, who enters his 10th season behind the bench after four years playing for the RMU men's team. Fellow alum Jen Kindret '13 joins the staff as an assistant; the former forward played under Colontino and Bittle at the end of her tenure a Colonial.

THE COLONTINO FILE
Returning for his ninth season in charge of the Colonials, Colontino boasted an overall record of 149-94-36 in his first eight seasons. In his first year running the team, RMU claimed its first championship of any kind, the 2012 CHA tournament title, while improving by 13 victories. A two-time CHA Coach of the Year and a one-time USCHO National Coach of the Year, Colontino was also behind two 24-win seasons (2013-14, 2016-17) and the program's first NCAA tournament berth, in 2017.

Before coming to Robert Morris, Colontino had served as associate head coach at Mercyhurst since 2006. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach with the women's team at the University of North Dakota for four years. Colontino began his coaching career as an assistant with Mercyhurst in 2000. As a player at Mercyhurst, Colontino was the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) co-Defensive Player of the Year as a senior and an All-MAAC First Team selection.

HONOR ROLL
The following Colonials have been honored by College Hockey America for their performances this season ...
Jaycee Gebhard - Player of the Week (Sept. 30, Nov. 4)
Arielle DeSmet - Goaltender of the Week (Sept. 30)
Raygan Kirk - Rookie of the Week (Sept. 30), Goaltender of the Week (Nov. 4)
Emily Curlett - Player of the Week (Oct. 14, Oct. 21), Player of the Month (October)
Emilie Harley - Player of the Week (Nov. 11)
Joelle Fiala - Rookie of the Week (Nov. 11)

MARCH WITH THE COLONIALS
In addition to reports and videos on RMUColonials.com, check out Twitter and Instagram for news and updates throughout the season.

NEXT UP
The Colonials will turn around and head back to the Empire State next weekend, taking on St. Lawrence for a pair. RMU will face off with the ECAC's Saints at 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 29, and 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 30.