CANTON, N.Y. – Junior
Lexi Templeman scored twice in the first period and sophomore
Courtney Kollman netted the short-handed game-winner in the third, propelling the
Robert Morris University women's hockey team to its team-record-tying seventh win in a row, 3-2 over St. Lawrence on Friday afternoon.
Kollman, a native of Calgary, scored the historic goal less than four minutes into the final frame at Roos House.
Stealing the puck behind the Saints' goal with a nifty stick lift, Kollman flicked a sharp-angle shot that deflected off a defender's stick and over the shoulder of goalie Jamie Rainville.
"I was just trying to forecheck hard," she said. "Tried putting it on goal and got a lucky deflection."
Kollman's second goal of the year – and of her NCAA career – made a winner of freshman goalie
Raygan Kirk. The freshman netminder from Manitoba faced 15 of St. Lawrence's 30 shots in the third, denying all of them in the final frame for her sixth victory in nine RMU starts.
Templeman got the visitors off to a fine start, recording her second career two-goal game with a pair of tallies 6:13 apart. Senior captain
Jaycee Gebhard assisted on both, tying her with program great
Brittany Howard '18 for the most helpers in a career (102).
But the greater context was all about the team.
After an October that saw the Colonials (9-5-1) battle through three consecutive series against top-five-ranked foes, they've found their form in November, winning four straight against College Hockey America opponents before sweeping RPI on the road last weekend.
The series-opening win on the campus of SUNY-Canton was close on the scoreboard, but not as much when analyzing the flow of play. RMU fired 28 shots on goal in the first period and 45 for the game, keeping Rainville and the Saints off-balance for much of the day.
With the result, RMU has now matched the 2013-14 team for longest win streak in 15 years of program history. That's quite a rebound from a six-game winless run that featured showdowns with No. 2 Minnesota, No. 4 Clarkson and No. 5 Cornell.
"I think all our lines are starting to contribute in some way, which is really good," Kollman said. "The energy in the dressing room and on the ice is growing from that."
While Friday's ending was joyous, the Colonials faced their share of pushback from St. Lawrence (5-7-3), too.
Saints senior Kayla Vespa raised her season goal total to 10 in the first frame, twice tying the score after Templeman put RMU ahead. Vespa's second goal came in the final minute before intermission, as she took a feed from Anna Segedi and guided a shot inside the near post from 15 feet away. Just as with RMU, St. Lawrence's top line produced both goals in the first.
But Templeman, who entered the day fifth in the nation with 18 assists, doubled her previous season goal total with a pair of beauties.
Gebhard's sleight of hand on a left-circle faceoff created Templeman's first of the game, just 5 ½ minutes after puck drop. Tapping the puck to herself through the opposing center's skates, Gebhard flung a pass to the top of the crease for Templeman to steer past Rainville. (Gebhard and Templeman pulled off an identical play during the first series of the season vs. Union.)
Templeman's other linemate, sophomore
Michaela Boyle, set up her second goal at 11:42.
After Gebhard and Templeman moved the puck through center ice, Boyle delayed inside the blue line and dropped for Templeman, who slalomed to the net for a backhand deke and her first multi-goal game since her freshman year.
The second and third periods were tighter, but RMU still pulled off its fifth road win in seven opportunities, all of them coming this month.
Kirk rose to the forefront in the final 15 minutes, keeping the Saints from completing a third rally.
The Colonials will aim for a new team record and a perfect November on Saturday afternoon. Faceoff is set for 1 p.m. in Canton.
