UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The
Robert Morris women's hockey team is finding ways to further its lead in the College Hockey America standings even when it lacks consistency, which was the only thing it felt was absent from the tense conclusion of its regular-season series with conference rival Penn State.
The Colonials (12-11-5, 10-2-2) skated to a 2-2 tie with the Nittany Lions (10-12-6, 4-8-2) in a test of their defensive mettle at the Pegula Ice Arena Saturday afternoon. Abby Welch pulled PSU even with its second power play goal of the day with 16:09 to go in regulation, but senior goaltender
Lauren Bailey slammed the door the rest of the way with 31 saves.
RMU got back on Route 22 with a four-point lead for the top spot in CHA by virtue of Syracuse's head-turning sweep of second-place Mercyhurst. The Colonials are five points up on the third-place Orange for one of the two first-round byes in the CHA Tournament.
Meanwhile, the 31 stops by Bailey were her most since her season-high 34 in a Dec. 1 victory over Penn State. The 5'9" Freeland, Michigan native and Choate Rosemary Hall product made 24 over the final two periods to turn a four-game winning streak for Robert Morris into a five-game unbeaten run, matching its longest of the year.
"I felt all right out there. Definitely would have wanted to come out with the win," Bailey said. "We have to go into every game wanting to get both points, because it's so close. We just have to work each game and be ready for the second one, even if we get the first one."
She has allowed only one even-strength goal over her last 242 minutes of action. Her 1.31 goals-against average and .942 save percentage since Jan. 18 rank seventh and ninth in the NCAA, respectively, in that span.Â
"The game isn't close without Bailey playing the way she played. She had a phenomenal game today and kept us in the mix," said head coach
Paul Colontino. "Without her, I don't think we get a point.
"It's great to see her playing as well as she played back-to-back. I think, though, in terms of the rest of our team, it's a good gut check to take into next weekend. I thought Penn State did a phenomenal job of being hungry, being ready and not wanting to lose. I think we were a little lackadaisical in terms of respecting that."
The Nittany Lions survived an 11-6 shot deficit in the first period thanks to fine backstopping by Jenna Brenneman at the other end. Jessica Adolfsson had the only shot that counted in the opening 20 minutes, for that matter, beating Bailey from center point 6:05 into the contest while
Courtney Kollman was sitting down for hooking.
That goal ended a streak of 12 successful penalty kills by Robert Morris. To the Colonials' credit, they were just as opportunistic with time ticking away in the second period.
An untoward moment at the RMU blue line put Penn State in the box for too many players on the ice. The red-hot
Emily Curlett snapped a puck toward Brenneman from the right side, and senior tri-captain
Amber Rennie deflected in the sophomore defender's attempt to tie the game on her tenth goal of the season with 5:37 remaining.
Curlett extend her point streak to five games, and Rennie now has points in four of her past five outings. After being quieted in its previous series, versus RIT, the Robert Morris power play finished a respectable 3-for-7 on the weekend.
"We've definitely been practicing the power play a lot lately. Those are the opportunities you want to capitalize on," Rennie said.
The blue-collar trio of
Caitlyn Sadowy,
Natalie Marcuzzi and
Sarah Quaranta did their best to take over the game early in the third period. Marcuzzi drove the net, putting the puck off Brenneman, and Sadowy, alertly trailing the play, buried the rebound without batting an eye to give RMU the lead 64 seconds into the final frame.
Sadowy equaled her career high with her fifth of the year, and Quaranta, the team's active leader in career assists against PSU, picked up her tenth all-time.
Welch extended the game by finishing a play right in front of Bailey set up behind the Robert Morris net by Sophie Slattery, three seconds before an interference call on
Maggie LaGue was set to expire.
"There's definitely stuff I need to work on," Bailey said. "On my side of things, I need to see the puck better from the point, working through screens, and backdoor plays."
Still, the PK redeemed itself in the final two minutes of regulation, absolving Quaranta for a questionable tripping minor, and Bailey was dialed in the rest of the period, also turning aside all three shots she faced in the extra session.
Dating back to an Oct. 22, 2016 matchup at Merrimack, RMU has earned a point in 18 of its last 19 sudden-victory appearances, including four draws with the Nittany Lions--three of them at "The Peg."
The Colonials are now unbeaten in 13 of 14 away games against their Centre County counterparts since 2012.
"We're just looking for more consistency from shift to shift," said Rennie. "We definitely had some great shifts out there, and then we had some lapses. I think, if we string together more consistent shifts, we'll be able to come out with those extra points."
Robert Morris heads back on the road to wrap up its regular-season series with CHA rival Lindenwood next Friday and Saturday. The opening faceoffs from the Lindenwood Ice Arena in Wentzville, Missouri are scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. ET, respectively, and can be seen on the CHA Digital Network (subscription required).
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