Women's Hockey | 2/28/2019 4:00:00 PM
PITTSBURGH -- The
Robert Morris women's hockey team hosts the Orange of Syracuse University Friday and Saturday. The opening faceoffs are scheduled for 7:05 and 3:05 p.m. ET, respectively, at the RMU Island Sports Center, and both games can be seen live on the CHA Digital Network (subscription required).
The Colonials meet Syracuse for the second time this year to conclude its 2018-19 regular season, its last of six series in a row against College Hockey America opponents to wrap up the regular campaign. They hold a three-point lead over the Orange and Mercyhurst in pursuit of their third straight regular-season title.
Robert Morris is one point away from clinching a first-round bye in the CHA Tournament at the HarborCenter in Buffalo, New York Mar. 6-8, and one win this weekend will clinch the three-peat. A single Mercyhurst loss to RIT will also clinch a bye for the Colonials.
Fans can visit the Island Sports Center lobby on gameday for tickets. Signups for the Clearview Federal Credit Union "Penalty Box Trivia Challenge," giving participants a chance to win $50 during the first intermission of each game, can be found within Colonials Arena.
Robert Morris (13-13-6, 11-4-3) vs. Syracuse (10-19-3, 10-6-2) - Mar. 1-2
Fri., Mar. 1 (7:05 p.m. ET) - LIVE STREAM ($) | LIVE STATS
Sat., Mar. 2 (3:05 p.m. ET) - LIVE STREAM ($) | LIVE STATS
RMU defeated the Orange 5-1 at Tennity Ice Pavilion Jan. 19, matching its Oct. 20 win at Mercyhurst for its largest margin of victory this season and earning a series split. Robert Morris posted back-to-back shutouts, 5-0 and 4-0, at Syracuse Feb. 23-24, 2018 to clinch last year's CHA regular-season championship.
The Colonials are 17-17-9 all-time versus the Orange, including 6-7-7 all-time at Colonials Arena. They are unbeaten in four of their last five at home versus Syracuse.
Key Notes
• Prior to Saturday's game, the Colonials will recognize the six members of their 2019 senior class:
Kirsten Welsh,
Sarah Quaranta,
Maggie LaGue,
Caitlyn Sadowy,
Amber Rennie and
Lauren Bailey. Entering Friday, they have led the team to a record of 75-42-21 (.620) over the past four years, combining for 110 goals, 339 points and 1,124 saves in 675 combined games played. They engineered back-to-back 20-win seasons (2016-17, 2017-18), CHA regular-season titles in 2017 and 2018, and the second CHA Tournament crown and first NCAA Tournament berth in program history in 2018.
• LaGue, Sadowy, Rennie and
Natalie Marcuzzi all scored in a 5-2 triumph over SU Jan. 5, 2018, the team's last home-ice win over the Orange. RMU scored four times on special teams, including power play goals from Rennie, Sadowy and
Emily Curlett, Jan. 18, with Marcuzzi and
Lexi Templeman adding an empty-netter to cap a three-point day.
• RMU is coming off its second season split with Mercyhurst in a row (2-2-0), thanks to a 4-1 win on the Island Feb. 23. Syracuse native and RMU Athletics Student-Athlete of the Week
Emilie Harley, earned a natural hat trick, her first HT as a collegian, including the decisive short-handed goal 6:43 into the second period and 2:07 into a major penalty kill.
• On Feb. 22 Welsh returned to the RMU lineup after missing the previous 13 games with a lower-body injury, skating on the third pair with
Gillian Thompson.
Maggie LaGue has passed Welsh for the all-time RMU scoring lead among defenders, with 91 points to Welsh's 88, though Welsh still tops the team's defensive charts with 33 career goals. LaGue leads NCAA defenders with 15 power play points (3 G, 12 A) this season.
• The Colonials enter Friday tied for the nation's fourth-most productive PP at 27 goals in '18-'19. Three of the unprecedented four straight game-winning goals by
Emily Curlett Jan. 19-Feb. 8 came on the power play, and RMU has notched a PPG in seven of ten since the holiday break after LaGue's second-period marker last Friday versus the Lakers.
•
Jaycee Gebhard set up two power play goals and a short-handed goal in the team's Jan. 19 victory at SU. Gebhard leads D-I with her 23 power play points (5 G, 18 A). She is 12th among active collegians and fourth among NCAA underclassmen with her 131 career points, the third-most in RMU lore, as she approaches her 100th career game.
• Gebhard now has points in 23 of her last 25 games after setting a new RMU record with points in 14 straight Oct. 20-Dec. 7, 2018. She is tied for eighth in the NCAA points race with a CHA-best 47 and leads the conference with her 18 goals, aided by a career-high six-game goal streak Oct. 20-Nov. 9. Gebhard is also fourth nationally with 428 faceoff wins this season.
• Four of the past eight games Syracuse has played at RMU have gone to overtime. The last time this happened on the Island was Nov. 4, 2016, when Gebhard fed Welsh for the pivotal power play goal in a 2-2 finish with :09 left in the third. As of their Jan. 18 meeting, the teams have played at least one OT contest in five of the last six regular seasons.
• Templeman ranks second in the conference with her 24 assists and is second in CHA with her career-high 29 points. She finished a one-timer from Harley 10:31 into the first period of their Feb. 23 win and aided Harley's empty-net goal with 1:24 to play.
• Welsh set the RMU single-season record for goals by a defender with her 12 in '17-'18. Curlett is one from equaling that after scoring 14:07 into the second period Feb. 22.
An "A" For Effort
• Assistant captain
Jaycee Gebhard led College Hockey America with her 25 assists in 2017-18, tying for 14th nationally. Gebhard, once again, leads College Hockey America entering Friday, and she is tied for sixth on the NCAA chart with her 29 apples this season. In 2016-17, she set the Colonials rookie record with 24 helpers, tied for third-most in a single season in RMU lore. Her 26th as a junior, earned at Lindenwood Feb. 16, gave her the second-most in a single year in RMU history. Gebhard, who tied
Maggie LaGue for second at RMU in career assists Feb. 23, needs just two more to break the RMU single-season record of 30 set by
Brittany Howard in '16-'17.
Patience Is A Virtue
• Jan. 18 at Syracuse marked the first time since Oct. 21, 2016--almost 27 months--the Colonials fell in an overtime game. Dating back to a 3-3 draw Oct. 22, 2016 at Merrimack, they have survived 19 of 20 OT appearances (5-0-13). RMU is 1-1-6 in seven sudden-victory games this season, whereas the most played in a single season of the Colontino era is 11, back in 2014-15, when they were 2-4-5.
Chasing History
•
Jaycee Gebhard became the fifth Robert Morris player to amass 100 career points with her power play goal Nov. 9. With her next goal, Gebhard will pass Brianna Delaney '12 for third on the all-time chart.
Amber Rennie became the eighth player in Robert Morris history to reach the 40-career goal plateau versus No. 7 Cornell Nov. 23. Rennie, with two regular season games left, needs only four points to become the sixth Colonial to reach 100.
•
Lauren Bailey has climbed into a tie for fourth place in team history, moving past Daneca Butterfield '11, with 21 career wins in net, tying her with former teammate
Elijah Milne-Price '18. Bailey became the fifth in RMU lore to collect 1,000 career saves Jan. 19 at Syracuse.
Oh Captain, My Captain
•
Amber Rennie,
Kirsten Welsh and
Maggie LaGue are the first tri-captains in program history. Ten different players have now worn the "C" under
Paul Colontino, while
Jaycee Gebhard was named the lone assistant captain. The 2018-19 leadership group has combined for 102 (39 G, 63 A) of the team's 214 points (47.7%) entering Friday.
All's Well That Welsh Ends
•
Kirsten Welsh scored 2:51 into overtime for a 3-2 win over St. Lawrence Sept. 29, and she scored with :20.9 left to force OT versus Minnesota State Nov. 16. Dating back to the 2016-17 season, RMU is unbeaten in 26 of the past 31 games in which Welsh has recorded at least one point.
The Third Period Is Our Period
The Colonials have posted a goal margin of +13 in third periods that ranks tenth in D-I. They have registered an NCAA-best 21 power play assists and 32 PP points in thirds.
Second Helpings
•
Emily Curlett set a career high with her eight blocked shots against Penn State Dec. 1. The 2018 All-CHA Rookie Team selection led all CHA defenders in 2017-18 with 70 blocks and she now leads the NCAA with 132 after ending up second in D-I in blocks as an RMU newcomer. Curlett blocked seven at Syracuse Jan. 18-19, and a total of eight in her last home series versus the Orange, Jan. 5-6, 2018.
•
Lexi Templeman finished the 2017-18 season with a .559 faceoff win rate, third among CHA rookies, and also made the All-CHA Rookie squad. Templeman has maintained the CHA lead (.685) through Tuesday and remains second in the NCAA. Her .703 clip in conference play leads Division I.
You Can Go Home Again
• Syracuse native
Emilie Harley recorded two of her five assists as a rookie in 2017-18 against the Orange. On Jan. 18 she scored against her hometown team for the first time as a collegian, a power play goal 10:10 into the second period at Tennity Ice Pavilion.
You Feel Shame For Two Minutes, And Then You Get Free
• Robert Morris has given up six power play goals since Jan. 18, the second-fewest in CHA over that span. The Colonials went 8-for-9 (88.9%) on the penalty kill last Saturday.
Arielle DeSmet made seven special-teams saves out of her 25 total to earn her second win of the season in her first start in three months (Nov. 23 vs. No. 7 Cornell).
In Our Defense...
The 2018-19 squad has combined for 22 goals from its defensive corps, which is tied for the fourth-most in Division I entering Friday. Individually,
Emily Curlett ranks third among NCAA defenders with her 11 tallies, while
Maggie LaGue ranks among the top 15 defenders in D-I with her 17 assists.
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