BUFFALO, N.Y. -- For the second year in a row, the
Robert Morris women's hockey team left the HarborCenter with unfinished business, as Syracuse pulled off a second upset in as many days to take the College Hockey America Tournament Final with a 6-2 win Saturday.
Head coach
Paul Colontino, always adept at capturing the big picture, remained positive in his reflection upon the 2018-19 season, his eighth in charge of the program, and did the same in the locker room afterward.
"Successful," he said, when asked to characterize another campaign that saw the Colonials (16-14-6) obtain one of the two crowns they sought. "We can't base our season off of one game. A lot of times, it is the biggest game. It's tough losing it, without a doubt, but the season, as a whole...the regular-season championship, the leadership we had within the program, the way the program grew throughout the course of the year...we took steps forward, as a program, without a doubt."
The late afternoon tilt marked the final collegiate appearances for
Kirsten Welsh,
Sarah Quaranta,
Maggie LaGue,
Caitlyn Sadowy,
Amber Rennie and
Lauren Bailey. Sadowy tied the game, 1-1, with under a minute to play in the first period, getting a deflection off a defender in front from a low-percentage shot along the goal line for her career-high seventh goal of the year.
She and Quaranta, who scored the goal Thursday against Penn State that put Robert Morris in the championship game, led by example as role players and, frequently, as linemates all through their senior seasons.
LaGue, a First Team All-CHA honoree and winner of the CHA Individual Sportsmanship Award, will try her hand at pro hockey after being drafted by the NWHL's Connecticut Whale in December. She will graduate with an impressive community service record, per her work with the Autism Society of Pittsburgh during "Teddy Bear Toss" week Nov. 30-Dec. 1, as well as the RMU career marks for assists (79) and points (92) by a defender.
"I've grown so much as a person being a part of this program," she said. "This coaching staff, and this group, makes you a better person. That's one thing I'll take with me forever. I'm very grateful to have been a part of it and had an impact.
"Because I know it's had an impact on my life, and I'm so thankful."
Bailey, who relieved
Arielle DeSmet late in the second period Saturday, also did commendable community work, helping LaGue and the rest of the senior class raise funds for mental health awareness programs. Their work culminated in a sweep of RIT during the team's first-ever Mental Health Awareness Week Jan. 25-26.
She tallied 1,159 career saves and 22 career wins in the cage, both of which put her among the program's top five.
Welsh, a former CHA Defender of the Year who shared the defensive captaincy with LaGue, finishes with 91 points, despite missing 13 games this season with a lower-body injury. Her 34 career goals are the most ever by an RMU blue-liner.
Rennie ends up sixth in program history with 99 career points and seventh with 48 career goals. She tied for second in the NCAA as a senior with seven power play goals, and her game-winning PPG against the Orange Mar. 1 locked up a third straight CHA regular-season title for the Colonials.
The Saskatoon native tied fellow Saskatchewanian and longtime teammate
Jaycee Gebhard for the team lead in game-winning goals, with five in '18-'19.
"Our seniors provided exceptional leadership. Our upperclassmen provided exceptional leadership. We're proud of them in the sense that they helped our program take those steps forward," Colontino said.
Gebhard scored her conference-best 19th goal of the season 5:50 into the third period. That gave the All-CHA First Team selection and CHA scoring champion 51 points, breaking the Robert Morris single-season record established by former linemate
Brittany Howard in 2016-17.
Previously, Gebhard had broken the RMU single-season assist mark of 30, also set by Howard that same season, in that crucial Mar. 1 victory. In addition, Gebhard, on Saturday, took sole possession of second place on the program's all-time scoring chart, behind the Toronto Furies (CWHL) forward, with 135 points.
The junior assistant captain was a four-time CHA Player of the Month (October-December, February) and Women's Hockey Commissioners Association Player of the Month for December. She led Division I with 23 power play points and ranked second nationally with 466 faceoff wins.
Sophomore forward
Lexi Templeman, who set up Gebhard's goal, will also bring a great deal of puck possession skill to next year's team. She finished second in the NCAA with a .682 faceoff win percentage.
The 2018 All-CHA Rookie honoree and 2019 Second Team All-CHA pick also finished second in the conference with her 26 helpers and 32 points.
Courtney Kollman, in the meantime, stood out among this year's rookie class down the stretch with her work ethic and willingness to drive the net. The Calgary native picked up the secondary assist on Sadowy's equalizer.
DeSmet, another RMU newcomer, proved the Colonials will have goaltending depth next fall, despite seeing her numbers balloon a tad toward first-year norms on Saturday. She posted a 1.94 goals-against average and .920 save percentage while picking up some of the team's most important wins of the season.
The North American Hockey Academy product propelled Robert Morris to its regular-season title with her first career shutout. On Feb. 23 she stoned Mercyhurst for a 4-1 win that set up the clinching scenario, and on Thursday she won her first playoff game as a collegian.
With fellow first-years
Gillian Thompson and
Wasyn Rice getting valuable time to grow as shutdown defenders, junior
Natalie Marcuzzi coming off a career year with eight goals and 15 points and Second Team All-CHA sophomore
Emily Curlett emerging as one of the nation's top two-way defenders (21 points, 148 blocked shots), the Colonials will be ready to move the meter again in 2019-20.
"It's a tough loss, and it's going to eat away at us for a long time," said Colontino. "But when you look at the big picture, we're proud of what those girls are doing, and how they're continually finding new ways to elevate the program."
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