Women's Hockey | 9/20/2019 7:34:00 AM

PITTSBURGH -- With the start of the program's 15th NCAA Division I season arriving shortly, the Robert Morris University women's hockey team has appointed senior Jaycee Gebhard as the team's captain for 2019-20.

Head coach Paul Colontino made the announcement this week, as his Colonials prepare to host Concordia University on Saturday in the team's lone preseason exhibition game. Fellow seniors Sarah Lecavalier and Natalie Marcuzzi, along with junior Lexi Templeman, were named alternate captains under Gebhard.

"We feel extremely lucky to have such a high level of leadership," said Colontino, who enters his ninth season in charge of the team. "Not only in the quality of leadership, but the number of leaders we have on this team."

Gebhard, a native of Plenty, Saskatchewan, set program records last year in total points (51) and assists (32), recording at least a point in 32 of 36 games as she won the College Hockey America scoring title. Her 135 points in three RMU seasons place her behind only Brittany Howard '18 in team history, but Colontino said her reliability goes beyond the scoresheet. 

"She has an absolutely uncanny track record for consistency in all areas," Colontino said. "From her academic success to her practice performance to her game performance. She has literally never had a poor practice. She is mentally and physically focused for pretty much anything she takes on. Whether it's off the ice, on the ice, in the weight room, in the classroom, she is completely focused for that moment."

To Colontino's point, Gebhard was one of four Colonials to post a perfect 4.0 grade-point average in 2017-18. Templeman joined her as CHA co-Student-Athletes of the Year, while Lecavalier and Marcuzzi made the league's All-Academic Team. 



"Definitely an honor to be captain of this program," Gebhard said. "We have so many great leaders in the room that so many people could be wearing letters. It's going to be a great leadership group to guide the team. We all can bring different things to the table."

Templeman, a center from Staffa, Ontario, finished second on last year's team in points (32) and assists (26), earning a spot on the All-CHA Second Team. Marcuzzi, a center from greater Toronto, put up 15 points while playing in all 36 games, while Alberta-born defender Lecavalier chipped in nine points from the blue line.

All three will serve as backups to Gebhard, who plans to leverage her personal strengths into her first formal leadership role at the college level.

"The things I can bring are intensity and accountability," Gebhard said. "Always doing what I can do and hopefully leading by example to show others that we can raise the level of play and the level of the program every year."

Ultimately, the true test of Gebhard's group of captains will be how well the rest of the team pulls on the same rope as they strive for their fourth consecutive regular-season CHA championship. The Colonials will get their first glimpse at how the unit might mesh when they welcome Canadian university Concordia to the RMU Island Sports Center for a 3 p.m. Saturday faceoff.

"We're excited about the four captains that were named," Colontino said, "but we're also excited that those without letters will continue to lead as we've done in the past."

The regular season will begin the following Friday, Sept. 27, when Union pays a visit to Colonials Arena to start a two-game set.

Other marquee matchups on the Island this season include last year's national runner-up Minnesota (Oct. 11-12), in-state rivals Penn State (Nov. 1-2) and Mercyhurst (Dec. 6-7), plus a rematch of the 2019 CHA championship game when Syracuse pays its yearly visit (Jan. 17-18). Additionally, the Colonials and the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex will welcome defending national champion Wisconsin, Northeastern and Colgate for a holiday tournament Jan. 4-5 in Cranberry Township.

Go to RMUColonials.com for more information, or march with the Colonials on Twitter and Instagram.