PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Robert Morris University women's hockey team was shut out for the first time in College Hockey America play this season Saturday afternoon at Colonials Arena, falling to Syracuse 1-0.
The loss moves their overall record to 13-9-2 and 7-3-0 in AHA play.
Emily Curlett led the Colonials in shots on goal with eight. Goaltender Raygan Kirk stopped 23 of 24 shots in net.
"I thought defensively we did play pretty strong," head coach Paul Colontino said. "We didn't give upon very many opportunities, but Syracuse played very good defensively and I think pushed us to a different level that I suppose maybe we just weren't ready for yet."
After giving up an early lead Friday night, the Orange took the ice Saturday afternoon with an extremely aggressive forecheck and renewed commitment to defending.
A Wasyn Rice point shot trickled through the pads of Allison Small and nearly crossed the line, however a well-positioned Syracuse defender was in the perfect spot to clear it out of harm's way and prevent another early deficit to the Colonials.
That aggressive mentality carried through to the offensive zone as well, where some heavy forechecking pressure nearly forced Sarah Lecavalier into a turnover behind the goal line, however the senior defender was able to elude the attacker and cooly skate the puck out of danger.
Syracuse continued to press, but some excellent defensive structure as well as a number of big stops from Raygan Kirk kept them largely to the perimeter and off of the score board.
Maggy Burbidge nearly finished off a hi-light reel goal with three minutes left in the first after being sprung on a breakaway, however her high-glove shot sailed over the bar. Despite a 12-5 advantage in shots on goal, the score remained 0-0 after one.
Defense continued to be the main highlight as the game wore on, with both teams sticking to their structure and keeping the number of high quality chances down on both ends.
Natalie Marcuzzi got what looked to be a dangerous opportunity after collecting the puck coming down the left wing into the zone, however a savvy stick-check from a Syracuse defender negated the chance.
A power-play for RMU midway through the second led to a quality scoring chance, unfortunately it was Syracuse's Savannah Rennie breaking in for a short-handed 2-on-1. One of the Orange's best looks all night almost made it 1-0, however Kirk was in perfect position to swallow it up.
Some more carelessness from the Orange put RMU on a brief 5-on-3 power play, however the usually dynamic RMU unit struggled to attack the high-danger areas in front of the crease and in the slot.
"It's obviously pretty tough," Colontino said. "Any time you're lucky enough to get a 5-on-3, you want to cash, you want to be opportunistic. For whatever reason we just didn't have it. We made a couple bad passes, couple bad plays and before you know it we were coming up the ice gassed. When you're doing that it gets a little tougher to execute."
The intensity ramped up even more as the game entered the third, with both teams pushing hard for the all-important first goal.
Another breakaway for Burbidge 1:30 in ended up putting the Syracuse power-play unit onto the ice after the freshman's attempt to chase down a loose puck resulted in a collision with Small and a minor for goaltender interference.
Though RMU managed to kill it off, Syracuse finally broke the ice just seconds after it expired when Brynn Koocher cleaned up a loose puck near the crease and deposited it in the back of the net to put the Orange up 1-0.
Courtney Kollman nearly finished off a dazzling move to make it 1-1, pulling off a nasty toe drag near the right hash, however it was once again swallowed up Small.
A final, furious push with the net empty did not pay off, and Syracuse held on for the 1-0 lead.
The Colonials will return to action on Friday, January 24 when they host Lindenwood on Friday and Saturday evening at Colonials arena.
"I think it's a good learning point for a lot of reasons," Colontino said. "Every day is a new day. Yesterday we played strong in all areas and got goals, today was a different day, different goalie. They played better defensively and limited our chances."
