CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Junior defender
Emily Curlett scored a power-play goal and freshman goalie
Raygan Kirk stopped 40 shots, but the
Robert Morris University women's hockey team was edged 3-1 by No. 1 Wisconsin to conclude Day 1 of the inaugural Battle at the Burgh tournament on Saturday night.
The Colonials (10-7-2) returned to action after a four-week winter break with a game effort against the defending national champions, skating into the third period tied after Curlett's 10th goal of the season knotted the game early in the second at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.
But even with Kirk holding the fort admirably, the Badgers (19-1-1) broke through for the winner with 12 minutes to go when Brette Pettet slipped in a five-hole shot off a slick dish from Alexis Mauermann. Eight minutes later, Sophie Shirely redirected a point shot from Mekenzie Steffen for the final margin.
"I think we had a lot of battle and a lot of guts," Curlett said. "That was the biggest thing for us. We weren't at our best, but even at 70 (or) 80 percent, we still had a good game. I felt like our team had great legs; we jumped back in it off the bat.
"We had some good patience with the puck and took our practice into the game. We just want to finish it off. We spend every practice battling our butts off. We didn't get it this time, but hopefully we get another crack in the long run."
Playing its ninth game of the season against a team ranked No. 5 or better, Robert Morris conceded the first goal when Badgers top gun Daryl Watts scored her 19th just 1:28 into the game, converting the rebound of Steffen's short-handed drive from the right boards. Watts' nation-best 50th point put Wisconsin in early position to collect its ninth straight win.
However, the Colonials' potent power play came through yet again in the second, after back-to-back penalties on the Badgers' Steffen and Abby Roque gave RMU a lengthy five-on-three advantage.
Moments after hitting the post on a setup from
Jaycee Gebhard, Curlett gathered a loose puck on the left boards, pump-faked a slap shot and then ripped a wrister off the left post and in at 5:20.
Curlett's ninth power-play goal -- with assists going to
Emilie Harley and Gebhard -- made it a new game, putting RMU in a familiar position. In five of their nine games against top-five foes, the Colonials were tied in the third period.
Even though the Colonials haven't been able to grab a victory in those spots yet, their hope is that the belief built by getting to these tight situations will benefit them in the long run.
"Coming off a break, you never know what you're going to get, really," RMU associate head coach
Logan Bittle said. "The girls definitely came back ready to go. Playing the No. 1 team is always going to be a challenge. We showed up, even though we didn't get the result we wanted. Our battle was there, even though our execution wasn't where we wanted it to be.
"Those are learning lessons, which is why we're playing the schedule we're playing: To help us when we get to the end of the season. Conference tournament, possible NCAA tournament. We played all of them, so we'll be ready to go."
Much like the team, Kirk was trying to shake off rust as the night began. The freshman from Manitoba hadn't seen action since the final weekend of November, due to an injury sustained during a series at St. Lawrence.
The lack of recent game reps didn't show, though, as Kirk turned in what was arguably her best performance of 11 as a Colonial. Her positioning and movement appeared to be on point as she stared down a Badgers attack that came into the game averaging more than five goals per game.
"She's a gamer," Bittle said of Kirk, who won MVP of the 2019 World Under-18 Championship last year. "We knew she would be ready to go and she obviously showed that. She was spectacular. It gave our team confidence. You go out and play a little looser."
The Colonials have one non-conference game left before concluding the season with 14 straight against College Hockey America competition. Sunday's Battle at the Burgh third-place game will begin at 2 p.m., with RMU challenging Colgate (9-8-4). The Raiders tied No. 3 Northeastern, 1-1, through 65 minutes in Saturday's tourney opener, but lost the decisive shootout 2-0.
Both teams in the consolation fight will be trying to follow up solid efforts against ranked foes as they try to split the weekend. (The championship game is scheduled for no earlier than 5 p.m. Sunday.)
"There were a lot of good things we did that we could be a bit better at," Curlett assessed. "That little bit makes a big difference in a game against a good team."
