Women's Hockey | 1/8/2020 7:25:00 PM

HENRIETTA, N.Y. -- After a thrilling weekend at the inaugural Battle at the Burgh tournament, the Robert Morris University women's hockey team will jump back into College Hockey America play for the rest of the regular season, starting with a two-game series in suburban New York against the Rochester Institute of Technology.

[RV] ROBERT MORRIS (11-7-2, 5-1-0 CHA)  
at ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (8-10-2, 1-5-0 CHA)

Friday, Jan. 10 at 2 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 11 at 12 p.m.
Gene Polisseni Center, Henrietta, N.Y.
STATS | VIDEO ($)

CATCHING UP
The Colonials played a pair of tight games against quality non-conference competition, falling to No. 1 Wisconsin and defeating 2018 national finalist Colgate over two days at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township, Pa. RMU finished its non-CHA play at 6-6-2, winning four of its last six (4-1-1).

In the Saturday showdown with the defending champion Badgers, freshman goalie Raygan Kirk stopped 40 shots to give RMU a chance to pull off a result. In Sunday's third-place game against the ECAC's Raiders, midseason sophomore transfer Kyleigh Hanzlik scored a spectacular winning goal with six seconds left.

On the weekend, junior defender Emily Curlett scored two goals and added three assists to win all-tournament accolades, while senior forward and team captain Jaycee Gebhard assisted on three goals to move within eight points of the program's all-time leader, Brittany Howard '18.

HISTORY LESSON
Since the start of the 2015-16 season, the Colonials have hit a run of strong results against RIT, going 11-1 over that stretch -- and the lone loss was in overtime. All-time, RMU is 8-4-1 in Rochester against the Tigers, including a 7-1 mark and a current six-game win streak at the five-year-old Polisseni Center.

Last season, RMU didn't overload the scoresheet against the Tigers, but still swept the four-game series while allowing just two combined goals. Curlett (3g, 1a), Gebhard (1g, 3a) and then-sophomore Lexi Templeman (4a) led the RMU attack, while senior goalie Lauren Bailey '19 picked up a pair of shutouts in the series. 

OPPOSITION RESEARCH
Now in its eight season of Division I play, the RIT program won back-to-back CHA championships in 2014 and '15, but the Tigers have finished in the bottom half of the six-team league in each of the past four seasons. However, second-year head coach Chad Gates oversaw an eight-win improvement from 2017-18 to 2018-19, earning last season's CHA Coach of the Year prize.

This season, the Tigers boast four double-digit scorers, led by sophomore Abby Davies' six goals and 14 total points. Freshman Jaymee Nolan paces the squad with nine goals, while grad student defender Logan Land has 10 points (3g, 7a) from the blue line. RIT has largely split the goalie duties, with senior Terra Lanteigne putting up the better results (.931 save percentage in 11 starts).

KNOW BOBBY MO
• Gebhard continues her assault on the team record books. RMU's No. 2 all-time leading scorer with 173 career points, Gebhard is on pace to beat last year's record total of 51 points, as she has already piled up 38 (11g, 27a) and ranks fourth in the nation with 1.90 points per game. With 14 regular-season games left, Gebhard is eight points shy of Brittany Howard's RMU career record of 181.

• In addition to last year's CHA scoring champ Gebhard, juniors Templeman and Curlett were named to the All-CHA Second Team last spring. Templeman, who piled up 26 assists last season, already has 21 helpers in the opening 20 games. Curlett, meanwhile, has the best points-per-game mark (1.25) among all Division I defenders, notching 11 goals and 14 assists.

• Sophomore Michaela Boyle has been a revelation in her first 20 RMU games, scoring 14 goals to rank eighth in the nation, along with five assists. Her hat trick Nov. 24 at RPI was the fastest (3:43) in team history, making her just the fourth Colonial ever to score a 'natural' trick. A native of Massachusetts, she is the second Colonial ever to score two hat tricks in the same season, joining Rebecca Vint '15.

• The power play has been dynamite, converting on 26 of 100 opportunities for a 26.0 percent success rate that ranks fourth in the nation. Gebhard (3g, 18a) has factored in on 21 of those PPGs, while Curlett (9g, 5a), Templeman (3g, 10a) and Boyle (8g, 5a) have also excelled on the advantage. Junior defender Emilie Harley has six (2g, 4a) of her 13 points on the PP.

• The Colonials' seven-game win streak in November tied the team record, first set from Nov. 23, 2013 through Jan. 5, 2014. (That run was part of another program best: A 14-game unbeaten streak -- 12-0-2 -- that propelled RMU to a national ranking.) The last time RMU won even five in a row was late in the 24-win 2016-17 season, which ended in the NCAA tournament.

• Despite winning the past three CHA regular-season titles, the Colonials were picked to finish second in the six-team league in a preseason coaches' poll, with Mercyhurst getting the top spot. RMU has finished in the top half of the CHA in seven of the past eight seasons. The Colonials have received votes in all but two USCHO top-10 national polls this season, reaching a high of No. 8.

• The Colonials welcome seven newcomers, five of them forwards. Boyle transfers from Clarkson University, where she helped the Golden Knights to the 2018 NCAA title. Joelle Fiala (Saskatchewan), Marah Wagner (British Columbia) and Maggy Burbidge (Nova Scotia) supplement the forwards, while Anna Fairman (Michigan) and Allyson Hebert (Ontario) add to the 'D.'

• Boyle hasn't been the only fresh face to contribute offense. Burbidge (5g, 3a) leads the Class of 2023 on the attack, while Fiala (1g, 6a) and Wagner (1g, 3a) are close behind. Wagner (No. 2 Minnesota) and Burbidge (No. 5 Clarkson) scored their first goals against ranked foes. Hebert also has an assist and has missed just one of 20 games so far.

• In goal, freshman Kirk joins returners Arielle DeSmet and Molly Singewald. DeSmet, a sophomore from Vermont, posted a .920 save percentage in 10 appearances last season. Kirk, a Manitoban, won MVP for Team Canada in the 2019 World Under-18 World Championship. Both Kirk (.916 SV% in 12 starts) and DeSmet (.904 in 10 appearances) have played extensively this season.

• Once again, RMU will boasted a robust non-conference schedule to go with its 20-game CHA slate. Starting with October showdowns against No. 2 Minnesota, No. 4 Clarkson and No. 5 Cornell, the Colonials will challenge each of the four national semifinalists from last spring. Defending national champ Wisconsin visited Pittsburgh on Jan. 4, completing the gauntlet.

• Familiar faces return behind the bench, led by ninth-year bench boss Paul Colontino. He's assisted by associate head coach Logan Bittle '08, who enters his 10th season behind the bench after four years playing for the RMU men's team. Fellow alum Jen Kindret '13 joins the staff; the former forward played under Colontino and Bittle at the end of her tenure a Colonial.

THE COLONTINO FILE
Returning for his ninth season in charge of the Colonials, Colontino boasted an overall record of 149-94-36 in his first eight seasons. In his first year running the team, RMU claimed its first championship of any kind, the 2012 CHA tournament title, while improving by 13 victories. A two-time CHA Coach of the Year and a one-time USCHO National Coach of the Year, Colontino was also behind two 24-win seasons (2013-14, 2016-17) and the program's first NCAA tournament berth, in 2017.

Before coming to Robert Morris, Colontino had served as associate head coach at Mercyhurst since 2006. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach with the women's team at the University of North Dakota for four years. Colontino began his coaching career as an assistant with Mercyhurst in 2000. As a player at Mercyhurst, Colontino was the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) co-Defensive Player of the Year as a senior and an All-MAAC First Team selection.

HONOR ROLL
The following Colonials have been honored by College Hockey America for their performances this season ...
Jaycee Gebhard - Player of the Week (Sept. 30, Nov. 4), Player of the Month (November)
Arielle DeSmet - Goalie of the Week (Sept. 30)
Raygan Kirk - Rookie of the Week (Sept. 30), Goalie of the Week (Nov. 4, Dec. 2), Goalie of the Month (November)
Emily Curlett - Player of the Week (Oct. 14, Oct. 21, Jan. 6), Player of the Month (October)
Emilie Harley - Player of the Week (Nov. 11)
Joelle Fiala - Rookie of the Week (Nov. 11)
Michaela Boyle – Player of the Week (Nov. 25)
Maggy Burbidge – Rookie of the Week (Nov. 25)

MARCH WITH THE COLONIALS
In addition to reports and videos on RMUColonials.com, check out Twitter and Instagram for news and updates throughout the season.

NEXT UP
The Colonials will return to the RMU Island Sports Center for the first time in six weeks when they host Syracuse on Friday, Jan. 17 and Saturday, Jan. 18 during the team's second-annual Mental Health Awareness Weekend. Game times are set for 7:05 p.m. and 3:05 p.m.