PITTSBURGH, Pa- The Robert Morris University women's hockey team hits the road for the first time this week when they head to Maryland Heights, Mo. for two more showdowns with the Lindenwood Lions on Thursday and Friday.

ROBERT MORRIS (2-0-0, 2-0-0 CHA) vs. LINDENWOOD (0-4-0, 0-4-0 CHA)

Thursday, December 10 at 8:05 p.m. EST

Friday, December 11 at 2:05 p.m. EST

STATS | VIDEO ($)

LAST TIME OUT

Robert Morris started off the season with a home sweep last week at Colonials Arena, taking down these same Lions with consecutive victories, 4-2 and 4-0. 

Freshman Ellie Marcovsky scored the game-winner on Opening Night, potting a power-play goal with 3:00 left in regulation to break a 2-2 tie and help RMU secure the win.  Junior netminder Arielle DeSmet pitched her third career shutout in game two as Robert Morris rolled to a 4-0 victory and a two-game sweep to start the 2021 campaign. 

KNOW BOBBY MO

• Eleven different members of the Colonials recorded at least one point over the weekend, and seven different Colonials all currently share the team scoring lead with two points each. The Colonials have scored eight goals through two games, coming off the sticks of eight different goal scorers. 
• Robert Morris received two votes in the most recent USCHO National Poll, one of three CHA teams to receive votes along with Mercyhurst and Penn State. 
• The Colonials' five-girl senior class includes defensive stalwarts Emily Curlett and Emilie Harley as well as versatile forward Anjelica Diffendal and goaltender Molly Singewald.  Curlett and Harley have started both games so far this year for RMU on the blue line, and the Colonials will no doubt lean heavily on the veteran duo as they navigate through the 2021 campaign. 
• RMU's effective power play a year ago (39-157, 24.8%) picked up right where it left off last weekend.  Robert Morris scored twice on the player-advantage on opening night, going 2-7 on the day before Michaela Boyle's 4-0 tally in the dying minutes of the win Friday night pulled the Colonials up to 3-12 (25%) through two games in 2021. 
• Speaking of Boyle, the redshirt junior transfer had one of the most prolific scoring seasons in Colonials history last year after coming to RMU from National Champions Clarkson in 2018. The winger scored a remarkable 22 goals in 36 games in 2020, most on the team and double the next-highest returning forward (Templeman, 11). 
• Robert Morris got superb goaltending performances over the weekend from both sophomore Raygan Kirk as well as junior Arielle DeSmet, who posted her third career shutout with a 21-save performance against Lindenwood.  The duo have combined to give the Colonials an incredible .964 team save-percentage and 1.00 goals-against average. 
• The Colonials welcome three newcomers to the squad this year in freshman Molly Pedone, Ellie Marcovsky and Chace Sperling.  Sperling provides a new option for RMU on the blue line, while Marcovsky and Pedone will help augment a forward corps that was one of the best in CHA a year ago.  Sperling spent last season playing for Pursuit of Excellence in the CSSHL, posting two goals and six points in ten games, while Florida native Pedone comes to Moon Township after four years at the famous Shattuck St. Mary's in Fairbault, Mn. 
• Marcovsky, meanwhile, is the latest in a long line of homegrown Western Pa. talents to continue their college hockey careers right in their own backyard.  The Mt. Lebanon native spent time with the Pens Elite program growing up, including a stint under head coach and former Colonial Cobina Delaney '13.  She joins Diffendal as one of two Pittsburgh natives on RMU in 2021. 
• With two points over the weekend including her first career NCAA goal on the game-winner Friday, Marcovsky currently leads all freshman with two points (1G, 1A) and has fired five shots on goal through two games. 
• This week is shaping up to potentially include some significant milestones for RMU's senior class.  Anjelica Diffendal is scheduled to skate in her 100th career game for RMU when she takes the ice Thursday night in St. Charles, while captain Lexi Templeman currently sits two points shy of 100 for her career at 98 overall. 
• The Colonials will have to replace the enormous contributions of the 2020 senior class after losing Jaycee Gebhard, Natalie Marcuzzi and Sarah Lecavalier to graduation a year ago. The loss of Gerhard in particular will be significant as the pivot led the CHA in overall scoring each of her last two seasons and retired as the RMU all-time points leader with 198 in 139 games. 
• Due to restrictions placed on the season because of the ongoing COVID-19 virus, the Colonials will play a conference-only season made up exclusively of CHA matchups.  So far, CHA has officially confirmed four games for the Colonials in the month of December, the two they played last weekend against Lindenwood at Clearview and two this week in Maryland Heights, Mo. All games hosted in Moon Township will be played without fans at least through the end of December. 
• Familiar faces return behind the bench, led by tenth-year bench boss Paul Colontino. He's assisted by associate head coach Logan Bittle '08, who enters his 11th season behind the bench after four years playing for the RMU men's team. Fellow alum Jen Kindret '13 returns for her second year as an assistant, a former forward who played under Colontino and Bittle at the end of her tenure a Colonial. They are also joined in 2021 by volunteer Assistant Coach Ryan Gayso.

SERIES HISTORY

The Colonials improved upon their dominant record against Lindenwood last weekend, pushing their mark to 32-7-1 all-time against the Lions with two more victories at Clearview. 

RMU has won 14 straight against Lindenwood dating back to a 2-1 loss on January 14, 2017 in Pittsburgh. Their last loss on the road against the Lions was back on November 8 2014, a 4-3 overtime loss.  

SCOUTING LINDENWOOD 

At 0-4 to start the year, Lindenwood is still searching for their first victory of the new campaign after back-to-back road sweeps against Penn State and Robert Morris to start the year. 

Though they battled back to erase a two-goal deficit last Thursday, Lindenwood has scored just three goals in four games and has been shut out twice.  

The trio of Sierra Burt, Hannah Alt, and Jane Jacobs have produced the bulk of LU's offense so far through four games, while goaltender Annika Asplundh has been steady between the pipes with a .944 save-percentage.  

THE COLONTINO FILE

Returning for his tenth season in charge of the Colonials, Colontino boasts an overall record of 169-106-40, for a .663 points percentage. 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.

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 not return to action until after the end of their Winter Break in mid-January.  CHA is expected to release details concerning the second-half schedule of the 2021 campaign at some point in the next few weeks.