PITTSBURGH, Pa. — The Robert Morris University women's hockey team will battle Mercyhurst this weekend in a showdown for supremacy in the College Hockey America standings as the top two teams in the conference go head-to-head in Erie on Friday and Saturday afternoon.
ROBERT MORRIS (16-9-3, 10-3-1 CHA/1st)
vs. MERCYHURST (15-9-4, 9-3-2 CHA/2nd)
Friday, Feb. 14 at 3:05 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 15 at 2:05 p.m.
Mercyhurst Ice Center
STATS | VIDEO ($)
CATCHING UP
The Colonials are coming off a weekend trip to Happy Valley that saw them go 1-0-1 against the host Penn State Nittany Lions.
RMU took game one 3-1 courtesy of a two-goal performance from Maggy Burbidge. Emily Curlett opened up the scoring on the power play in the first before Burbidge pushed it to 2-0 in the second frame. The freshman would add her second of the game into an empty net to secure the win for the Colonials.
RMU fought back from an early 2-0 deficit to earn a 2-2 draw in the second game Saturday. Curlett scored her 35th career goal in the second, moving her into first place in program history for goals by a defender, passing Kirsten Welsh '19.
Michaela Boyle potted her team-leading 18th goal of the season with just over a minute left to send the game into overtime. Despite a 5-1 advantage in shots in the extra period, the game held at 2-2 as both squads walked away with a point.
HISTORY LESSON
RMU will close out the regular-season series with Mercyhurst this weekend after splitting a pair of games at the Island back on December 6 and 7.
After a 5-2 loss in the first game that saw RMU get out-scored 4-1 in the third period, they roared back for a 3-1 win in game two to earn the split.
Curlett and Lexi Templeman each scored on the power play, while Anjelica Diffendal scored at evens to come back from 1-0 down and win 3-1.
OPPOSITION RESEARCH
Currently sitting in second place in the College Hockey America standings, the Lakers are just one point behind the Colonials with 20 on the year.
Winners of three of their last four games, Mercyhurst is coming off of a road split against Lindenwood that saw them win a close game two 1-0 after dropping the opening contest 3-2.
The Lakers currently lead the CHA in goals per-game at 2.61, just narrowly edging RMU's mark of 2.56. A strong team at evens, Mercyhurst is bolstered even more by a league-best PK unit operating at 85% that has also netted five short-handed goals this season.
The games will feature the top three scorers in all of CHA, as Jaycee Gebhard and Lexi Templeman are joined by Mercyhurst's Emma Nuutinen who leads them in both total points (32) and goals (16).
KNOW BOBBY MO
• Gebhard continues her assault on the team record books. RMU's all-time leading scorer with 184 career points, Gebhard is on pace to beat last year's season total of 51 points, as she has already piled up 49 (15g, 34a) and ranks sixth in the nation with 1.75 points per game. With six regular-season games left, Gebhard is on pace to separate herself even further from Brittany Howard '18 as the greatest scorer in program history.
• 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 28 helpers in the opening 28 games. Curlett, meanwhile, has the third-best points-per-game mark (1.07) among all Division I defenders, notching 15 goals and 15 assists.
• Sophomore Michaela Boyle has been a revelation in her first 28 RMU games, scoring 18 goals to rank 12th in the nation, along with seven 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 35 of 125 opportunities for a 28.0 percent success rate that ranks third in the nation. Gebhard (8g, 22a) has factored in on 30 of those PPGs, while Curlett (13g, 5a), Templeman (7g, 15a) and Boyle (9g, 6a) have also excelled on the advantage. Junior defender Emilie Harley has seven (2g, 5a) of her 14 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 (6g, 5a) leads the Class of 2023 on the attack, while Fiala (1g, 7a) 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 two of 26 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 (.927 SV% in 17 starts) and DeSmet (.900 in 11 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, January)
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), Rookie of the Month (January)
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 return for their final home stand of the 2020 campaign next weekend when they play host to RIT on February 21 and 22. Saturday's game will be Senior Day before RMU closes out the 2020 regular season on the road the following weekend vs. Syracuse.
