PITTSBURGH, Pa. — The Robert Morris University women's hockey team closes out their regular season home schedule this weekend when they host the RIT Tigers for a pair of games on Friday night and Saturday afternoon for Senior Day.
ROBERT MORRIS (16-10-4, 10-4-2 CHA/1st)
vs. RIT (11-6-3, 4-11-1 CHA/5th)
Friday, Feb. 21 at 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 22 at 3:05 p.m.
Colonials Arena
STATS | VIDEO ($)
CATCHING UP
The Colonials are coming off a weekend trip to Erie that saw them come away winless in two showdowns with Mercyhurst, who now stands atop the CHA standings with 23 points, one ahead of RMU at 22.
RMU found themselves in an early hole both games, spotting the Lakers leads of 2-0 and 3-0 on Friday and Saturday. A pair of power-play goals and a three-point effort from Jaycee Gebhard kept it close in game one, however RMU could not find the equalizer and dropped game one, 5-3.
The Colonials roared back from down 3-0 Saturday to earn a point in the rubber match, scoring twice in the final 13 minutes to earn 5-5 draw.
A four-point night from Natalie Marcuzzi helped propel RMU to the comeback, as did a 28-save effort from Arielle DeSmet in relief between the pipes. Michaela Boyle scored her 11th power-play goal of the season with under ten minutes left in regulation to help secure the point.
HISTORY LESSON
The Colonials earned a split on the road against the Tigers in Rochester in their previous meeting this season back on January 10 and 11.
After dropping a low-scoring first game 2-1, the Colonials went off for six goals in a 6-4 win Saturday night. Two goals from Kyleigh Hanzlik as well as a pair of assists from both Gebhard and Anjelica Diffendal helped lead RMU to the win.
The Colonials are 22-10-3 all-time against RIT, including an amazing 9-1 in their last ten matchups.
OPPOSITION RESEARCH
Currently sitting in fifth place overall in the College Hockey America standings, RIT has struggled to find consistency at times this year.
Although they are coming off of a two-game sweep home sweep against Penn State last weekend, the Tigers were winless in their prior seven games, and are just 1-8-1 this season on the road.
Sophomore forward Abby Davies leads RIT in scoring this season with 21 points in 30 games, while freshman Jaymee Nolan lets them in goalscoring with 12. RIT currently ranks dead-last in the CHA in goals per-game at 1.91, however special teams have been a strength for the most part. Their PK is currently operating at an 83 percent success rate, second to only Mercyhurst, while their power-play averages .74 goal per-game.
KNOW BOBBY MO
• Gebhard continues her assault on the team record books. RMU's all-time leading scorer with 189 career points, Gebhard has already surpassed year's season total of 51 points, as she has already piled up 54 (16g, 38a) and ranks second in the nation with 1.80 points per game. With four 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 30 games. Curlett, meanwhile, has the third-best points-per-game mark (1.10) among all Division I defenders, notching 15 goals and 18 assists.
• Sophomore Michaela Boyle has been a revelation in her first 30 RMU games, scoring 20 goals to rank ninth 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 38 of 138 opportunities for a 27.5 percent success rate that ranks third in the nation. Gebhard (6g, 25a) has factored in on 33 of those PPGs, while Curlett (13g, 7a), Templeman (8g, 15a) and Boyle (11g, 6a) have also excelled on the advantage. Junior defender Emilie Harley has seven (2g, 5a) of her 15 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, 6a) 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 28 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.
