PITTSBURGH, Pa- The Robert Morris University women's hockey team sets out on a five-game road swing this week, heading up to Erie for a Tuesday evening clash with Mercyhurst before continuing east to State College for a weekend series against Penn State. 

ROBERT MORRIS (9-2-1, 9-2-1 CHA) vs. MERCYHURST (3-4-1, 3-4-1 CHA)

Tuesday, February 2 at 2:05 p.m. in Erie, Pa. 

STATS | VIDEO ($)

ROBERT MORRIS (7-2-1, 7-2-1 CHA) vs. PENN STATE (9-1-2 9-1-2 CHA)

Friday, February 5 at 6:05 p.m. in State College, Pa.

Saturday, February 6 at 2:05 p.m. in State College, Pa.

STATS | VIDEO ($)

LAST TIME OUT

Robert Morris is coming off of a decisive sweep of RIT in which they outscored the Tigers 12-0 in two games at Clearview Arena over the weekend. 

Raygan Kirk and Arielle DeSmet each posted a shutout while senior captain Lexi Templeman's natural hat trick in the first period of Saturday's game punctured what was a dominant weekend for the Colonials. 

KNOW BOBBY MO

• Robert Morris is still receiving votes in the latest USCHO Coaches Poll. The Colonials earned six votes in the poll on Monday after their weekend vs. Syracuse, the most of any team outside the Top-10.  
• Fifteen different members of the Colonials have recorded at least one point so far this season with senior captain Lexi Templeman pacing the team with 12. Michaela Boyle ranks second with 11 while Maggy Burbidge rounds out the top three at 10. Marah Wagner and Anjelica Diffendal are tied for the leads in goalscoring with five apiece. 
• The Colonials' five-girl senior class includes defensive stalwarts Emily Curlett and Emilie Harley, versatile forwards Anjelica Diffendal and Lexi Templeman as well as goaltender Molly Singewald.  Curlett and Harley are each tied for the defensive scoring lead with eight points each, which also ties them for first in the overall CHA defenders scoring race. 
• Templeman has been near-unbeatable in the face-off dot this year. The senior pivot and former CHA Best Defensive Player nominee has won an astounding 68.6% (203-296) of draws through twelve games this season. 
• The Colonial power play finally woke up against the Tigers, ending a 1-12 skid with a 2-4 night Friday against RIT to bring their season mark back up to 19.1%. While the player-advantage still has room for improvement, the Colonials PK unit has been solid and is currently operating at over 87%. 
• Currently tied with Anjelica Diffendal for the goal-scoring lead at five, Marah Wagner has blossomed as an offensive producer in her second season with the Colonials. After a one-goal, five point rookie season, Wagner's seven points in 12 games is tied for fifth-most on the team.
• Playing with a lead has suited RMU well this year, as the Colonials are 8-1-1 overall when scoring first and 1-1 when giving up the opening goal. 
• Goaltending has been a significant strength of the Colonials this year. Arielle DeSmet and Raygan Kirk are 1-2 in CHA is goals-against average as well as save-percentage, with DeSmet's 1.00 GAA tops in the conference and Kirk's .958 SV% is the fourth highest in all of NCAA Division I. 
• Kirk is following up an impressive rookie season in 2020 with an even more dominant effort in 2021.  The Manitoba native is a three-time CHA Goalie of the Week and has stopped 151 of her last 157 shots faced. 
• The Colonials welcome three newcomers to the squad this year in freshman Molly Pedone, Ellie Marcovsky and Chace Sperling. 
• Marcovsky 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 three goals and eight points so far this year, Marcovsky is fourth on the team lead in scoring and has fired 31 shots on goal through eight games. Two of her goals have been game-winners.
• A few significant milestones have already been checked off this season for the Colonials. Anjelica Diffendal skated in her 100th career game for RMU against Lindenwood last month, while captain Lexi Templeman became one of six players in program history to score 100 career points in an RMU sweater with a two-point night on December 10. 
• Lexi Templeman's hat trick against RIT over the weekend was the first of her career and the first natural hat trick a Colonial has scored since Michaela Boyle set the program record for fastest hat trick against RPI on 11/24/19.
• Senior defender Emily Curlett is currently seven points away from breaking the all-time defender points record of 90 held by Maggie LaGue '18. 
• Due to restrictions placed on the season because of the ongoing COVID-19 virus, the Colonials will play a conference-heavy season made up mostly of CHA matchups.  The second to last weekend of the regular season sees RMU play host to Sacred Heart in their lone non-conference series of the campaign. 
• 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

RMU has faced Mercyhurst twice this year, with both games needing overtime. After a 2-2 draw in game one, Joelle Fiala's OT winner lifted the Colonials to a victory in game two to help RMU take three out of a possible four points from the Lakers. 

The Nittany Lions, meanwhile, swept RMU at home earlier this season, posting 3-2 and 4-1 wins at Clearview Arena on January 8 and 9. 

Prior to the sweep, RMU was undefeated in its last 15 against PSU, going 10-0-5 over a four-year stretch. 

SCOUTING THE LAKERS 

Mercyhurst has only played twice since last facing RMU with that action coming in a two-game sweep at the hands of Penn State last weekend. 

Senior forward Alexa Vasko was a thorn in the side of RMU last time around, scoring in both games against Robert Morris including the game-tying goal with under four minutes to play in their 2-2 tie on January 15.  

Jenna Silvonen has been solid between the pipes for the Lakers as well, as the sophomore keeper's .924 SV% ranks in the Top-20 nationally. 

SCOUTING THE NITTANY LIONS

Penn State has been the talk of CHA this season and looks like the biggest obstacle the Colonials will have to overcome for the CHA Regular Season crown. 

After going 13-15-8 a year ago, the Nittany Lions are a white-hot 9-1-2 in 2021, first overall in CHA and currently ranked eighth in the country. 

The top two scorers in all of CHA currently play for the Nittany Lions, with freshman Kiara Zannon's 16 points in 12 games leading the way at fourth most nationally, trailed closely by Natalie Heising's 13. Their games against RMU will feature the top six scorers in the entire conference as Zannon, Heising and Julie Gough face Templeman (third), Boyle (fourth) and Maggy Burbidge (fifth). 

PSU's strong rookie class also includes goalie Josie Bothun, currently tied for tenth overall in the country in save-percentage at .944. 

THE COLONTINO FILE

Returning for his tenth season in charge of the Colonials, Colontino boasts an overall record of 176-108-41, for a .665 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

RMU finishes off their five-game road swing with a trip to RIT on February 12 and 13.