PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Robert Morris University women's hockey team kicked off Senior Weekend with a 1-0 win over the Sacred Heart Pioneers Saturday at Clearview Arena.
Senior goaltender Molly Singewald earned her first career shutout in her first career start between the pipes for RMU.
As the Colonials dropped the puck on Senior weekend, it was a freshman who would kick start the offense just minutes into the first.
Ellie Marcovsky made it 1-0 Colonials at 2:46 of the opening frame, collecting a bouncing puck near the SHU blue line after Gillian Thompson's stretch pass slipped between two colliding players, walking in with time and space and calm beating Frankie Sanchez with a low wrister.
A pair of power plays kept the Colonials buzzing as the player-advantage earned great look after great look, however they could not convert for a second goal as Emily Curlett and Leah Marino saw their stuff attempts denied.
They headed to the dressing rooms up 1-0 with a dominant 22-7 edge in shots on goal.
Sacred Heart managed to push back a bit in the second, testing Singewald with a few hard shots from out near the blue line, however the senior was well-positioned to blocker them away out of danger.
Molly Pedone got a golden opportunity to make it 2-0 on a breakaway near the halfway mark, however Sanchez did well to wait her out and deny her with a quick glove save in tight.
A great post-to-post stretch from Singelwad near the end of the second to deny what looked like a slam dunk into a wide open cage capped off a scoreless second despite a 44-12 SOG advantage for the Colonials.
RMU ramped up the pressure as the game moved into its final phase, forechecking Sacred Heart relentlessly and winning puck battles along the halfwall to prevent the Pioneers from exiting the zone with possession.
The Colonials did everything but establish a permanent residence in the SHU zone in the final 20 minutes, however a remarkable 72 save night from Sanchez kept it a 1-0 final as RMU secured the shutout for Singewald.
SCORING PLAYS
Marcovsky, 2:46, 1st - Assists: Templeman, Thompson
QUICK HITS
First career start in goal for Singewald…73 shots on goal is a season high for RMU…Marcovsky scored her fifth of the year
QUOTABLES
"It was just awesome for Molly tonight. For people that haven't played they might look at the scoresheet and see 73-14 in shots, but four of those shots were huge. In a one goal game, they are even bigger, but she just did a heck of a job, stepping in and giving us a shutout when we needed a shutout." - Head Coach Paul Colontino
NEXT UP
RMU wraps up the series tomorrow at 1:00 for Senior Day.
