PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Robert Morris University women's hockey team wraps up the 2021 regular season this weekend when they host Syracuse for a pair of games at Clearview Arena.
ROBERT MORRIS (13-5-1, 11-5-1 CHA) vs. SYRACUSE (8-8-1, 6-6-1)
Friday, February 26 at 7:05 p.m. in Pittsburgh Pa.
Sunday, February 27 at 2:05 p.m. in Pittsburgh, Pa.
STATS | VIDEO ($)
LAST TIME OUT
The Colonials sent off their senior class in style last weekend when they swept the visiting Sacred Heart Pioneers in two straight at Clearview Arena.
Molly Singewald posted back-to-back shutouts in her first two career NCAA starts while Lexi Templeman's five assists on Sunday put the finishing touches on what was an extremely memorable senior weekend for RMU in which all four skaters recorded at least a point.
KNOW BOBBY MO
- The Colonials currently occupy second place overall in the CHA Standings with 23 points, just four clear of third-place Mercyhurst with 19. Due to an uneven number of games being played this season, standings will be determined based on points-percentage, leaving several possible scenarios for final seeding at the end of the weekend. The bottom half of the table is largely set, Lindenwood will be the #5 seed and will play the #4 seed in the 7:30 pm game on Thursday, March 4th. RIT will be the #6 seed and will play the #3 seed in the 2:00 p.m. game that same day.
- If Robert Morris sweeps Syracuse or matches Mercyhurst's weekend record, Robert Morris will clinch the #2 seed and the final bye into Friday's semifinals. If Mercyhurst secures at least a 1-0-1 record against Penn State and RMU suffers a loss or plays to two ties, Mercyhurst will be the #2 seed and earn a bye next week. Syracuse cannot earn the #2 seed and a bye, but if the Orange sweep Robert Morris and Penn State sweeps Mercyhurst, Syracuse and Mercyhurst flip the #3 and #4 seeds.
- Nine members of the Colonials have cracked the double-digit points threshold so far this season, led by senior Lexi Templeman who currently leads the team with 24 in 19 games. Michaela Boyle leads RMU in goals with nine.
- 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 tied for fourth overall in defensive scoring in CHA, while Templeman sits second in total scoring behind PSU's Kiara Zanon.
- Sunday against SHU featured a number of career highlights for RMU. Molly Singewald posted her second straight shutout in her second career start, while Lexi Templeman and Michaela Boyle each set career-bests with five assists and four goals, respectively.
- 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 65.8% (310-471) of draws through 19 games this season.
- The Colonials' power play is still tops in CHA at 17.2% (11-64). Five players all share the team lead in PPG with two apiece.
- Though their 88.9% clip on the PK is in the middle of the pack for the conference, RMU's 8.4 PIM per-game is the second lowest in CHA.
- Anna Fairman and Allyson Hebert both scored their first career goals last Wednesday against RIT, joining Gillian Thompson and Ellie Marcovsky to make it four Colonials who have lit the lamp for the first time in 2021.
- Following Singewald's memorable weekend against the Pioneers, RMU now boasts three goalies who have each recorded two shutouts on the year, joining Raygan Kirk and Arielle DeSmet. Singewald is the only one of the trio to do so in back-to-back games.
- RMU has conceded six first-period goals just one more than Syracuse for fewest in CHA play, however their defensive results as the game goes on have not been quite as efficient, giving up 12 second-period tallies and 13 in the final frame.
- The Colonials welcome three newcomers to the squad this year in freshman Molly Pedone, Ellie Marcovsky and Chace Sperling.
- Following a lengthy recovery on an injured leg sustained in the off-season, Sperling finally made her NCAA debut with RMU last weekend against Sacred Heart.
- 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.
- Marcovsky has been one of the premier freshman in CHA this season. With six goals and 14 points so far this year, she is third on the team in scoring and has fired 41 shots on goal through 19 games. Two of her goals have been game-winners, and only Penn State's Zanon and Mercyhurst's Sarah Boucher has more overall points amongst rookies.
- A few significant career milestones have already been checked off this season for the Colonials. Anjelica Diffendal skated in her 100th career game for RMU against Lindenwood in December, 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 earlier this month 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.
- With 88 on her career, senior defender Emily Curlett is currently four points away from tying and five points away from breaking the all-time defender points record of 92 held by Maggie LaGue '18.
- 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 is 2-0 against the Orange this season following a two-game sweep at Tennity Ice Pavilion back on January 22 and 23.
Raygan Kirk earned CHA Goaltender of the Week honors after stopping 64 of 66 shots in the two-gamer with the orange, a pair of 2-1 wins for RMU.
The Colonials have never finished 4-0 against Syracuse in the regular season in their history.
SCOUTING THE ORANGE
After their game against RIT last weekend was postponed, Syracuse has not seen action against a CHA opponent since a 4-1 win over Lindenwood on February 14th.
Fourth place in CHA with 13 points, Syracuse is locked into the fourth seed entering the tournament next weekend in Erie. As always, RMU will need to be aware of the duo of Jessica DiGirolamo and Victora Klimek who have combined for 14 goals in conference play this year.
THE COLONTINO FILE
Returning for his tenth season in charge of the Colonials, Colontino boasts an overall record of 179-109-41, for a .666 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 heads north to Erie Insurance Arena next weekend for the 2021 CHA Tournament.
