Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University women's hockey team fell to Clarkson in game two of the series, 1-2. The Colonials are now 3-5-0 overall on the season. The Golden Knights moved up to 7-0-1 in the 2023-24 campaign.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
RMU jumped out early on the day, posting seven shots in the opening five minutes. The home side was then awarded a power play opportunity.
After not scoring with an extra skater, Clarkson went down the other end and scored on their power play chance with seven minutes left in the period.
Opening up the second period, goaltender
Maggie Hatch made two brilliant saves in the first minute to keep the score within one.
Continuing to attack the net,
Laura Eustace almost jammed in a goal. Wrapping around the net, she almost shoved the puck in, but the goalie got her pad back in time to stop the puck on the line.
Across the duration of the middle frame, RMU killed off two penalties. The score remained, 1-0 in favor of the visitor, heading into the third.
Early in the third period,
Maggie Hatch came up crucial again for the Colonials. RMU was shorthanded twice in the beginning of the period. Hatch protected the goal, stopping five shots to keep her team close.
As the period moved along, Clarkson earned another power play chance in the middle of the period. This time, they cashed in off a fortuitous bounce, making it a 2-0 game.
The Colonials however, did not give up.
With two minutes to go, the coaching staff signaled for Hatch to leave the net and put out the extra attacker. Controlling the puck in the offensive zone,
Allyson Hebert dished the puck towards the net. Freshman
Catriona Crarer off the rebound tapped the puck over to
Alaina Giampietro. Skating away from goal, Giampietro on her backhand sniped the puck perfectly into the top left corner, bringing RMU within one.
RMU battled until the end, pulling the goalie once again, but couldn't post another score before the final buzzer.
SOLID SERIES
Over the past two games in the series against Clarkson, freshmen
Alaina Giampietro and
Catriona Crarer both developed chemistry together on the first line. In each game, Crarer assisted Giampietro on both of her goals. On the year, Giampietro has four goals and four assists, totaling eight points. Crarer owns four assists so far in her first collegiate campaign.
TAKE ONE FOR THE TEAM
Facing the Golden Knights, the Colonials recorded the most blocked shots in a series all season. In game one, RMU blocked 25 total shots and blocked 16 more today, totaling 41 across the series. Their previous high was 29 against Saint Anselm in the home opening series of the year. Captain
Wasyn Rice led all players in blocked shots with nine.
GOALIE TANDEM
Over the weekend, Emma Gorksi and
Maggie Hatch both earned a start. In the first game, Gorksi paced for a season-high 49 saves. She sits with 2,486 career saves, leaving her 14 away from 2,500. At the end of today's game, Hatch repeated her career-high of 34 saves against the Golden Knights. She made 34 stops in game two of the series at Princeton last weekend.
UP NEXT
RMU begins conference play next weekend. Their CHA schedule will start on the road as they travel north to Erie, Pa. to take on Mercyhurst. The first game of the series will be on Friday, October 27 at 6:00 p.m. and again the following day at 1:00 p.m.
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