Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University women's hockey team slammed in six more goals for the second consecutive game, defeating Saint Anselm, 6-4. RMU moves up to 3-1-0 to begin the season. The Hawks fall to 0-4-0 on the year.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Yesterday, the Colonials scored early Saturday afternoon. This time, the Hawks scored the opening goal on the day.
After a quick start for the visitors, RMU responded with five unanswered goals.
The first two,
Madison Primeau and
Shailynn Snow both found the back of the net on the power play.
Really picking up momentum in the second period, the Colonials cashed in three more times within 12 minutes. Scoring three points yesterday,
Janelle Evans used her speed to get ahead on a breakaway, finishing a shot off her backhand nicely past the Hawks' goaltender.
On a nice passing play by
Catriona Crarer and
Jersey Phillips, the tic-tac-toe team effort ended on the stick of
Courtney Hall, in for another goal.
The second line got back to work again offensively with five minutes left in the second frame. Evans on the boards dished out a pass through a tight area, finding Giannone right in front of the blue crease, giving RMU a 5-1 lead.
Before the end of the period, Saint Anselm got one back on a power play opportunity, followed by the Colonials scoring once more before time was up. Snow whipped a pass as Giampietro crashed the net, banging another one for the sixth goal of the game.
In the third frame, the away side cashed in on two more goals. But, the game was out of reach as RMU swept the Hawks in their home opening weekend, winning 6-4.
CHEMISTRY
Through the first four games of the year, the Colonials' second line of
Madison Primeau,
Morgan Giannone and
Janelle Evans have dominated. Starting off strong as a first-year, Evans has already produced three goals and four assists including a three-point outing in the home opener. In front of the home crowd, Primeau scored a goal in both games this weekend. Leading the team in goals, assists and points, sophomore
Morgan Giannone put together another spectacular weekend after receiving Offensive Player of the Week honors last weekend. She posted two, three-point games in both contests against Saint Anselm, bringing her season totals to four goals, six assists and 10 points.
200 FOOT PLAYER
Bringing a veteran presence, graduate defensemen Ally Hebert and Chloé Puddifant played very well on both ends of the ice. They led all skaters in +/- with a +4. Hebert made three blocks on the day as well. On the other end of play, both leaders paced for one assist each in the 6-4 victory. Puddifant's secondary assist on Giannones' game-winning goal in the second period helped secure the win.
HOME SWEEP HOME
For the third consecutive season, the Colonials opened up their home schedule, sweeping the opposition in a two-game series. Back in the 2019-20 campaign, RMU beat Union 6-1 and then 5-0. Starting off the 2020-21 season, the Colonials beat Lindenwood 4-0, followed by a 4-2 win. This weekend, the Colonials offense exploded for six goals in each game to beat Saint Anselm twice. Overall, across those six games in the home opener series, RMU is outscoring their opponents, 31-8.
QUOTABLE
"The freshmen have been doing amazing. We're helping each other and learning from one another. D'Elia and Schooley have been fantastic for us on the blue line. They've taken on leadership roles by cheering for our teammates and supporting everyone."
– Graduate Defenseman Wasyn Rice
"Most teams just have a few new players to their roster so we're trying to focus on details and build off of that to keep creating chemistry." –
Graduate Defensemen Ally Hebert
"I think we have a lot of talent. Those goals today are some of the nicest plays we've seen in our program. We'll keep learning how to put teams away. We just preach details all the time."
– Head Coach Logan Bittle
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