Women's Hockey | 2/22/2024 8:00:00 AM
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – RMU women's hockey will travel up I79 North to face in-state rival, No. 2 Mercyhurst in the semifinal round of the 2024 CHA Playoff Tournament. In the best-of-three series, the playoff round is scheduled for February 23-25. Each day, the puck drop is scheduled for 2:00 PM ET in the Mercyhurst Ice Center. All CHA Playoff games will be streamed on FloHockey.
RMU LATELY
RMU (14-7-1, 11-8-1 #CHA) is coming off their final regular season series of the campaign, as they swept Lindenwood by a score of 7-5 and 6-3. Across the series, graduate forward
Shailynn Snow produced three goals and three assists, marching her way to CHA Player of the Week honors. Freshman forward
Janelle Evans also pitched in one goal and three assists, earning CHA Rookie of the Week for the second week in a row and fourth time this season. Overall, the Colonials have gathered 16 weekly/monthly conference awards in the 2023-24 campaign.
In Friday's contest at Lindenwood, graduate forward
Chloé Puddifant dished out three assists and freshman forward
Calli Arnold scored the team's third shorthanded tally of the season, which went down as the game-winning goal. She scored two goals in the series. Across the weekend, several skaters produced in both games:
Catriona Crarer (1g, 2a),
Mya Neugent (2g),
Morgan Giannone (2g),
Madison Primeau (1g, 1a),
Alaina Giampietro (1g, 1a),
Courtney Hall (2a),
Jersey Phillips (2a),
Thalia D'Elia (2a) and
Lindsey Smolen (2a). Splitting the series in net, netminders
Emma Gorski and
Maggie Hatch each earned a win over the weekend.
THE DYNAMIC DUO
Statistically, the freshmen duo of
Janelle Evans (9-19—28) and
Alaina Giampietro (17-10—27) all year have produced for the Colonials, especially in key situations. Together, the tandem owns 55 points which is more than any freshmen duo across Division I. Both currently rank in the top 10 across the conference in points.
POINT STREAKS
Six players are currently riding at least a three-game point streak, heading into the playoffs:
-
Janelle Evans | 4 games | 4g, 4a
-
Shailynn Snow | 4 games | 3g, 5a
-
Morgan Giannone | 4 games | 3g, 1a
-
Catriona Crarer | 3 games | 1g, 3a
-
Alaina Giampietro | 3 games | 2g, 1a
-
Madison Primeau | 3 games | 2g, 1a
HEATING UP
Also, producing down the stretch,
Mya Neugent holds four goals in her last four games. Graduate defenseman
Chloé Puddifant has dished out six assists across her last six appearances and
Courtney Hall and
Thalia D'Elia each own four assists in their last four contests. Defensively,
Allyson Hebert (69) and
Wasyn Rice (63) finished out the regular season at the top in blocks throughout the CHA.
RMU LEADERS
Goals:
Alaina Giampietro (17)
Assists:
Janelle Evans,
Chloé Puddifant (19)
Points:
Janelle Evans (28)
PPG:
Shailynn Snow (5)
SHG:
Morgan Giannone,
Jersey Phillips,
Calli Arnold (1)
GWG:
Alaina Giampietro (4)
Blocks:
Allyson Hebert
SV%:
Maggie Hatch (.921)
ALL-TIME VS. MERCYHURST
Since 2005, the Colonials own 21 wins against the Lakers. RMU's longest win streak against the opposing program was four games, happening from 2012 to 2013. 11 total games have gone to overtime between the two sides. Earlier in the season, the Colonials fell 9-2 and won 3-2 in Erie and then lost 6-1 and won 2-1 at Clearview Arena.
SCOUTING MERCYHURST
Mercyhurst (18-15-1, 14-6-0 #CHA) ended the regular season in second place. The Lakers went on a run, winning four straight games to close out the regular season. Across their last seven series', they achieved a 10-4-0 record. Statistically, Sara Boucher is tied second in the CHA in goals with 17 this season. Her teammates Thea Johansson (16) and Vanessa Upson (14) also rank in the top five. Defensively, Sydney Pedersen is third in blocks (58) and their goaltender Ena Nystrøm holds the second best G.A.A. (2.21) and save percentage (.926) amongst CHA netminders.
MERCYHURST LEADERS
Goals: Sara Boucher (17)
Assists: Sara Boucher (21)
Points: Sara Boucher (38)
PPG: Vanessa Upson (5)
SHG: Vanessa Upson, Sara Boucher (1)
GWG: Vanessa Upson (5)
Blocks: Sydney Pedersen (58)
SV%: Ena Nystrøm (.926)
RMU GAMEDAY APP
The RMU Athletics Gameday App is your one-stop location to access exclusive content such as audio streaming, podcasts and fan guides. It will also feature promotional offers for fans from various sponsors of RMU Athletics. Fans can download the RMU Athletics Gameday App (search "RMU Colonials") from both the App Store and Google Play, or by clicking the link below.
Follow The Colonials: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | LinkedIn | RMU Athletics Gameday App
