RMU Game Notes
Robert Morris vs. Mercyhurst
Tuesday, February 2 - 7:00 p.m.
Mercyhurst Ice Center - Erie, Pa.
Friday, February 5- 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, February 6 - 7:05 p.m.
RMU Island Sports Center - Pittsburgh, Pa.
Top Story - Robert Morris resumes conference play by traveling to No. 2 Mercyhurst on Tuesday, Feb. 2 to take on the Lakers in a make-up game at 7:00 p.m. The Colonials will then welcome the Lakers to the RMU Island Sports Center for a two-game series on Friday, Feb. 5 and Saturday, Feb. 6 with both games starting at 7:05 p.m. The Colonials recently snapped a seven-game losing streak with a series sweep over Sacred Heart and will look to continue that streak against the top-ranked Lakers.
Last Time Out - Over the weekend of January 22-23 the Colonials swept the Sacred Heart Pioneers by scores of 10-2 and 13-4. In game one, Sara O'Malley captured her second-career hat trick and first RMU hat trick of the season. She tallied the first goal of the game, which was followed by a SHU goal four seconds later. However, the Colonials exploded on the ice and scored the next six goals. The Pioneers were able to jam a second goal in, but RMU earned three more before the end of the contest to earn the commanding win. O'Malley led the Colonials with three goals and one assist, while freshman Jennifer Kindret and sophomore Brianna Delaney each captured two goals and one assist each in the win. Maria Stoa led the team with four assists and eight other Colonials recorded at least one point in the win. The Colonials earned an even more dominating win on Saturday night with 14 players producing points. Kindret led the game with two goals and an assist, while freshman Courtney Langston earned two goals, with the first being her first collegiate score. After two periods RMU was up 10-0, but Sacred Heart rallied in the third period with four goals, while RMU added three more goals to finalize the score 13-4. Kindret's opening goal was the third quickest in RMU history to start again, scoring within just 17 seconds. The Colonials tied a RMU game-high for goals scored with 13, broke a record for shots in a game with 54 and tied the record for power-play goals with four.
Scouting the Mercyhurst Lakers - This past weekend the Lakers took on CHA foe Niagara and split the series 1-1 with the Purple Eagles. The Lakers took game one by a score of 2-0 with junior Vicki Bendus scoring both goals for Mercyhurst. MC goalie Hillary Pattenden captured 12 saves to mark her third shutout of the season. The Niagara Purple Eagles surprised the Lakers in game two and upset the top ranked Lakers, 2-1. The two squads played through two scoreless periods, but Niagara was finally able to break the silence with two goals early in the third period. Jess Jones was able to get a score on the board with less than four minutes left in the period, but the Lakers could not undo the damage of Niagara's early third period goals and suffered their first loss since October 31, 2009.
The Lakers are led by Vicki Bendus who has tallied 20 goals and 26 assists this season for 46 points. Jesse Scanzano is second on the team with 17 goals and 27 helpers for 44 points and Bailey Bram is third with 21 goals and 18 assists for 39 points. The Lakers probable starting goalie is Hillary Pattenden, who has established a .916 save percentage, a 1.80 GAA and a 20-2-3 record this season.
Quotes from Coach Handrahan - "Mercyhurst has had an outstanding season to this point. They are a hard working team that competes and has a desire to win. We need to match and exceed their desire, execute in all areas and be difficult to play against in order to give ourselves an opportunity."
On the Internet - All Robert Morris men's and women's hockey home games can be heard live on the internet by visiting www.rmucolonials.com. Gero Von Dehn returns for his sixth season of play-by-play.
Last Meeting - The last time the Colonials and the Lakers met was on December 5, 2009 and the Lakers topped RMU 6-2. Junior Sara O'Malley scored the first goal of the contest at 9:02 in the first period, but Mercyhurst responded with a goal 20 seconds later and then added two more goals to their total before the end of the opening period. Mercyhurst scored two more times in the second period to gain a 5-1 lead, but sophomore Brianna Delaney scored a power play goal at 17:32 to cut into their lead. Mercyhurst finalized the score with their sixth goal in the third period. Jess Jones led game with three goals and MC's Bailey Bram added four helpers in the contest.
Hat Trick Club - On Friday, Jan. 22 Sara O'Malley captured her second career hat trick and first RMU hat trick of the season with three goals against Sacred Heart. She is the only Colonial to have captured more than one hat trick in her career. Junior Maria Stoa and former Colonial Kristen Miles are the only other Colonials to have recorded a hat trick in RMU history.
Kindret Killin It ... - Freshman Jennifer Kindret leads all Colonial rookies with seven goals and six assists for 13 points. She is ranked third overall on the team in goals and fourth in points. This past weekend she played a major factor in both wins over Sacred Heart earning two goals and one assist in both contests. In RMU's impressive 3-1 win over Wisconsin, Kindret tallied two of RMU's three goals. She recorded another goal earlier in the season in RMU's win over Maine.
Colonials in the CHA - Due to their impressive performances in RMU's back-to-back victories against Sacred Heart, junior Sara O'Malley was named CHA Offensive Player of the Week and freshman Jennifer Kindret was named CHA Rookie of the Week. O'Malley finished the weekend with four goals, two assists and a +5 rating to earn her first career CHA Offensive Player honor. Kindret's four goal, two assist performance earned her second CHA Rookie honor of the season.
Freshmen Firsts - In RMU's back-to-back wins against Sacred Heart several freshmen earned their first career points. In game one freshman goalie Kristen DiCiocco assisted on the final goal of the contest, which is the first time a netminder captured a point in a contest since the 2007-08 season. In game two, Cobina Delaney, Courtney Langston and Whitney Henderson all captured their first collegiate goals. Langston went one step above and scored two goals to also mark her first career multi-goal game. Delaney also assisted on two goals in the win to give her a career high of three points and Henderson also registered her first career assist giving her a career-high of two points.
Colonials Against Nationally Ranked Teams - The Colonials have faced five nationally ranked opponents so far this season and have put on spectacular showings in every game. On November 6, the Colonials topped the No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers 3-1, which marked their second win over a nationally ranked opponent this season. They defeated No. 4 Minnesota Duluth, 4-1 on October 3, 2009. In addition, although falling to No. 10 Boston University on October 9 and No. 6 Wisconsin on Nov 7, they forced both teams into overtime. In three out of six losses to nationally ranked opponents the Colonials have only been defeated by one goal.
Power Recovery - The Colonials have recently been struggling on the power play, but on January 8th they were able to end their streak of games without a power play goal by scoring two against Connecticut at Mellon Arena. This past weekend they continued to improve on the power play, as they tied an RMU record for power-play goals in a single game with four against Sacred Heart (1/23/10). Before last weekend the Colonials were last in the CHA in power-play percentage, but they now sit third above Niagara and Wayne State with a .171 conversion percentage.
Kelsey in the Klutch - Although Kelsey Thomas has only scored four goals so far this season, two of them have been at crucial points for the Colonials. She scored her first goal against Maine 44 seconds into overtime to win the game for the Colonials 1-0. In RMU's game against Niagara, Thomas found the net with eight seconds left in the third period to knot the score 2-2 against Niagara and force overtime.
First and Foremost - When the Colonials score the first goal of the contest they will more than likely win the contest. Robert Morris is 7-3-0 when scoring the first goal of the contest and has won every game when they have scored the first goal.
Colonials Breaking Records - In RMU's game two win against Sacred Heart the Colonials broke or tied several RMU records. They broke the record for shots in a game with 54, tied the record for power-play goals with four and tied the record for goals in a game with 13. In addition, Kindret's goal 17 seconds into the game was the third quickest goal to start a contest. In game one, Kristen DiCiocco became the first goalie since 2007-08 to assist on a goal and Sara O'Malley became the first Colonial to earn two hat tricks in her career.
All Together Now - Both wins against the Sacred Heart Pioneers were a complete team effort as 11 Colonials contributed at least one point in game one, with six scoring goals, three scoring multiple goals, 11 adding assists and seven contributing multiple points. Game two was no different as 14 players scored points, with 11 scoring goals, two scoring multiple goals and 10 capturing multiple points.
The Delaney's Deliver - Sophomore Brianna Delaney currently leads the Colonials with 14 assists and 12 goals for 26 points. This past weekend she totaled three goals and three assists for six points. She is ranked seventh in the league for points and is tied for third in the CHA and tied for sixth in the nation for power play goals scored with six. She has scored at least one point in 17-of-25 games and has tallied seven multi-point games, including tallying two assists in RMU's 3-1 upset over No. 6 Wisconsin. She also scored an unassisted goal in RMU's 4-1 win over No.4 Minnesota Duluth.
Brianna's younger sister Cobina has also made her mark on the Colonial squad and leads all freshmen and is fourth overall with nine helpers. In RMU's most recent contests against Sacred Heart the rookie added four assists in both wins.
Olympic Bound - Brianne McLaughlin - Former RMU goalie Brianne McLaughlin was selected as one of three goalies to the 2010 U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Team. The U.S. team, which includes three goaltenders, six defensemen and 12 forwards, will continue competing in the Qwest Tour until departing for the Olympics on Feb. 7. The opening ceremonies are slated for Feb. 12, with Team USA's first game taking place on Feb. 13 against China.
The roster highlights six Olympians and 19 World Champions. The team was selected from the 23 players who made up the 2009-10 U.S. Women's National Team. The group has been training in Blaine, Minn., at the National Sports Center's Schwan Super Rink since early September, in addition to competing on the Qwest Tour and in two international tournaments.
McLaughlin was a member of the 2009-10 U.S. Women's National Team, the 2008-09 U.S. U-22 National Team and was a participant in the 2009 Frozen Four Skills Challenge. In addition, last year she became the NCAA Division I All-Time Career Saves Leader with 3,809 and was named to the All-CHA First Team. Her résumé includes three USCHO.com National Defensive Player of the Week honors, 12 CHA Defensive Player of the Week awards and four consecutive years on the All-CHA team.
Preseason Predictions - Robert Morris was selected second in the 2009-10 College Hockey America women's ice hockey coaches' poll, which is the highest the Colonials have ever finished since the start of the program. Defending conference champion and national runner-up, Mercyhurst collected four first-place votes and 16 points as the preseason favorite to win the conference. Robert Morris landed the second spot with 12 points and Wayne State was chosen third, earning one first-place vote and nine points. Syracuse grabbed the fourth spot with eight points and Niagara closed out the poll in fifth with five points. Sophomore Brianna Delaney was the only Colonial to earn a spot on the Preseason All-CHA Team. Mercyhurst led the league with five members of the Preseason All-CHA team, while Wayne State had two and Syracuse had one.