ROCHESTER, NY – Robert Morris (7-4-1, 0-3-0 CHA) scored four unanswered goals in a span of 5:31 seconds in the third period to snap a 2-2 and defeat the RIT women’s hockey team (3-8-0, 0-5-0 CHA) 6-3 in front of 975 fans at the Gene Polisseni Center on Saturday afternoon.
Maeve Garvey scored with 13:12 left in regulation to break the 2-2 tie, while Amber Rennie tallied 53 seconds later to make it 4-2. With 7:57 left, Garvey scored her second of the period to make it a 5-2 game and 16 seconds later, Ashley Vesci completed the four-goal run.
RIT captain Taylor Thurston (Kanata, Ontario/All Saints Catholic) would score her first goal of the season 30 seconds after that, making it a 6-3 game with 7:11 left in regulation. RIT would pull goaltender Jenna de Jonge (Abbotsford, British Columbia/George Elliot) with 3:42 left in regulation for the extra attacker and had 37 seconds of a 6-on-3 advantage and 3:39 of a 6-on-4 edge, but could not get any closer.
Sporting orange jerseys for the first time this season, Kandice Sheriff (Brampton, Ontario) and Reagan Rust (McKinney, TX/Moon Area) also scored for the Tigers, while Mallory Rushton (Amherst, Nova Scotia/New Hampton Prep) added a pair of assists. In goal, de Jonge stopped a career-high 42 shots and made several big saves in the losing effort. She also added her first collegiate assist on Rust’s second period goal.
Garvey led the Colonials with a pair of goals and an assist, while Maggie Lague had three assists. Vesci and Mackenzie Johnston had a goal and an assist each, while Brittany Howard added a pair of helpers. In net, Jessica Dodds stopped 30-of-33 shots for the win.
Robert Morris out-shot RIT, 48-33, including a 40-21 edge over the final 40 minutes. RIT was 1-for-7 with the man-advantage, while Robert Morris was 1-for-5.
“We came out with a lot of energy, but had trouble responding when Robert Morris took the lead on us in the third period,” said Bruce B. Bates Women’s Hockey Coach Scott McDonald. “We need to have a positive attitude. We found a way to comeback earlier in the game and now need to find ways to win these games.”
Despite holding a 12-8 edge in shots after one period play, the Tigers trailed 1-0.
RIT had a great chance 3:48 in, as Logan Land (Turkey Point, Ontario/Holy Trinity Catholic) fed a pass in front right off Carly Payerl (Kitchener, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic)’s skate right to Brooke Baker (Saline, MI/Saline), who was robbed on the doorstep by Dodds. Moments later, Kandice Sheriff (Brampton, Ontario) had a pair of excellent chances from point-blank range denied by Dodds.
Robert Morris would strike first on the power-play at the 4:59 mark, as Mikaelya Lowater would put home a rebound from the side of the net after a shot from Howard went wide off the back boards and caromed to the front.
de Jonge made her best save of the period with 7:31 left, robbing Rikki Meilleur from the doorstep, while the teams were skating 4-on-4. From there, RIT kept coming, but Dodds continued to make big saves, robbing Baker, Payerl, and Paton from in close.
The Colonials put everything but the kitchen sink on the RIT net in the second period, firing 24 shots, but de Jonge was nearly flawless and the RIT offense came to life late in the period, as the game was tied 2-2 after 40 minutes of play.
Just 2:13 into the second, Johnston tallied her third goal of the season from in front off assists from Jessica Gazzola and Garvey to give the Colonials a 2-0 lead.
De Jonge made two big saves from in tight to keep it a 2-0 game right after a Robert Morris power-play, stopping Amanda Pantaleo and somehow, sticking the right pad out to rob Ashley Vesci. Moments later, de Jonge made a nifty glove save on Maeve Garvey from the slot.
Sheriff was sent in on a partial break midway through the period, but her wrist shot was gobbled up by Dodds. Moments later, Sheriff would put the Tigers on the board, scooping up a rebound after Dodds made the initial save on Logan Land (Turkey Point, Ontario/Holy Trinity Catholic) for a power-play goal, cutting the Robert Morris lead to 2-1. Lindsay Stenason (Oakville, Ontario/Appleby Collegiate) also assisted on the goal, Sheriff’s second of the year.
Rust would tie the game at 2-2 with just 39 seconds left in the period, taking a feed from Mallory Rushton (Amherst, Nova Scotia/New Hampton Prep) inside her own zone after a scramble in front, flying down the ice on a 3-on-2 rush. Rust cut to the middle and as the defense backed off, fired a hard wrist shot from the slot past Dodds for her second goal of the season. Robert Morris would challenge that the play was offside, but after replay, it was ruled a good goal and for that, would be charged their timeout.
Today’s contest was the second of four meetings between the two schools this season. Last night, Dodds made 29 saves to break the Robert Morris career records for wins and shutouts, as Robert Morris earned a 4-0 victory in front of 1,895 fans. Lowater, Howard, and Lague added a goal and an assist apiece. The Tigers and Colonials close out the regular season at Robert Morris on Feb. 19-20, 2016.
RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 9-8-3. RIT won the season series last season, 3-1-2, including a two-game sweep at Robert Morris in the CHA First Round playoff series.
RIT continues its home stand next Friday, as Colgate University of the ECAC comes to the Gene Polisseni Center for a 2 p.m. start. RIT goes to Colgate the following day for a 3 p.m. start.
