The Robert Morris University Colonials spoiled the Rensselaer women's hockey team's home opening series, defeating the Engineers 2-1 Friday and 4-2 Saturday. The match was the first to be played on the Houston Field House’s new ice. The home opener was originally scheduled for the week prior on October 2 against Northeastern University, but delays with the renovation caused the match to be moved to the early afternoon at Union College’s M&T Bank Center. The Engineers went on to shock #5 Northeastern 2-1, thanks to a heroic effort from freshmen goaltender, Sadie Bellissimo. Her 41 save performance pushed the game into overtime, where a goal from Barbora Cerna-Proskova saw the Engineers win the day.
The Engineers started from where they left off in the first period, keeping the Colonials on their back foot. Four minutes into the match their efforts were rewarded when Rensselaer’s Kiera Johnson slipped past the Robert Morris defense and behind the net, deking the goaltender, before passing the puck to Georgia Bailey who fired it in from just outside the crease.
Unfortunately, the Engineers were unable to capitalize further, as poor passing neutralized any Rensselaer forays into the attacking zone. The Colonials slowly worked their way back into the game by increasing their physicality and allowing them to better control the puck. A couple minutes into the second period, a miscue from the Engineers defense inadvertently blocked goaltender Bellissimo’s view of the puck, allowing Robert Morris to tie the game.
The game regressed back into a defensive, physical affair after the goal, with each team snuffing out the oppositions attack, save for a deflected shot by Naomi Forand that pinged off the crossbar. With five minutes left to play in the second period, Robert Morris broke through after a shot saved by Bellissimo fell to a Colonial forward who managed to slip it through to take the lead.
Rensselaer tried to find an equalizer throughout the third period, but the Colonials controlled possession throughout the last twenty minutes. The Engineers fired off a flurry of shots after pulling Bellissimo in the final minutes, but were unable to find a goal as time expired.
Senior Reese Keating replaced Bellissimo in goal for Saturday’s game; however, Robert Morris continued to frustrate the Engineers, locking down Rensselaer’s momentum and capitalizing on their mistakes. With Rensselaer already playing shorthanded two minutes into the game due to an Aylah Cioffi checking penalty, the Colonials pounced on a puck Keating failed to cover to give the visitors an early lead. Rensselaer’s defensive mistakes were exacerbated eight minutes later when another shot saved by Keating wasn’t properly cleared and fell to a Colonial’s stick, increasing their lead to 2-0.
Rensselaer attempted to rally in the second period. Seconds into a power play, sophomore Mia Montanari eluded two Colonial defenders before slotting a pass to Keira Johnson who fired it in to halve the deficit. While Keating seemed to be more confident in the net, Robert Morris struck back to make it 3-1.
Rensselaer was not quite done however. With thirteen minutes left to play, a check by Cioffi sent a Robert Morris pass go awry and into the stick of Mia Montanari, who skillfully tricked the Colonial goalkeeper, sending it right down the center to set the score to 3-2. Similarly to the Friday game, Rensselaer was unable to find the equalizing goal, and Robert Morris finished off the game on an empty net goal after Keating was pulled in the final moments of the match.
Both Bellissimo and Keating played well, with a 0.920 and 0.906 save percentage, respectively, but Robert Morris’s puck possession allowed them to overcome the Ressenaler defense, outshooting the Engineers 60 to 33 in the series. Rensselaer’s lack of possession left new lines stuck on their defensive zone rather than applying the pressure on the Colonial goaltender.
After the series, women’s hockey sits at a 1-6-0 record. They will return to the Field House on October 16 and 17 for a series against the University of Maine. The box score for Friday’s game can be found here, and the box score for Saturday’s game can be found here.
