BUFFALO, N.Y. — There will be a new chapter in the rivalry between the Robert Morris Colonials and Mercyhurst Lakers on Saturday. The in-state foes are set to face off at the HarborCenter in Buffalo, N.Y. on Saturday with two major milestones on the line: A College Hockey America championship, and the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
It’s a situation Mercyhurst is awfully familiar with. A sub-par 2016-17 led to the first time that the Lakers were not able to command at least a share of the regular season CHA title, and an upset loss to the No. 6 seed in the 2017 tournament left the team wondering “what if.”
The Lakers celebrate their semifinal victory over Syracuse. — BRAIN MITCHELL
A rejuvenated 2017-18 squad led by senior Brooke Hartwick, North Dakota transfers Emma Nuutinen, Vilma Tanskanen and standout redshirt first-year goaltender Kennedy Blair brought the Lakers back. Nuutinen represented Finland in the 2018 Winter Olympics, and Tanskanen was an alternate for the games. A second-place conference finish to the Colonials led to a semi-final bye, where Mercyhurst defeated No. 3 Syracuse in an overtime thriller on Friday.
The Colonials spent the 2016-17 breaking out as a force in not only the conference, but the nation. The team finished the season ranked No. 8 in the county and won its first outright CHA regular season championship. Robert Morris then shut out Syracuse in the championship game to claim its second CHA Tournament championship.
In 2017-18, the Colonials repeated as regular-season champs, thanks in part to a class of first-year players that have gone above and beyond the call of duty, as forward Lexi Templeman and defender Emily Curlett took home all-rookie team honors at the banquet. Junior Kirsten Welsh landed the notoriety of being the best at her position in the eyes of the conference, and Brittany Howard landed back-t0-back scoring and league MVP trophies.
THE SEASON SERIES
The Lakers and the Colonials split the series at two games a piece. Blair laid claim to two shutouts while only allowing a total of five goals. Elijah Milne-Price, equally up to task for the Colonials, only allowed six goals in the same games.
ALL IN THE FAMILY
The Colonials and Lakers will vie for the crown at the home of the Buffalo Beauts, the team that drafted Brittany Howard’s rights in 2017. Former Colonials forward Rebecca Vint skates for the Beauts currently, while four former Lakers play on the squad. Former Robert Morris goaltender Brianne McLaughlin and forwards Morgan Biekirch and Ashley Vesci were on the Beauts’ 2017 Isobel Cup championship team, as was Kelley Steadman, a Mercyhurst alumna that coached for three years at Robert Morris before returning to the Lakers this season.
BOLD PREDICTION
This matchup is the closest we’ve seen all season. Goaltending is a push, as Milne-Price and Blair shown promise and poise throughout the season. The Colonials have a defensive advantage in part to their size and offensive capability. The six defenders have the ability to chip in offensively, whether it be directly with goals or setting up the forwards, but that is a far second against a Mercyhurst squad who has the front-end speed and skill.
By combination of playing the 4 p.m. game and going to overtime against a very aggressive Syracuse squad, the Lakers have to be a bit more worn down. Robert Morris’ 7-2 defeat of a very tired Nittany Lions squad on Saturday allowed Paul Colontino the opportunity to give his top-nine even shifts, and the 12:30 start an extra four hours rest. That has to be the X factor here. Colonials in a very, very tight one.
ROAD AHEAD
The winner will wait for the rest of the conference tournaments to play out before having its fate announced on Sunday night during the NCAA Tournament selection show.
With both teams well below the PairWise threshold for an at-large bit, the loser will go home and start to prep for the 2018-19 season.
