HARBORCREEK TWP., Pa. — A day removed from giving up four unanswered goals, Robert Morris stormed out a 4-0 lead on the Lakers, and held on for a 5-1 victory over Mercyhurst on Saturday at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.
“I thought the response was awesome,” Paul Colontino explained. “You have a very prideful team, and I don’t think they were very happy with giving up four goals un-responded. I thought they came togehter and put 60 minutes on the ice and got a better result.”
Welsh opened the scoring for the Colonials in the first, tipping in a Jaycee Gebhard shot at 13:11, kicking off a Colonials onslaught that kept the Lakers at bay for the majority of the stanza. Natalie Marcuzzi intercepted a puck at the blue-line, skated in and fired a backhand shot over Sarah McDonnell’s blocker, making it 2-0 at the first cut.
In the second, the Lakers mounted pressure, bringing the shots to even in a very short span of time, but the Colonials stood pat, killing an early two-player disadvantage. An Anjelica Diffendal net-crash created a wide open net, with Quaranta netting her first goal since January 19th, 2016 in a game against Lindenwood.
Gebhard was able to corral a puck early in the third and break into the Lakers zone alone, beating McConnell to give the Colonials a 4-0 lead at 6:35, but Alexa Vasko broke Lauren Bailey’s shutout at 11:36, redirecting a M.K. Gialames shot through Baileys five-hole. Amber Rennie deflected a Gebhard shot at 17:11 to regain the four goal Colonials lead.
Lauren Bailey stopped 22-of-23 in the victory for the Colonials.
A LONG TIME COMING
Quaranta’s goal was the first for the senior since her rookie year, a 24-point campaign for the Niagara Falls, Ontario native. Although it was a welcome sight to get onto the scoresheet, the bigger goal was to get the victory for her team.
“Obviously it feels good, but the end result is getting our team a win, and we really needed that after yesterday,” Quaranta said. “It was a great team win overall.”
Her coach noted her effort during practice lead to the opportunity for Quaranta.
“She’s been working so hard,” Colontino said. “Sometimes you fight the back of the net a bit. Every day she works hard, every day she’s putting pucks in the net, to see her get one on a day like today, it was just a huge goal for us. You never know when your time comes, and you always hope that you are ready. That’s a player that was ready.”
NEXT UP:
College Hockey America play continues as Lindenwood heads to Colonials Arena at the RMU Island Sports Center on Friday at 3:05 and Saturday at 1:05.
