The No. 10 Robert Morris Colonials defeated the Brown Bears 11-0 on Friday night at Meehan Auditorium in Providence, Rhode Island. Jaycee Gebhard would open the scoring with 6:10 into the first period, while Amber Rennie would add another twelve minutes later.
The second would be a stanza filled with season and career firsts. At 2:24 Emilie Harley would net her first goal on a pass from Lexi Templeman. Less than three minutes later first year Emily Curlett would cash in one of her two markers on the night with a short-handed tally. Two power-play goals would follow from sophomore transfer Sarah Lecavalier and first-year Templeman. Sophomore Natalie Marcuzzi would score less than twenty seconds later with a goal of her own, ending the period with five first-goals.
Associate head coach Logan Bittle would credit that to hard work in between games.
“Any time a player gets their first college goal its huge,” Bittle stated. “They’ve put a ton of hard work . Curlett, Harley, and [Templeman] got their firsts tonight. Any of those players have put in the hours in practice, and to see that rewarded is excellent. Any time you can get that type of scoring from other lines and defense, thats huge.”
The third would start out the same way that the second ended when all-time leading scorer Brittany Howard would show up at the party with two goals in the first three minutes. Amber Rennie would get her second on the night only :33 later. Emily Curlett would finish with the eleventh goal of the evening for the Colonials at 11:56.
Curlett has shown flashes of progress throughout the young season, as the product of the Little Caesars program in Michigan would collect her first three points of her career on the evening. The first-year defender had a goal disallowed against Minnesota State in the first game of the season, but has shown a very unique skillset for a first-year defender: a well rounded defensive game.
“It was deciding that I wanted to be that kind of player in college,” Curlett explained. “I owe it to my coaches and trainers to get there.”
When it comes to adjusting to the collegiate game from a club level, the defender just fits well within the pace of the game.
“Everybody has a stake in it.” she excitedly said. “The level of competition is absolutely amazing thats part of the reason I’ve been doing well is because I love competition.”
Senior Elijah Milne-Price would start in net and turn another great performance, turning away 22 shots for her first career shutout. The net-minder has not allowed more than two goals in any of her six appearances, compiling a 1.24 career goals-against average and a 0.943 save percentage.
NOTES:
Sophomore Jaycee Gebhard had another solid performance, registering a goal and four assists. … Junior Kirsten Welsh would pick up a career-high four assists on the day. … 13 different Colonials would register points in the victory.
THE ROAD AHEAD
The Colonials and Bears will face off at 1:00p.m. Saturday at the Meehan Auditorium in Providence R.I. Junior netminder minder Lauren Bailey will look to bounce back from a tough loss at Maine last week.
