NEVILLE TWP., PA — Maggie Hatch stopped all 46 shots she faced as the Robert Morris Colonials defeated the Bemidji State Beavers 2-0 at the Island Sports Center on Friday night. Hatch’s effort was just four off of her personal record of 50 set last season.
The sophomore made save after acrobatic save for the Colonials, who improved to 2-1 on the 2024-25 season. The feat was elevated by the fact that Robert Morris was only able to get 19 shots on net themselves.
“Maggie was unbelievable,” Logan Bittle said postgame. “Probably one of the best performances we’ve seen here. If we’re not going 100% and times are down, our goaltender can step up, be the difference maker. Today she was.”
To help out their net minder, the Colonials blocked 31 shots in the contest.
“You’ve really got to help them keep it going,” Hatch said. It was nice to have a lot of help in front of me, it kept the energy going a lot. It helped me going and to help pick them up the rest of the game.”
The Beavers attempted 83 shots in the contest overall and stifled Robert Morris throughout the game with tough pressure in the neutral zone and attempted to keep Robert Morris from the front of the cage where they were able to get three of their goals last weekend.
THE GAME
Bemidji State came out flying, peppering Hatch with four shots within the first three minutes as it took Robert Morris just over five minutes to register their first of the game. The first featured a near ten minute stretch where there was only one face-off, during which the Colonials started to mount a momentum change before Mya Neugent was called for interference at 14:26. Hatch made a flurry of saves during the disadvantage before Janelle Evans sprung Neugent coming out of the box, leading to Robert Morris’ best opportunity of the period. The Beavers ended the period with a 17-9 advantage in shots.
Bemidji State continued the pressure in the second, piling up opportunity after opportunity before the Colonials finally found their break as Neugent found space between two Beavers and eventually the back of the net at 15:49. A late power play gave the Colonials a two goal lead as Janelle Evans banked a shot off of Bemidji starter Kaitlin Groess and the post at 18:52.
The two teams continued to keep the momentum in the third, but Robert Morris found a way to keep Bemidji shotless for the remaining 3:33 of regulation.
UP NEXT
The Colonials close out the series with the Beavers at the Island Sports Center on Saturday. Face-off is scheduled for 3:00pm.
