The Robert Morris women secured third place in the Windjammer Tournament on Saturday with a 5-3 victory over the St. Cloud State Huskies. First-year forward Jaycee Gebhard registered her first NCAA hat trick while juniors Amanda Pantaleo and Jessica Gazzola added the other goals for the 10-1-5 Colonials.
In the first period the Colonials looked sluggish, and continued the trend of undisciplined hockey that plagued them in the first game. However, their 12th-ranked penalty kill continued to keep them in the game.
It seemed like they wouldn’t get any traction offensively until the third period, when Pantaleo took a centering pass from Mackenzie Johnston and fired the puck over St. Cloud goaltender Janine Alder.
Less than three minutes later, Jaycee Gebhard would cash in on a 5-on-3, tying the game. It would remain tied until junior Jessica Gazzola intercepted a St. Cloud clearing pass, zig-zagged her way around two defenders and fired a shot across her body and past the first-year Swiss netminder the eventual game winner.
St. Cloud would get a late power play, but Jaycee Gebhard would cash in for the third time just three seconds after its expiration.
While Robert Morris skated to a 3-3 tie with No. 5 Clarkson the previous night, the Huskies (5-10-1) were coming off of a 5-1 loss to the host Vermont Catamounts.
Next, Robert Morris heads to the Pegula Ice Arena in State College for a two-game set Dec. 3 and 4 with the Penn State Nittany Lions. The Lions and Colonials are only separated by two points in the College Hockey America standings.
