NEVILLE TWP., Pa. — Sophomore Courtney Kollman scored her first career goal and Emily Curlett had a goal and two assists as Robert Morris overcame a sluggish start to defeat Penn State 5-2 at the Island Sports Center on Friday night.
Curlett continued her torrid attack on the scoresheet, opening up scoring with her NCAA-leading sixth power-play goal at 7:06 of the first. The Nittany Lions jumped all over the Colonials for the next twenty minutes, with Brooke Madsen and Rachel Weiss hitting the back of the net 1:42 apart to give Penn State a 2-1 lead.
The first ten minutes of the second followed suit, and Robert Morris looked like a team confused on the ice. Things changed at 9:15 as Mackenzie Krasowski deflected Curlett’s shot from the point to tie things at two before Kollman’s tap in from Curlett gave the Colonials the lead for good. Emilie Harley’s late period power-play goal and Michaela Boyle’s third period marker sealed the game.
NOTEWORTHY
The win was the 150th in Paul Colontino’s tenure with the Colonials… Jaycee Gebhard collected three assists on the night, giving her 11 on season and 17 total points… Curlett also had a game-high seven shots on goal and led all players at a plus-3… Raygan Kirk stopped 21-of-23 in the victory, while Cam Leonard saved 26-of-31 on the night for Penn State… After getting out-shot 13-6 in the first, the Colonials returned the favor in the second, out-shooting the Nittany Lions 18-2.
MONKEY BUSINESS
Kollman’s first career goal came in the sophomore’s 45th career game, but it was well overdue for the native of Calgary, AB.
“Getting the monkey off the back is something big,” Kollman said. “For me getting confidence from that and now having the confidence to go out there and score some more.”
Her coach agreed.
“It’s fantastic,” Paul Colontino stated. “She’s obviously worked incredibly hard, hit a lot of posts and come close here-and-there, to find the back of the net is a huge reward for her in the sense that she hasn’t only been working hard this year, last year she was one of hardest workers.”
UP NEXT
The Colonials and Nittany Lions close their series at the Island with a 3:05 p.m. matinee on Saturday.
