NEVILLE TWP, Pa. — By nearly any measure, the Robert Morris power play has been one of the best in women’s collegiate hockey this season. Coming into Friday’s game against RIT at 84 Lumber Arena, the Colonials were tenth in the country in power play percentage, third in power play opportunities, second in power play goals and second in power play goals per game.
But as the Colonials took their bye week leading up to the game, they thought they could be even better with the extra skater. It turns out, they were right as Robert Morris went 3 for 5 on the power play in a 4-1 rout of the visiting Tigers Friday afternoon.
The Colonials went down 1-0 just over a minute into the game on a flukey goal that bounced off the leg of a defender and in behind goaltender Jessica Dodds. RIT is the type of team that has the reputation of being able to turn an early lead into a long, slow-moving contest. But the Robert Morris power play never let that game develop, scoring on their very first opportunity to set the tone for the rest of the game.
“We knew right away that we had to take over the game at that point, otherwise it might have gotten,” said first-year forward Jaycee Gebhard, who scored a pair of power-play goals. “We just kind of thought it was a lucky bounce, but this was our game.”
When the power play got to work, it was a simpler but more effective look thanks to the tweaks made in the off week.
“We worked on it a lot and we just took more pucks to the net and got more shots,” Gebhard said. “Before our off week, we were slowing it down too much, so we wanted to pick up the speed and get more shots.”
SAME SPOT, SAME RESULT
The first power-play tally was on a slap shot by Brittany Howard from the top of the right-wing circle. In the second period, she added an even-strength goal from roughly the same spot on the ice on a wrist shot. Howard said the faceoff circle is a place that she can have a good mix of getting the puck through to the net but also setting up a screen.
“The past few weeks, we’ve definitely worked on getting it through the shin pads,” she said. “We’re just trying to shoot and use them as a screen … and then you have the off-side winger crashing to the net, so it’s definitely a lot of confusion for the goaltender.”
While Howard certainly had her shot working from that spot in this game, head coach Paul Colontino said that she’s one of the few players that has free reign over the offensive zone as far as where she should shoot from.
“Britt is kind of on her own in the sense that if we can just get her in the house, she can score from any spot,” he said. “She’s just got that kind of shot.”
FIGHTING A FLUKE
After giving up the early goal, Dodds and the rest of the Robert Morris defense were perfect for the next 59 minutes. It was a big turnaround from the rocky start.
“It’s a bad bounce,” Dodds said. “It just kind of banked off my defenseman and went into the net. I truly believe that great teams are able to rebound from that and we were able to do that today.”
Colontino said the bench never wavered in confidence after the early setback.
“It was time to start dealing with it,” he said. “I thought our first unit on the PP did a great job with the first opportunity we had. Truthfully, that’s how you answer it.”
It helps to have an experienced netminder like Dodds, who — playing in her 108th collegiate game — isn’t likely to be phased by an early setback.
“I’ve matured a lot throughout my career,” she said. “Maybe my freshman year, those things got under my skin, but as a senior, those things happen.”
COLONIALS NOTES
Robert Morris will clinch a first-round bye in the College Hockey America Tournament with a Mercyhurst loss or tie against Syracuse Friday night. … The four points by Howard tied a career high. She had a four-goals game in her first year at RMU. … Maggie Lague had her first multi-point game of the season with two assist. … With the win, the Colonials clinched the season series against RIT. … The two teams will meet again Saturday at 1 p.m.
