BUFFALO, N.Y. — A four-goal second period helped lift the Syracuse Orange over Robert Morris Colonials, 6-2 in the 2019 College Hockey America tournament final at HarborCenter on Friday afternoon.
The teams entered the middle frame locked at 1-1, but 7:12 into the period, Syracuse’s Brooke Avery fired a long shot that ricocheted off the end wall and right to the stick of Kristen Siermachesky, who deposited it behind Robert Morris goaltender Arielle DeSmet to give the Orange a 2-1 lead.
After that, the Orange capitalized on a series of Robert Morris penalties in order to take advantage, despite not actually scoring on the power play in the period.
RMU defender Wasyn Rice had just stepped out of the box when Jessica DiGirola collected a loose puck and found Avery between the circles. She one-timed the puck between DeSmet’s wickets for a two-goal lead.
Later in the period, RMU forward Sarah Quaranta was hit up high by Avery and remained on the ice after the hit. Avery was called for roughing, but Quaranta was called for embellishment.
On the ensuing 4-on-4, Allie Munroe found Savannah Rennie on a cross-ice pass for an easy tap-in to extend the Syracuse lead.
Just as had occurred earlier in the period, RMU was able to kill a Jaycee Gebhard tripping minor, but 30 seconds after she exited the box, Lauren Bellefontaine lit the lamp behind DeSmet for the fifth time in the game.
Following that goal, Robert Morris head coach Paul Colontino made a switch in net to senior Lauren Bailey. DeSmet finished with 16 saves on 20 shots.
The Colonials spent most of the game struggling to get shots through on net against the Syracuse blueline. Robert Morris out-attempted Syracuse, 54-38, but 19 Orange blocks meant that just 28 RMU shots found their way to Syracuse netminder Ady Cohen. Syracuse out-shot Robert Morris, 30-28.
Robert Morris was able to get one goal back in the third period when Jaycee Gebhard netted her 19th of the season, with assists to Lexi Templeman and Gillian Thompson.
Syracuse added a power-play goal from Abby Moloughney at 17:03 of the third period to close the scoring.
The Orange will advance to the 2019 NCAA tournament, while Robert Morris’ season comes to a close with a 16-14-6 record. The Colonials won their third consecutive CHA regular-season title, but lost in the CHA title game for the second consecutive season.
