NEVILLE TWP., PA — Robert Morris opened up their conference home schedule Friday night falling to the Mercyhurst Lakers 2-0 at the Island Sports Center. Tristana Tatur and Regina Metzler scored for the Lakers while Jorden Mattison stopped all 19 shots she faced in the win.
Maggie Hatch stopped 34-of-36 for the Colonials. Robert Morris battled and matched the Mercyhurst intensity throughout the game but could not find a way to capitalize on the chances they had.
“The effort was there, but the finish wasn’t.” Head Coach Logan Bittle said. “We took a step forward in our effort and our attitude today, had a positive mindset. We just have to be a little bit grittier around the net. We had a couple posts, we had a couple pucks sitting around. It generally comes down to one or two bounces that we have to create, they got the bounce on the second goal. The effort and attitude was there, we just have to get 1-or-2 percent better tomorrow.”
The Colonials had several golden opportunities to get on the board in the three periods, and pulled the starter Hatch with 4:19 remaining in the final stanza.
CONFERENCE PLAY
Robert Morris falls to 5-7-1 overall and 0-2-1 in the newly branded Atlantic Hockey America conference, a league in which they spent several years pacing prior to the program’s two year pause, and finished third a year ago.
This year the league is even when it comes to parity, with Penn State leading with seven points, Mercyhurst second with 6. The Colonials sit in sixth with two points – the only team to not win a league game in three tries thus far. The game against RIT ended in a shootout victory – earning only two of the three points that a team could get from a victory.
“It doesn’t matter who you’re playing. Anybody can nip anyone at any given time. Syracuse beat RIT tonight, Lindenwood and Syracuse went to overtime. It’s going to be down to the wire. We got two points at RIT, we need to get three tomorrow.”
UP NEXT
Robert Morris and Mercyhurst end the Island portion of the season series on Saturday at 3:00p.m. at Clearview Arena. It will be the final time on home ice for 2024 as the Colonials next home game will not be until January 3.
