NEVILLE TWP., PA — Thalia D’Elia’s overtime goal gave Robert Morris a 4-3 victory over Bemidji State in overtime on Saturday afternoon, their second overall sweep of the Beavers and first since Oct 12-13, 2013. Shayne Dejardins, Morgan Giannone and Calli Arnold scored for the Colonials. The Colonials opened up the contest 3-0 before Bemidji State bounced back, but the the teams didn’t follow the same pattern as last week’s series against Union.
“I think we learned from last week,” Logan Bittle explained. “We came out a little flat in game two after a big win. It’s hard to win in the NCAA, to get two at home against a good team from a great league is fantastic.
Arnold’s shorthanded goal that helped the Colonials jump out to the initial lead was mystifying in the way that Bemidji State seemingly gave up on the play, but Arnold stuck with the effort and caught Josie Bothun off guard.
“I thought our penalty kill was fantastic this weekend, those players also contributed with a short handed goal, Calli Arnold… what a great play that was.”
The Colonials improve their record to 3-1, the Beavers fall to 0-4 on the year.
THE GAME
The Colonials flipped the script from the night prior and showed pop from the gate, giving Bemidji State all they could handle but were unable to capitalize on the effort. Robert Morris earned the reward later as a breakdown by the Beavers power play gave Arnold a wide open shot on Josie Bothun from the bottom of the circle in which the Sophomore made it 1-0. Continuing the trend from the previous game, a blocked-shot parade led to an offensive opportunity that led to Shayne Dejardins’ first goal as a Colonial at 19:40.
Giannone’s redirect from the slot gave the Colonials a 3-0 lead a mere 1:35 into the second. Bemidji State clawed back shortly after with a Riley Reeves goal at 4:04 followed by Isa Goettl’s redirect with :17 remaining in the frame.
The Beavers Alyssa Watkins tied the contest at the 11:56 mark before D’Elia’s sprawling attempt beat Bothun at 2:32 of the overtime period.
UP NEXT
After the series with Union last weekend, another pair of ECAC tests await Robert Morris as the Colonials head off to Clarkson to face the Golden Knights on Friday (3:00pm, ESPN+) and Saturday (2:00pm, ESPN+) before welcoming Princeton to the Island on October 18th and 19th. The Tigers bring former Colonials forward and Mt. Lebanon native Ellie Marcovsky back to the Island Sports Center.
