STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — The Robert Morris Colonials and Penn State Nittany Lions skated through 65 minutes of back-and-fourth hockey, exchanging exciting opportunity after exciting opportunity before settling on a 2-2 tie Sunday at Pegula Ice Arena in State College on Sunday.
In what seemed to be a mirror image of Saturday’s game, the Colonials jumped out to a quick lead when first-year forward Lexi Templeman cashed in on her second goal of the campaign on the powerplay.
Templeman is another player in a string of Robert Morris first and second-year players who’ve stepped up in the early part of the 2017-18 season. She skated on the second line with seniors Amanda Pantaleo and Jessica Gazzola for the second consecutive game for the Colonials on Sunday.
“She’s jumped in quickly,” Pantaleo said. “She plays like an upperclassmen. It shows in her attitude off the ice and it shows on the ice in her attitude and her talent.”
Paul Colontino spoke highly of the first-year’s from Staffa, Ontario, noting her versatility and hockey IQ.
“She proves herself in practice every day.” Colontino said. “She’s just a skilled player and has an amazing hockey mind which allows us to play her in a number of different situations- as well as the ability to compliment many other players.”
Like Saturday, the Colonials got the same kind of push-back from the Nittany Lions on Sunday. Christi Vetter beat starter Elijah Milne-Price at 1:32 of the second period, and under seven minutes later, Brooke Madsen got behind the Robert Morris defenders during a post-kill line change to capitalize on a breakaway opportunity.
In a game in which the momentum seemed to be up for grabs the entire afternoon, Kirsten Welsh gave the Colonials enough to earn the tie, taking a Jessica Gazzola pass and burying it from the right circle.
THE PRICE IS RIGHT
Senior Elijah Milne-Price got her second consecutive start of the season for Colontino, who opted to start the netminder over junior Lauren Bailey. It was the first time this season a goaltender started consecutive games for the Colonials.
“We’ve been fortunate to be able to split goalies a couple times,” Colontino explained. “We like the way she played yesterday, we felt like it was the right decision. She made some real key saves, and kept us in it.”
Milne-Price stopped 24 of the 26 shots she faced on the afternoon, her record on the season stands at 4-0-2.
NOTES
Redshirt senior Brittany Howard had her seven game point streak snapped. … Milne-Price was whistled for a delay of game penalty with 7:22 left in the third, and the Colonials kept the Nittany Lions to less than 30 seconds of possession time on the penalty kill. … Templeman finished the game with a goal and a game-high seven shots on net.
END OF THE ROAD (TRIP)
The Colonials move on to St. Louis where they visit the Lindenwood Lions in another College Hockey America matchup. Robert Morris defeated Lindenwood in the CHA semi-finals last season en route to the conference championship. Paul Colontino’s squad will make its long-awaited return home Nov. 10 and 11 when they welcome RIT to the RMU Island Sports Center.
