NEVILLE TWP., PA — Cami Bell’s second goal of the contest at 1:09 of the overtime period pushed Yale past Robert Morris 5-4 at the Island Saturday. A wild contest is an understatement as the Colonials took the lead in the contest with less than 45 seconds remaining and fell in the extra period a day after dropping an 8-1 contest to the Bulldogs.
Impressive above all, the Colonials did it with 10 forwards and 16 skaters. After being outscored 33-10 (including being shut out in four consecutive games) Logan Bittle appeared to make a statement by only dressing 11 forwards and 6 defenders – 3 less than he could have dressed. The risk was rewarded in some ways, and exposed in another as forward Madison Primeau appeared to be unavailable after a hit along the boards in the first four minutes of the contest. The Colonials dressed first year TJ Flores, who was making her second appearance of the season as the 11th skater.
“It’s a gutty effort”, Bittle said postgame. “We basically had three lines and six (defenders), we needed something to spark the team and it seems like it did.”
Robert Morris’ reaction saw them come out flying in the first and avoiding the early game jitters, and at 6:16 of the first frame took the lead on a Veronica Bac goal. The Colonials followed up at 8:41 with a Janelle Evans power-play goal and closed the period out 2-0.
The bounces started to go the way of the Bulldogs in the second as Jordan Ray found the back of the cage at 6:34, and Anna Bargman finished a Ray cross-crease pass at 14:24 to tie the contest up.
Robert Morris found themselves in a two player disadvantage midway through the final frame as Jersey Phillips and Kaitlyn Schooley ended up in the box within :30 of each other, and Cami Bell found the back of the cage for Yale to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead with 10:23 to go in the game. Morgan Giannone’s tying goal a mere three minutes later set up a wild finish from the Island, as Bac found pay dirt with 41 seconds remaining to give the Colonials the apparent win late before a scramble for Yale saw Carina DiAntonio tap a loose puck behind starter Maggie Hatch and tie the game with less than five seconds remaining.
Hatch had a stellar game, making acrobatic saves that included two in the first period- a cross-crease glove save and a toe save minutes later. She finished the contest with 48 saves. Mia Wendell stopped 23 in the win for Yale.
UP NEXT
Robert Morris heads to St. Charles, MO to play the Lindenwood Lions in the first of a twelve consecutive conference game stretch to end the regular season. Face-off is scheduled for 7:00 on Friday and 3:00 Saturday (ET).
