CHA Tournament - Semifinals
No. 5 Robert Morris vs. No. 1 Mercyhurst
March 5, 2010 - 4:00 p.m.
City Sports Center - Detroit, Mich.
Top Story - The Robert Morris University Colonials won their first-ever CHA Tournament game on Thursday, March 4 against No. 4 Wayne State with a 3-1 victory to advance to the semifinal round against No. 1 Mercyhurst. The Colonials and the Lakers take the ice on Friday, March 5 for a 4:00 p.m. puck drop. In the quarterfinal contest between the Colonials and the Warriors all of the scoring took place in the opening frame. RMU outscored Wayne State 3-1 to propel them to win. Brianna Delaney scored the opening goal at 2:20 into the first period, which was matched at 8:05 with a goal by Alyssa Baldin to knot the score 1-1. However, freshmen Jennifer Kindret and Dayna Newsom each tallied a score at the 12:59 and 17:14 mark to grab the 3-1 lead and eventual victory. Junior goalie Daneca Butterfield tallied 14 saves in the win.
Scouting the Mercyhurst Lakers - The Mercyhurst Lakers enter tomorrow's contest as the No. 1 seed and also as the No. 1 team in the nation. The Lakers ended the regular season with back-to-back victories over the Syracuse Orange by scores of 4-1 and 3-1. In game one, four different Lakers scored to contribute to the win and in game two Mercyhurst recovered from being down 1-0 after the first period to win 3-1.
The Lakers are led by Vicki Bendus, who was recently named CHA Player of the year and leads the league with 26 goals and 34 assists for 60 points. Jesse Scanzano is second in the league with 19 goals and 37 assists for 56 points and Bailey Bram is third with 25 goals and 24 assists for 49 points. The Lakers Probable starting goalie is Hillary Pattenden who has earned 26 wins and established a .920 save percentage and a 1.62 GAA.
Mercyhurst is headed by Michael Sisti who has coached his team to seven consecutive CHA Tournament titles and five trips to the NCAA tournament.
Last CHA Tournament Meeting - The last time RMU and Mercyhurst met in the CHA Tournament was in the 2006-07 season when Mercyhurst defeated the Colonials by a score of 5-2 on March 2, 2007. In the loss former Colonials Morgan Beikirch and Kathryn Traynor scored goals in the win. Current Olympic gold medalist Meghan Agosta scored the game-winner for the Lakers and led the game with two goals.
Freshmen Fury - In RMU's win against Wayne State on March 4, the Colonial freshmen played a huge factor in the victory. Rookies Jennifer Kindret, Dayna Newsom and Cobina Delaney all tallied two points in the win. Kindret scored the game-winning goal and added one assist, Newsom scored one goal and an assist and Delaney assisted on two of three goals, including the game-winner.
All-CHA - Junior captain Whitney Pappas earned her first career post-season CHA honor by being named to the All-CHA second team. In addition, Sara O'Malley and Kelsey Thomas tied for the Colonials' Three-Star award and 11 players were named to the CHA All-Academic Team
First and Foremost - When the Colonials score the first goal of the contest they will more than likely win the contest. Robert Morris is 10-4-0 when scoring the first goal of the contest. 10 of 11 Colonial wins have been earned after scoring the first goal of the game. This includes RMU's most recent win over Wayne State in the CHA Tournament quarterfinal.
Under Pressure - At the end of the regular-season the Colonials have played in a total of 11 one-goal games with five of them coming in their last six games. Out of those contests the Colonials are 4-7-0. In their five most recent one-goal games the Colonials are 3-2.
Back in the Game - One of the Colonials' top scorers, Brianna Delaney, has been relatively quiet over the past six games , but on March 4 she ended her six-game scoring drought by capturing the opening goal in RMU's victory over the Wayne State Warriors.
The Delaney's Deliver - Sophomore Brianna Delaney currently leads the Colonials with 16 assists and has also contributed 14 goals, which gives her 30 points . She has scored at least one point in 21-of-35 games and has tallied seven multi-point games, including tallying two assists in RMU's 3-1 upset over No. 6 Wisconsin. She also scored an unassisted goal in RMU's 4-1 win over No.4 Minnesota Duluth.
Brianna's younger sister Cobina has also made her mark on the Colonial squad and leads all freshmen and is fourth overall with 11 helpers. In RMU's contests against Sacred Heart the rookie added four assists in both wins and in RMU's most recent win over Wayne State contributed two helpers.
Oh My O'Malley - Sara O'Malley continues to be my RMU's primary offensive threat. She currently leads the team with 18 goals and 30 points. She has scored at least one point in 20 games and has contributed eight multi point games. This past weekend she scored both Colonial goals in their 2-1 victory against Wayne State making her two points away from taking over the second-place spot in the RMU career point record book. With her two goals scored on Friday night, O'Malley tied an RMU single-season record for goals scored and she needs just one more game-winner to tie the first-place spot in the RMU career record books.
Colonials Against Nationally Ranked Teams - The Colonials have faced five nationally ranked opponents so far this season and have put on spectacular showings in every game. On November 6, the Colonials topped the No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers 3-1, which marked their second win over a nationally ranked opponent this season. They defeated No. 4 Minnesota Duluth, 4-1 on October 3, 2009. In addition, although falling to No. 10 Boston University on October 9 and No. 6 Wisconsin on Nov 7, they forced both teams into overtime. In three out of 10 losses to nationally ranked opponents the Colonials have only been defeated by one goal.
Power Struggle - The Colonials are currently ranked last in the CHA with a .135 conversion percentage. In their past six games the Colonials have tallied just two power play goals on 24 opportunities. However, the Colonials have been playing resiliently on the penalty kill. They are ranked third in the league with a .838 penalty killing percentage and have allowed just 25 power play goals on 155 opportunities.
