The West Hills Gazette took a trip to the island Saturday. No, I didn’t jet off to Grand Cayman or the Virgin Islands. Our travel simply took us down the road to Neville Island.
The setting was the Island Sports Complex’s Clearview Arena for a second consecutive day of hockey between the ladies from Robert Morris University and the Tigers of RIT.
Friday night’s series opener between the Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) teams saw RIT pitch a 2-0 shutout against the Colonials.
It took the Tigers just five minutes to find the back of the net for a 1-0 lead, which they never lost. Halfway through period 3 the Tigers netted another goal as they capitalized on a power play opportunity. They outshot the Colonials 35-22 in the contest.
The lone bright spot in the game came in the second stanza as RMU successfully killed off a 5-on-3 advantage by the Tigers. Goaltender Maggie Hatch stopped 33 of 35 shots between the pipes.
Fast-forward to Saturday’s matchup and the Colonials’ exciting 5-4 overtime win at Clearview Arena.
Thinking they were setting the tone early in the first period, RMU came out flying with reckless abandon, crashing the net, chasing down loose pucks in the corner and checking relentlessly.
Finally at the 18:19 mark, the Colonials’ Emma Goding twinkled the twine for a 1-0 lead. The period would end as such.
It may have been the intermission scolding or pep talk RIT received that lit the fuse for the second period as the Tigers hit the ice virtually flying. Just 38 seconds in, left winger Linda Rulle sent her shot past Hatch, tying up the affair.
RIT’s Brownyn Khangsar lit the lamp at the 5:11 mark giving the Tigers their first lead of the game, 2-1.
Catriona Crarer knotted the game, 2-2, for the Colonials at 12:29 of the period. RIT would regain the lead, 3-2, at 18:19 on a goal by Nicole Ness, finishing out the second-period scoring.
Period three saw the Tigers come out seemingly scorching the Clearview ice, scoring just 27 seconds in. Kyla Bear picked up a rebound in front of the Colonials’ cage and wristed it past Hatch for a 4-2 lead early.
Two minutes, 11 seconds later, RMU cut the deficit to 4-3 as center Calli Arnold blasted a shot into the Tigers’ cage past goalie Sarah Coe.
Back-and-forth play with end-to-end action continued for the next 14-plus minutes of the game as neither team could solve the other goalkeeper.
Finally, at 16:53 of the third period, RMU left winger Morgan Giannone launched a slap shot from the top of the right faceoff circle that sailed over the glove hand of Coe and knotted the game at 4-4.
RMU would kill off two separate RIT power plays, one midway through the period and the second late in the third period that carried a 26-second balance into overtime.
Overtime started with the Colonials killing off the remaining time on the RIT power play with typically cautious 3-on-3 play. That changed, however, at the 2:52 mark as RIT defensemen Mia Tsilemos was whistled for a roughing penalty.
As per the rules, RMU added a fourth player due to the penalty, bolstering the man advantage making it 4-on-3.
With time winding down and just 30 seconds remaining in the first overtime, RMU right winger Mia Neugent positioned herself in front of the RIT cage. A series of sharp crisp passes for teammates Thaila D’Elia and Catriona Crarer found their way to the blade of Neugent’s stick, and she buried a shot past Coe for the eventual game-winner.
Next up for the Colonials is a trip to Erie for back-to-back games against rival Mercyhurst next weekend. Those games are followed up by a back-to-back weekend on Jan. 31-Feb. 1 against archrival Penn State.
Colonials fans may want to grab your tickets now as both contests are projected to sell out.
Photos by Mike Longo Jr.
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