With exhibitions behind them, the Engineers took to the road to open up the regular season in the Pittsburgh suburbs, visiting Robert Morris - a team which has become somewhat of a fixture on RPI's non-conference schedule.
After Kelly O'Brien's 6th career shutout in Friday's matchup (a 3-0 victory for RPI), the Engineers found themselves in a two-goal hole with two minutes left in regular, then managed to tie the game with two extra attacker goals before eventually falling in overtime by a 3-2 score.
Friday
Smelker/Mahoney/Svoboda
Sanders/Gruschow/Wash
Horwood/Mari Mankey/Rooney
Hylwa/Missy Mankey
Banks/Schilter
Huhtamaki/Marzario
Middlebrook/Behounek
O'Brien
RPI scored once in each period, and Kelly O'Brien picked up her sixth shutout in a 25-save effort to help the Engineers to a 3-0 victory in their regular season opener against Robert Morris on Friday evening. The victory came despite being outshot 25-20 in the affair.
Mari Mankey scored first for the Engineers, putting home a rebound of Laura Horwood's shot just shy of the midpoint of the first period for a 1-0 lead.
Ali Svoboda tallied on the power play early in the second for a 2-0 lead, taking a pass from Taylor Mahoney and sneaking it past Colonials goaltender Courtney Vinet with traffic in front of the net.
Lauren Wash put the game on ice with an unassisted goal in the third, breaking past the RMU defense for a 2-on-0 with linemate Toni Sanders. Wash turned across the crease and beat Vinet stick side for RPI's third goal.
O'Brien made the RPI goals hold up, turning away five shots in the first, eleven in the second, and nine in the third for the shutout and first star honors. Mankey and Svoboda were the second and third stars.
Saturday
Smelker/Mahoney/Svoboda
Sanders/Gruschow/Wash
Horwood/Mari Mankey/Rooney
Hylwa/Missy Mankey
Banks/Schilter
Huhtamaki/Marzario
Middlebrook/Behounek
O'Brien
RPI was outshot by five goals once again on Saturday, but this time the result was much different as the Engineers fell 3-2 in overtime.
The game nearly didn't make it to extra time as Robert Morris held a 2-0 lead late in the third period, but a pair of penalties called against the Colonials with 3:03 left gave RPI a full two minutes of 5-on-3, and with O'Brien on the bench, RPI scored two extra attacker goals in the span of 41 seconds to tie things up.
Brittany Howard opened the scoring for the Colonials at 4:04 of the first period, blasting a slapshot past O'Brien from just inside the blue line to give RMU a 1-0 lead.
That lead was doubled to 2-0 at 17:30 of the opening frame when Thea Imbrogno forced a rebound past O'Brien in a net front scrum on the power play.
RMU goalie Jessica Dodds held the Engineers at bay throughout the second and much of a penalty-filled third period, but the long 5-on-3 opportunity in the final minutes of regulation gave RPI the chance it needed to get back into the game.
Kathryn Schilter cut the Colonials' lead in half with just one second left in the pair of penalties and with O'Brien on the bench. RPI wasted no time in getting the extra attacker back out when play resumed, and it paid off when Taylor Mahoney tied the game at two with just 23 seconds left on the clock.
Unfortunately for the Engineers, the momentum wouldn't help them in overtime, as Kylie St. Louis beat O'Brien at 3:41 of extra time to hand the Colonials a 3-2 victory and a split on the weekend.
RPI returns home next weekend for games against BU (7pm Friday) and Northeastern (4pm Saturday) at Houston Field House.
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RPI at Robert Morris
Non-Conference Game – 84 Lumber Arena (Pittsburgh, PA)
10/4/13 - 7:00pm
RPI 3, RMU 0
RECAPS:
Video Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dPCrDlBzJQ
RECORD: 1-0 (0-0 ECAC)
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RPI at Robert Morris
Non-Conference Game – 84 Lumber Arena (Pittsburgh, PA)
10/5/13 - 3:00pm
RMU 3, RPI 2
RECAPS:
Video Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUqs413CWkE
RECORD: 1-1 (0-0 ECAC)
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Upcoming Games
Oct. 11 - Boston University (7pm)
Oct. 12 - Northeastern (4pm)
Oct. 19 - Vermont (3pm)
Oct. 25 - at UConn (2pm)
Oct. 26 - at UConn (2pm)
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