Saturday’s game against Colgate was even more of a challenge for the Robert Morris women’s hockey team, as they were without two of their star forwards. Both Rebecca Vint and Brittany Howard were day-to-day with a knee injury and concussion, respectively.

Even without the pair of forwards, the Colonials managed to pull off a 2-1 victory at the 84 Lumber Arena.

“It’s been huge.  Obviously, any time your out player due to an injury everybody has to somehow fill the gap,” said head coach Paul Colontino.  “Obviously, with [Vint] and Howard, they’re two huge pieces in terms of the offense from special teams to 5 on 5 play, so its been great to see so many different players step up and contribute offensively.”

“Even the freshmen are starting to step up,” said senior forward Katie Fergus.  “They’re always in the change room telling us to step it up and telling us what we’re doing wrong, so they come in and help us out between periods and let us know what’s up.”

Robert Morris took the lead six minutes into the opening frame, thanks to a goal from senior Katelyn Scott who chipped the puck through some traffic in the slot.  Katherine Murphy was credited with the assist.

The rest of the first period was silent for RMU with the most promising scoring opportunities coming on a power play at the 8:42 mark.  The Colonials registered four shots on net in those two minutes.

In the second period, seven Robert Morris players were sent to the penatly box, giving the Colonial PK unit quite the workout.  They faced a high of eight shots on a single penalty.  On a five on three, they managed to clear the puck four times.

“We had some gutty kills, some big time saves from our goaltending and then some big time blocked shots.  It was huge,” said Colontino.  “We had more PK work there in a couple periods than we had all year.  I’m glad we were able to get past it and celebrate the win on some gutty performances.”

Taylor Craig tied it up for Colgate with a goal at the 12:33 mark of the second period.  Katie Case and Kayla Haus were on the assists. The Raiders then came out flying in the final frame, dominating their attacking zone.  With 14 minutes remaining, head coach Paul Colontino called a timeout to slow the momentum.

It worked.

On the penalty kill at 7:18, RMU’s Fergus nabbed the puck and raced across from center ice.  With an easy flip, she tossed the puck past the blocker side of Brittney Brooks for her first goal of the season.

“Coach [Colontino] told us that we have to block everything,” said Fergus.  “So Erin tried to get low and then sent me on a breakaway.  It was nice.”

Vinet had 37 saves on the evening, a career high.  According to Colontino, her time between the pipes will be decided based on her and Dodds’ performance at practice.

“It’s a great way to start the year,” Vinet said. “I hope I can keep it going and I hope my team can help me keep it going.  I have faith they will do that.”

The Colonials are slated to take on St. Lawrence in Canton N.Y. this coming Friday.  Puck drop is 3:30.