NEVILLE TOWNSHIP— Robert Morris welcomed 14th-ranked Penn State to the Island for a CHA this weekend about with a lot of emotion and playoffs. If the Nittany Lions could come into Clearview Arena and defeat the Colonials once, they would clinch the CHA and be the number one seed in the playoffs.
Starting on Friday, it was a pink-out game for the Colonials where fans received pink headbands to spark even more excitement. Maggie Hatch got the call for the Colonials as she has been the go-to goaltender for Coach Bittle. Going into this series the Colonials were in a spot to claim a playoff spot, and the team rallied.
The Colonials found themselves down two goals in the third, but things would take a turn as Courtney Hall found Mya Neugent to bring the Colonials within one.
The Colonials would keep pounding the puck, looking for an opportunity to score. Still they would take a late penalty in the third period and find themselves in a sticky situation. But that did not stop Coach Bittle, as he pulled Hatch with a minute and 48 seconds to play to find the game-tying goal.
As seconds were quickly ticking away, the Colonials had some offensive zone presence in the dying embers of the match, and Gillian Thompson wrapped around to Thalia D’Elia, who found Mya Neugent to tie the game with about forty seconds remaining. The game would then go to overtime, and Robert Morris would survive to secure a four-four tie in game one.
Then on Saturday, there was a senior day pre-game ceremony for their seniors, which were Gillian Thompson, Allyson Herbert, Wasyn Rice, Courtney Hall, Shailynn Snow, Chloé Puddifant, Chase Sperling, and Emma Gorski, who got the start.
Gorki had a record-setting night, setting a program-record saving 65 Nittany Lion shots.
This second game was a thriller because if the Colonials won, they would get into the playoffs. But if the Nittany Lions won, it meant they would go on to win the CHA, and there would be a trophy presentation that surely fueled the Colonials’ fire to not have on their home ice.
“We had a job to do this weekend, and that was playing hard and not letting them win here on our home ice,” Head Coach Logan Bittle said. “This win and game mean everything to us. I was emotional in the locker room. This means everything for us.”
The Colonials found themselves yet again down a goal in the third period. Still, this team has so much heart and again found a way to come back and tie it up in the third period with goals from Madison Primeau and Janelle Evans. Their clutch goals would again send things to overtime for a second straight night.
The stage was set with the arena buzzing and both sides of the respected fanbases coming to life. There were just five minutes to determine who would win, and if the Colonials would get a playoff spot or if the Nittany Lions would go on to win the CHA.
The Colonials found themselves in their zone for most of the overtime period until the Nittany Lions got too deep in their zone. Janelle Evens found herself on a breakaway and went five-hole on Mesa. The Colonials would walk away victorious, upset number fourteen Penn State, and clinch a spot in the CHA playoffs.
“Two years ago, no one thought we would be ever playing hockey again, but here we are in the playoffs with our first season back,” Coach Bittle said. “I could not be more proud of this unit. We still have business to take care of, but I could not be more happy for our group.”
The Colonials will wrap up their season on the road this weekend at Lindenwood. The games will be streaming on FloHockey.
