RMU Women’s Hockey Looking To Finish Strong And Maintain Top 10 Ranking

Freshman forward Brittany Howard is enjoying a superb first season for the nationally-ranked RMU women’s hockey team. (Photo: RMU Athletics)

Last weekend was the first time during the 2013-2014 season that the Robert Morris University women’s hockey team did not pick up at least one victory.

The Colonials tied with College Hockey America opponent Syracuse on Friday 3-3, and lost on Saturday to the Orange 3-1 at 84 Lumber Arena on Neville Island.

However, RMU remained ranked in both national polls for the 10th consecutive week. On Monday, the Colonials (21-6-3, 10-4-2 CHA) found themselves still at No. 9 in the USCHO.com poll, while on Tuesday they dropped one slot into the No. 9 position in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.

They are in second place in the CHA behind Mercyhurst University, who are 19-7-3 overall and 12-3-1 in the CHA. The Lakers are ranked eighth in both polls this week.

It should be noted that there were accomplishments to be recorded on the ice for Robert Morris over the weekend.

Senior assistant captain and left wing Thea Imbrogno now owns the program record for career assists when she broke Brianna Delaney’s mark of 68 during Friday’s 3-3 tie with Syracuse. The native of Etobicoke, Ontario is now just two points behind Delaney’s all-time career mark of 121 points with four regular-season games remaining on the schedule.

Imbrogno carries a seven-game point streak into this weekend’s two-game series with the RIT Tigers. She has put up four goals, nine assists for a total of 13 points during the streak.

Freshman right wing Brittany Howard broke the program record for single-season assists when she picked up her 23rd helper of the season in the loss to the Orange on Saturday. The St. Thomas, Ontario native broke the record of junior center Rebecca Vint that was set during the 2011-2012 season. She had two goals in Friday’s tie with Syracuse.

Howard leads all Division I rookies in assists with 23, points with 38, game-winning goals with five, power-play assists with 10, and power-play points with 14. She is tied with Minnesota’s Dani Cameranesi for the rookie lead in goals with 15 each.

Freshman goaltender Jessica Dodds had a career-high in saves by turning away 43 shots in the tie with Syracuse. Her previous high mark in saves was 36 in a 1-1 tie at Quinnipiac on Jan 17.

The London, Ontario native leads all freshmen in wins with 18 and shutouts with four. She is second with a .812 winning percentage, a 1.68 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage. Dodds has won four monthly CHA honors this season including three consecutive Goaltender of the Month awards in November, December, and January.

Robert Morris heads north to Ritter Arena in Rochester, N.Y., to take on RIT this weekend for the final road trip of the regular-seaaon. The puck drops at 2 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The Tigers are are 13-14-3 overall and 8-6-2 in the CHA. They are in third place in the standings, four points behind the Colonials.

The last time the two programs met was at the beginning of December at 84 Lumber Arena. The Colonials swept RIT and brought the all-time series even at 4-4-1. It will be the last time the Colonials take on the Tigers at Ritter Arena as RIT will move to the Gene Polisseni Center, a new 4,150 seat multi-purpose arena, for the 2014-2015 season.

Larry is a staff writer for City of Champions and the public address announcer for RMU men’s and women’s hockey at 84 Lumber Arena. Follow him on Twitter.