By Matt Gajtka

Moon Township, Pa. – Robert Morris University, women’s hockey, pursues a fourth consecutive College Hockey America championship when its 15th Division I season begins in late September.

The Colonials, who have followed up a 2017 CHA postseason title with back-to-back regular-season crowns, will take on a 20-game league schedule, including four matchups each against in-state rivals Penn State and Mercyhurst, plus defending league playoff winner Syracuse. Head coach Paul Colontino’s squad will also tangle with CHA foes RIT and Lindenwood four times apiece.

RMU has gone 27-7-6 (.750 points percentage) in CHA competition over the past two years, raising two more banners at the RMU Island Sports Center. The Colonials have also won the CHA tournament twice, in 2012 and ’17. With rising senior Jaycee Gebhard (program-record 51 points in 2018-19) leading a robust group of returners, RMU has reason to aim for more in 2019-20.

But the 14-game non-conference lineup will be a highlight as well, with Robert Morris set to face each of D-I’s top four teams in the final 2018-19 USCHO national poll.

That gauntlet begins Oct. 11-12 at the RMU Island Sports Center, when last season’s national runner-up Minnesota makes its first-ever visit to the Colonials’ home ice. RMU will then take on a pair of national semifinalists in back-to-back weeks, hosting Clarkson for two games Oct. 18-19 before taking to the road to challenge Cornell on Oct. 25-26 in Ithaca, N.Y.

The holiday season promises to be especially intriguing for area college hockey fans, with the Colonials teaming with the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins and the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry, Pa., to host a four-team tournament Jan. 4-5. RMU will take on reigning national champion Wisconsin on the first day of competition, with Northeastern and Colgate squaring off on the other side of the bracket. Both the Huskies and Raiders finished last season in the USCHO top 10.

Other notable dates include the season-opening weekend on the Island on Sept. 27-28, with Union providing the opposition. The Nittany Lions open the CHA home schedule Nov. 1-2, while RMU gets its first chance to challenge Mercyhurst on Dec. 6-7, closing the fall semester.

The Colonials will conclude the regular season with 14 straight CHA games, including home showdowns with Syracuse on Jan. 17-18. Senior Day festivities are Saturday, Feb. 22 vs. RIT, before RMU, wraps the year with Syracuse on the road. The CHA postseason is again at Buffalo’s HarborCenter facility the first weekend of March.

Officially, the 15th edition of RMU women’s hockey first takes the ice Saturday, Sept. 21, against the Concordia University Stingers from Montreal, Quebec in an exhibition matchup.

Check out the full upcoming slate of contests here online.

Throwback On YouTube.com – RMU Athletics (03/03/2019) – RMU Vs. Syracuse: Woemen’s Hockey Highlights [Game 2]…

Matt Gajtka is the Media Relations Specialist for Men’s Hockey and Women’s Lacrosse at Robert Morris University.

All Photos In The Article By Larry N. Snyder – All Rights Reserved