AHA Weekly Round-Up #1

Going into the this week of regular season play, two AHA teams have made it onto the national rankings: No. 15/RV Mercyhurst and No. 12/12 Penn State. Five out of six AHA teams will play this weekend and will all face non-conference opponents. As players settle in and see more gameplay, it will be interesting to see where the teams land and who are the breakout stars of the 2024-25 season. 

Mercyhurst Does Gymnastics to Make The USCHO Poll

Mercyhurst split their home opener series against No. 4/6 Colgate, bumping them up to spot 15 in the USCHO poll. 

Sept. 27th: Colgate 3, Mercyhurst 2

Thea Johansson got the scoring going for the Lakers, putting the puck in the back of the net just 17 seconds into the first period. However, Mercyhurst couldn't hold on to their momentum and Colgate tied the game with a power play goal from Emma Pais at 5:52. Despite this, Johansson was able to keep her own momentum going and scored again, this time on the power play, at 16:58. 

Special teams were Mercyhurst's downfall in the end, as the Raiders tied the game in the second period with a power play goal from Madeline Palumbo at the very end of the period. Colgate struck again at 2:47 in the third period with a game-winning goal from Kaia Malachino.

Sept. 28th: Colgate 3, Mercyhurst 4 (OT)

Colgate opened their scoring the same way they had the previous night: with a power play goal. This time the goal came from Neena Brick, assisted by Pais, at 18:17 in the first. Mercyhurst needed to come back strong and play cleanly if they wanted to avoid a sweep in their home opener, and Colgate definitely made the Lakers fight for it. 

Early in the second, Mercyhurst gained the upper hand again with their own power play, and just seconds after it ended, Marielle Parks scored to tie the game 1-1 at 3:47. Both teams battled to break the stalemate, but the scoring floodgates didn't open until period three. 

Colgate scored early in the third on a goal from Elissa Biederman to gain the lead, but eight minutes later Mercyhurst took advantage of some chaos in front of the net and Megan McKay flipped the puck in to make the game tied once again. Shortly afterwards Chantal Ste-Croix scored to give the Lakers their first lead of the game. It wouldn't last long, as the Raiders were still hunting for a sweep. With just under three minutes left in regulation, Alexis Petford scored to make the game 3-3 and send it to overtime. 

After two minutes of three-on-three, Laker Makayla Javier blasted the puck from the faceoff circle for the game-winning goal and Mercyhurst's first win of the regular season. 

Robert Morris Wins (Almost) All Of The Awards

Robert Morris faced off against Union College on Sept. 27th and 28th. Both games were hard-fought, with Robert Morris winning on Friday and Union winning on Saturday. For their efforts over the series, graduate student Veronica Bac won AHA Forward of the Week and sophomore Thalia D'Elia won AHA Defenseman of the Week. 

Sept. 27th: Union 1, Robert Morris 3

Friday's game in Moon Township was a physical affair from start to finish with 10 total penalties, six for Union and four for RMU. Union's Klara Kenttälä accounted for half of their penalties and she was sent to the sin bin for body checking, hooking, and interference. Kenttälä is definitely one to watch out for if you're on the opposing team. 

D'Elia got the early lead for Robert Morris at 4:48 in the first and scored the lone even-strength goal of the game. Maren Friday took advantage of a Union power play in the second, after RMU was called for too many players on the ice, and tied the game at 9:58.

In the third period, Bac showed why she deserved AHA Forward of the Week. At 1:48 she scored her first goal as a Colonial in unique fashion. While she was facing the blue line in front of the crease, the puck bounced off her stick and slid into the net. The lucky bounce regained the lead for RMU.  

Bac's first goal was perhaps a bit of a fluke, but her next one was pure skill. Bac scooped up a rebound and shot it between Union defender Stephanie Bourque's legs to score the final goal of the night with 0.3 seconds left. That is incredible. This kind of performance is exactly what Robert Morris was hoping for when she transferred from Quinnipiac as a graduate student. 

D'Elia assisted on both of Bac's goals, bringing her total to three points for the game and making her case for Defenseman of the Week. 

Sept. 28th: Union 4, Robert Morris 2

Saturday's game once again had 10 penalties, this time evenly split between the two teams. Robert Morris received a too many players on the ice penalty again, which is not what you want to see at this level of play. In the end, Union won the game on Robert Morris penalties, as three out of the four goals the Garnet Chargers scored were on power plays.

Bourque got her revenge for the previous night and scored for Union early in the first on the power play, followed by her teammate Karianne Engelbert later on in the period, also on the power play. Colonial Emma Goding scored just minutes later to put Robert Morris up one and cut their deficient in half. 

Union pressed hard in the second period and it paid off. Mallory Mauracher scored Union's lone even-handed goal of the game at 5:57.

In the third, an interference call on Quinn Dunkle allowed RMU to pull their goaltender for an extra skater on the power play and Bac scored her third goal of the series to bring the Colonials within one at 18:11. 

Robert Morris then pulled their goaltender to try to get the tying goal, but Friday scored an empty net power play goal to end the game 4-2 Union. 

Other Notes:

RIT forward Ireland Stein received AHA Rookie of the Week after scoring her first collegiate goal against Assumption on Sept. 27th. Stein would go on to score again the next night. Both goals were on the power play, making Stein a prominent member of the special teams unit despite her rookie status. 

After facing two nationally ranked teams and losing four straight, Lindenwood is the only AHA team that will not play this weekend. Their next series will be at Bemidji State on Oct. 18th and 19th. 

Syracuse will open their season this weekend as the last AHA team to start regular season play. The Orange was scheduled to play the University of Minnesota Duluth at Duluth last weekend but had to cancel and reschedule due to inclement weather. Syracuse will face off against Stonehill this weekend for their home opener. 

Games to Watch:

No. 12/12 Penn State at 9/9 UCONN

UCONN was swept by Minnesota last weekend and will be hungry for a win. Still, the Nittany Lions have a good chance here to show up against a higher-ranked opponent and show what they are made of after splitting their series with another nationally-ranked opponent, Northeastern. Penn State goaltender Katie DeSa won AHA Goaltender of the Week after stopping 32-of-35 shot attempts against the Huskies. 

No. 15/RV Mercyhurst vs No. 11/11 St. Cloud State

Mercyhurst was left off the USA Hockey/The Rink Live rankings, but a win (or two) against St. Cloud State might be enough to get them on the board next week. Meanwhile, St. Cloud State is on a roll after scoring 10 goals against Lindenwood last week. It should be an exciting matchup. 

The full schedule can be found here.

To keep up to date with the AHA, tune in next week for our next weekly round-up!