NEWHA Roundup: Dec. 13-14, 2024 | LIU/Robert Morris

Well well well, we’ve finally made it – the last roundup of 2024. And who better to spotlight than the LIU Sharks and the Robert Morris Colonials after a two game set this past weekend? 

Coming into the matchup, I predicted that while the Sharks would keep things close in one of the games, it was hard to see a world in which RMU didn’t come away with a sweep. Which turned out to be correct in its own way. Let me explain. 

Friday’s game started quickly, and not in a good way for LIU. Within the first 90 seconds of the game, and on their first shot on goal of the game, Robert Morris had already broken through past goaltender Abbie Thompson. 

The goal came on arguably one of the best individual efforts I’ve seen from a skater this season so far. RMU forward Morgan Giannone swooped up the puck in the Colonials’ defensive end, skated through neutral ice, broke around three LIU skaters back, doubled back in the corner, re-rushed at the goal, and backhanded the puck behind Thompson for the 1-0 lead. 

Looks easy, right? 

From there the Sharks were prowling for more offensive upside, however a two minute minor against Izzy Krause for delay of game stalled that push slightly. The Sharks though were able to kill off that penalty – and the six further penalties they acquired throughout the afternoon. 

Which, let’s take a second to discuss the penalties for a second here. In the 65 minutes of regulation and overtime Friday, the Sharks and Colonials combined for 13 total penalties. Were all of them a full two minutes of the advantage? No. But the total time elapsed with the teams not playing at full strength was above 18 minutes of game play – and three of the penalties were because of too many skaters on the ice. The Colonials took two separate bench minors including one in the last minute of overtime. 

Don’t worry, we’ll get to overtime in a second. 

But back to the penalty trouble. It’s not completely surprising that LIU was able to keep the Colonials from scoring on the power play. RMU’s 9.1% conversion on the skater advantage is now fifth-worst in the NCAA, and like I mentioned last week their penalty kill is in a similar ballpark. 

But the Sharks, with a power play that has been productive this season for the most part, couldn’t solve the Colonial penalty kill at all. Across two games, the team had 10 chances to score on the advantage, totalling over 16 minutes of five-on-four action in their favor. 

In response, they mustered just three shots on goal on the six advantages on Friday (with four further chances blocked in front), and while they had nine SOG on Saturday, none of them found the back of the net. Against an RMU penalty kill that was giving up a PPG on 30.3% of chances this season. Not great. The Colonials’ PK is now down to allowing goals just 26.3% of the time, a marked improvement across two games. 

Now back to Friday. The lone goal scored by the Sharks in the game came in the second period, with Anna Fairman’s second of the year. The defender forced the turnover along the boards before driving to the net on her own and rifling the shot into the top of the goal to tie the game. 

On the play, sophomore Alexa Degan who was dressing in her first ever game in the NCAA picked up the first assist of her career as well. It was a great overall shift from LIU, as Grace Babington got in the way of both of RMU’s attempts to break the puck out of the zone to keep the Sharks down in the offensive end. Babington also had an assist on the play, her sixth of the season. 

From there, it was evenly matched throughout the rest of regulation and overtime. In total, RMU only outshot LIU by four, with a total mark of 26-22 between the two teams. The Sharks did not have a shot on goal in the overtime period, while the Colonials had one – even with a full two minute four-on-three advantage in the middle of the OT period. 

In the shootout, RMU’s Janelle Evans was the hero, as she put the puck behind Thompson with a nifty dangle in front. While there were no extra points up for grabs with the out of conference matchup, the shootout ‘win’ was the first non-loss for the Colonials since Nov. 1 – another tie they won in the shootout over RIT. 

On Saturday, it was a bit more slanted in favor of RMU, as they scored three goals – the first time they’d scored more than two goals in a game since October – en route to the win. 

Robert Morris again started things early, with a power play opportunity 54 seconds into regulation. LIU’s Kristen Kiggen took a tripping penalty to send the Colonials to the power play, but while RMU had two chances on the advantage, they weren’t able to put them home. 

It wasn’t long after the power play had expired however that they were able to find the back of the net. Off a faceoff win, a bad turnover behind the net allowed sophomore Laura Eustace to pot a rebound chance in front for her first goal of the season. 

Both teams by the end of the first had 10 shots on goal, however the Colonials had the advantage on the scoresheet through the period and through the second as well. They further extended the lead 1:45 into the final frame, as a two-one-one rush chance for Giannone and Jersey Phillips allowed the latter to slide the puck home past Thompson for the 2-0 lead. The assist was the third point in as many games for Giannone, and the junior is now up to 13 total so far this season to lead the team. 

LIU got a goal back thanks to Babington’s sixth of the season. The play was created by Fairman, after she picked the puck up along the goal line in the Shark’s defensive zone, and skated coast-to-coast before doubling back at the faceoff circle in front of RMU goaltender Maggie Hatch. Fairman fired a shot on goal that was padded away by Hatch, however Babington was waiting in the perfect spot to put in the rebound to make it a one goal game with 11:42 to play.

Following the goal, the Sharks had the chance to tie things up with a power play chance after Mya Kearns took a hitting-from-behind penalty a minute after the LIU score. The Sharks had four shot attempts (only three on goal) on the ensuing advantage, and after Kearns was freed from the box it was all RMU. 

The Colonials had six shot attempts in just over two and a half minutes, and it was the seventh attempt that extended their lead. The Sharks set up in their own zone, but a turnover at the blueline sprang Ashlyn Ham who went the length of the ice before she backhanded the puck over a sprawling Thompson. 3-1 Colonials with five minutes to play. 

Following the third goal for RMU, the Sharks showed some urgency but were unable to solve Hatch again before time expired. The Colonials got their first regulation win in over a month and the Sharks dropped just their sixth game of the season to head into the semester break. 

There’s a lot more to talk about when it comes to NEWHA play as a whole – that’s a different piece for a different day – but overall, the Sharks do have some positives to take away from this weekend. They played close against RMU for the most part, and save for a few bad rush chances that resulted in goals against, there weren’t many negatives. 

The biggest one was the lack of scoring while playing up a skater – something I’m sure LIU will look at before they return to the ice. And while they didn’t get a win this weekend, they kept things close for the most part, and that I think is a win in itself. 

Now, the team will have a few weeks off, before jumping right back into things in January. 

Next NEWHA Games: 

All times in EST 

Friday, Jan. 3rd, 2025: 

Post vs. RIT (AHA) – 8 PM 

Saturday Jan. 4th: 

Post vs. RIT – 2:30 PM 

Saint Michael’s at Mercyhurst (AHA) – 4 PM 

Sunday, Jan. 5th: 

Saint Michael’s at Mercyhurst – 12 PM