Vinet, Colonials tie Northeastern

Sarah Smith and Sarah Smith

With a win Friday night against Northeastern University, the Robert Morris women’s hockey team took the ice Saturday afternoon at the 84 Lumber Arena confident and ready to garner the weekend sweep. The broom sticks were left at home, but the Colonials still left the ice on a positive note, tieing the Huskies  2-2.

The first period started out slow for both Robert Morris and Northeastern, with each team transferring back and forth down the ice. Sophomore Rikki Meilleur got on the board first for the Colonials midway through the first period, assisted by freshman Katherine Murphy and senior Katie Fergus.

The first period was a defensive battle. The RMU defenders played strong, shutting down Northeastern’s two power play opportunities. Senior Goaltender Courtney Vinet had a strong first period with 17 saves.

Into the second period, Meilleur scored again with another assist by Murphy and Fergus on the power play, taking the Colonials to a 2-0 lead.

“My line mate Katherine Murphy did a great job getting in front of the net,” said Meilleur. “Then I just took my time, got it to my stick and put it in the net.”

Robert Morris accumulated 13 total shots in the second period, with eight being on target. They only amounted one goal from it.

Only 32 seconds into the third period, Northeastern responded with a goal from sophomore Hayley Masters assisted by junior Kendall Coyne. They were not going down without a fight.

With 16 seconds left to go in the third period, Coyne snuck the puck past Vinet to tie the game at two and force overtime. Neither team could score throughout overtime on limited opportunities, and the game ended at a 2-2 draw.

Despite the tie, Vinet set a career high with 43 saves in the game.

“It feels really good. I couldn’t have done it without my team,” said Vinet. “They blocked a lot of shots for me and made my job a lot easier. It’s pretty exciting because I am always trying to get better.”

The Colonials are on the road for the next two weekends. Their next home game will be against Syracuse on Nov. 21st.