Weekend Preview: 12/6-12/8

Photo credit: Thomas Ognibene

Zachary Somma and Zachary Somma
December 6, 2019

MOON TOWNSHIP– This weekend in Colonials’ sports, the men’s and women’s hockey teams take on some conference rivals, the men’s basketball team travels to Florida, while women’s basketball plays their last home game before beginning a long road trip. Track and field begins its season as well.

Men’s hockey aims to end winless skid against Sacred Heart

The Colonials (7-5-2, 7-2-2 AHC) will try and break an 0-1-2 skid when they go on the road to take on the Sacred Heart Pioneers (9-6-1, 8-4-0 AHC) on Saturday and Sunday. Though they took home the extra point in their last game against Mercyhurst (4-8-1, 2-4-1 AHC), the Colonials blew a late lead for the second consecutive game. Though they still hold first place in the AHA, Sacred Heart has quickly moved right behind them after winning six of their last seven games coming into this weekend series

Goaltender Justin Kapelmaster kept up his streak of strong play with 44 saves against Mercyhurst last weekend, bumping him up to a 1.83 GAA and .951 save percentage. Sophomore forward, Justin Addamo, put up two assists in his last game, bringing him up to 10 points so far this season.

Women’s hockey returns home to face Mercyhurst

The women’s hockey team (9-5-2, 4-0-0 CHA) saw their seven-game winning streak end after their second game against St. Lawrence (5-7-4, 1-3-1 ECAC) last weekend ended in a tie. The Colonials managed to not lose a single game all of November, and they will aim to keep that up in December as their first test comes against rival Mercyhurst (9-4-1, 4-0-0 CHA) on Friday and Saturday.

Freshman goaltender Raygan Kirk was named both CHA Goalie of the Week and an RMU Student-Athlete of the Week for her performance against St. Lawrence, where she turned aside 46 of 49 shots against over the 2 games. She now has a 2.15 GAA and a .921 save percentage on the season so far.

Men’s basketball goes south in a matchup against Florida Gulf Coast

The Colonials (2-8) will travel down to Fort Myers, Florida, on Saturday to face off against the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (2-8). Both teams will only have a short, 3-day break in between their last games, as the Eagles fell to Florida International (6-3), and RMU failed to take down the Youngstown State Penguins (5-4) on Wednesday.

Josh Williams continues to lead the Colonials offensively, with 12.9 PPG, 3.8 rebounds per game, and 2.67 assists per game.

Women’s basketball takes on Delaware before a month-long road trip

The Colonials (4-3) will face the Delaware Blue Hens (2-4) on Saturday in their last game at home for over a month before a five-game road trip. RMU is coming off their first-ever win against a Big East team, as they beat the Xavier Musketeers (1-5) 71-57 last Sunday.

Junior forward Holly Forbes had 11 points, five assists and four rebounds while playing a season-high 36 minutes against Xavier, while sophomore Natalie Villaflor played her best game of the season so far, with 10 points in 21 minutes, including going 2-2 from beyond the arc.

Women’s track and field begins season at YSU Icebreaker

The women’s track team will have their first meet of the season on Friday at Youngstown State University in the YSU Icebreaker.

Last season, junior Estelle Katende set a school record for Shot Put at the NEC Championships, while senior Anna Chasovskaia set the indoor record for the 600 meter (1:38.86).