Weekend Recap: 1/24-1/26

Photo+credit%3A+David+Auth

Photo credit: David Auth

Austin Bechtold, Contributor

MOON TOWNSHIP– The January calendar is winding down, but Robert Morris University’s sports teams are heating up. Another week at RMU has provided another good weekend of sports performances by almost every team and especially by one specific student-athlete. Men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s ice hockey, as well as women’s track and field all saw action Friday and Saturday.

Gebhard breaks program scoring record as women’s hockey handles Lindenwood

This weekend will be remembered for a long time as a memorable one in program history for RMU women’s hockey. Senior forward Jaycee Gebhard broke her former linemate Brittany Howard’s record of 181 points with a powerplay goal for her first of two in Saturday’s game, a 4-1 RMU victory.

She tied Howard with an assist on junior defenseman Emily Curlett’s powerplay goal in the back-half of the first period. Gebhard started the weekend strong with two assists and four shots on goal in the Colonials 3-0 victory. She followed up that performance with an even better one the next day, scoring two goals and writing her name into the record books.

Goals Friday were also scored by redshirt sophomore forwards Michaela Boyle and Kyleigh Hanzlik and senior forward Natalie Marcuzzi, while sophomore forward Courtney Kollman also scored on Gebhard’s record-setting night.

Men’s and women’s basketball sweep Long Island

The RMU men’s basketball team (10-11, 6-2 NEC) bounced back from a blowout loss on Thursday night to defeat Long Island University (10-11, 5-3 NEC) 71-66 Saturday afternoon. The Colonials had a rough start in the first half and trailed the Sharks by two at halftime.

RMU outscored LIU by seven in the second half to secure their sixth conference victory. The team shot 43% from the field and 26% from three, closing out a key win that RMU needed to stay in the hunt for the top spot in the NEC.

Junior forward A.J. Bramah and sophomore guard Dante Treacy stood out in the Colonials’ win. Bramah recorded another double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds in 29 minutes of action while Treacy scored 12 points and assisted on three buckets.

Women’s basketball (12-6, 7-0 NEC) continued their tear of NEC competition with a 70-59 victory of their own over LIU (3-15, 2-5 NEC). RMU was down 35-31 at halftime but found a way to regroup and outscore LIU by 15 points in the second half. RMU has won their last seven, all in conference play, to improve to 12-6 on the season. The defending NEC champs are on the right track to repeating their crown.

Freshman guard Dahomee Forgues scored 15 points and totaled seven boards while shooting a team-high 47% from the field.

Women’s track and field performs well in Geneva, Ohio

The RMU women’s track and field team found success over the weekend at the SPIRE Midwest Open. Sophomore Tara Gologram took home gold with a long jump of 5.10m and winning the event by one centimeter. Another top-three finisher, junior Kaitlyn Hawkins vaulted into second place with a height of 3.37m.

The throwers continued to build on their momentum with personal records and placers. Junior transfer Yessie Valencia launched a throw 15.65m to secure a fourth-place finish in the weight throw, moving her up to second in the event on the NEC leaderboard and junior Estelle Katende also saw a fourth-place finish with a shot-put of 12.13m.

Other notable performances came from a pair of freshmen. Elicia Moore blazed in the 200m dash, finishing with a time of 26.29 and coming in 15th in a field of 79 women. Multi-event competitor, Lauren Chappell placed 10th in the finals of the 60m hurdles with a personal record of 9.46 while also having a personal best in shot put, running the 200m dash, and competing in the high jump.

The team looks to continue this momentum next weekend, where they enter a two-day competition at Youngstown State University starting Friday.

Men’s hockey struggles against American International at Neville Island

RMU men’s hockey (9-12-3, 9-8-3 AHA) struggled at home this weekend against the team that knocked them out of playoff contention last season. The Colonials dropped both games to AHA rival American International (13-11-1, 13-5-1 AHA) 4-3 on Friday and 4-1 on Saturday.

Friday’s matchup saw the Colonials down 4-1 entering the third period before getting two back in the third period, but the comeback fell short. One major problem was the RMU penalty kill with the Yellow Jackets scoring three of their four goals on the powerplay.

Junior forward Michael Coyne along with forwards Justin Addamo and Santeri Hartlkalnen all scored for the Colonials.

On Saturday RMU kept play close with the Yellow Jackets until the third period. The two teams entered the final period of regulation locked in a 1-1 tie with the team to score first gaining a great advantage over their opponent.

This proved to be the case for AIC, finding the back of the net a second time, followed by two more goals to put the game away. Freshman forward Darcy Walsh scored the only Colonials goal.

Stay tuned to RMU Sentry Media all year long for highlights and updates on all things Robert Morris University sports.