Weekend Preview: Colonials feature big games this weekend

Photo credit: David Auth

Jonathan Hanna, Contributor

This weekend, the Robert Morris Colonials athletics teams have one of their busiest of the year.

Men’s Hockey (Friday, Nov. 9 @ 7:00 p.m. & Saturday, Nov. 10 @ 7:05 p.m.)

The Robert Morris men’s hockey team (3-4-1, 2-3-1 AHC) will play a home-and-home with the No. 8 ranked Penn State Nittany Lions (6-1-0) this weekend.

The first game will be in University Park on Friday, but the Colonials will host Penn State on Saturday. This will be Penn State’s first away game this year. The Saturday game will also be a Colonial Crazies “wear red” game.

Last weekend, the Colonials played at home against the Niagara Purple Eagles (3-5-0, 3-3-0 AHC), splitting the series. The Colonials won the first game 3-1 but lost the next 4-2. The Colonials are led by Alex Tonge; two goals and four assists, and Luke Lynch; one goal and four assists.

Penn State split their previous series against the Arizona State Sun Devils (7-3-0). The Nittany Lions won the first game by a score of 6-5, however, in the second game, dropped it 4-3 in overtime. The Nittany Lions are led by Evan Barrett; three goals and seven assists, and Nikita Pavlychev; three goals and six assists. Barrett was a third-round pick by the Chicago Blackhawks last year, while Pavlychev, a six foot seven Russian was drafted in the seventh round by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2015.

Men’s Basketball (Friday, Nov. 9 @ 8:00 p.m.)

The Colonials men’s basketball team (0-1) will play their second game of the year as they travel to Springfield, Missouri to face off against the Missouri State Bears (1-0) in the 2018 National College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic.

The Colonials lost their first matchup of the year, in southern California against the University of Southern California Trojans (1-0) on Tuesday by a score of 83-62. Josh Williams shot 7-17 for 20 points and added three assists and three rebounds. Koby Thomas scored 16 points in the loss for the Colonials, shooting 8-17 with 10 rebounds.

Missouri State Bears opened their season with an 84-50 win over the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (0-1). Senior Jarred Dixon shot 11-17 for 26 points, while Ryan Kreklow was 2-4 from three-point range, en route to scoring 13 points.

Women’s Hockey (Friday, Nov. 9 @ 3:05 p.m. & Saturday, Nov. 10 @ 3:05 p.m.)

The women’s hockey team (6-5-1, 4-1-1 CHA) plays host to the No. 10 ranked Colgate Raiders (6-4, 3-1 ECAC) this weekend. The Colonials have won three in a row, and have not lost since a 4-2 loss to Mercyhurst on October 19.

Last weekend, the Colonials traveled up to Rochester, New York to take on the Tigers of RIT (1-6-1, 0-2-0 CHA). Robert Morris swept the series, winning the first game 3-1, and the second by a score of 3-0. Lauren Bailey had a .977 save percentage on the weekend. Jaycee Gebhard had scored 15 points (8 goals and 7 assists) in 12 games so far, for 1.25 points per game, tied for 21st in the NCAA.

For Colgate, their past four games have been against conference games against traditionally Ivy League schools in Brown (5-2, 2-2), Harvard (1-3-1, 1-3-1), Dartmouth (2-4, 1-4), and Yale (0-4, 0-4). The Raiders went 3-1 against them, the only loss being a 4-3 to Brown. This year, Colgate is led by the forward duo of Shae Labbe and Malia Schneider. Both have 11 points on the year, Labbe with six goals and five assists; and Schneider with five goals and six assists.

Volleyball (Friday, Nov. 9 @ 7:00 p.m. & Saturday, Nov. 10 @ 5:00 p.m.)

The Robert Morris University volleyball team (10-17, 4-8 NEC) finishes off their season with a pair of matches against NEC opponents Fairleigh Dickinson University (2-26, 0-12) and Sacred Heart University (14-9, 7-5).

In the Colonials last match, they had a 3-0 straight sweep of the Saint Francis Red Flash (4-21, 3-9 NEC). Emma Granger had 12 kills and six blocks for the Colonials.

On Friday, the Colonials face off against the Knights of Fairleigh Dickinson. Last week, the Knights lost their 17th in a row, against the Bryant Bulldogs (20-10, 12-2 NEC). One bright spot on Fairleigh Dickinson’s roster is junior Erika Sullivan, who has 213 kills on the year.

For Robert Morris’ senior match on Saturday, the Pioneers of Sacred Heart come to town. In the Pioneers last game, they beat Central Connecticut State (11-12, 8-4 NEC) 3-0. Sacred Heart is led by Liisel Nelis, who currently is averaging 3.73 kills per set.

Rowing (Saturday, Nov 10)

For the second week in a row, the Colonials rowing team is headed to Fairfax Station, Virginia to take on George Mason, this time in the George Mason Invitational. Also in the invitational will be the Greyhounds of Loyola (Md.).

Football (Saturday, Nov. 10 @ 1:00 p.m.)

The Robert Morris football team (2-7, 0-5 NEC) heads to Richmond, Virginia for their last away game of the year, as they take on the Eastern Kentucky Colonels (5-4, 4-2 Ohio Valley).

Last week, Robert Morris lost at Sacred Heart (6-3, 4-0 NEC). Jordan Johnson ran the ball 22 times in the game, for 75 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, Eli Avivi had two interceptions for Robert Morris. On the season, Jimmy Walker is 112/196 for 1,535 yards and 15 touchdowns

For Eastern Kentucky, in their last game, they beat Austin Peay University (4-5, 2-4 Ohio Valley) by a score of 17-13. Leodis Moore III had a pick six in the victory over the Governors. On the year, the Colonels have used a two-prong rushing attack of LJ Scott and Daryl McCleskey. Scott has 671 rushing yards and five touchdowns, while McCleskey has 634 yards and five touchdowns.

Women’s Basketball (Sunday, Nov. 11 @ noon)

In the lone game on Sunday, the Robert Morris women’s basketball team (0-1) plays their first home game of the year as they take on the LaSalle Explorers (0-1).

In the Colonials first game, they lost 69-59 in overtime to the Youngstown University Penguins (1-0). In the game, the Colonials were led by Honoka Ikematsu, who was 5-9 from three-point land, good for 15 points on the night. Also playing well for the Colonials was junior Nadѐge Pluviose, who shot three of five from the field, for nine points.

The Explorers first game was a 57-54 loss to the Howard Bison (1-0). Rayshel Brown scored 10 points in the game, while Shalina Miller added nine points and 12 rebounds for LaSalle.