On Tuesday night, Robert Morris women’s hockey’s all-time leading scorer, Jaycee Gebhard, was drafted sixth overall in the NWHL Draft to the expansion Toronto franchise, becoming the first-ever player drafted by the franchise. On Wednesday night, in the final round of the draft, Robert Morris forward Natalie Marcuzzi was also drafted by Toronto, 22nd overall.

The draft itself was being held via the NWHL’s Twitter page, and Meghan Chayka, the co-founder of Stathletes, a hockey analytics site, announced that Toronto had drafted Gebhard with the sixth pick. Kayla Alexander of the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx announced Marcuzzi’s pick.

Gebhard, who became Robert Morris’ all-time leading scorer this season, brings a heralded college career to the professional ranks. On January 25, Gebhard put up three points against Lindenwood to surpass Brittany Howard as RMU’s all-time leading scorer with 183 points. She finished the season with 20 goals, 43 assists, and 63 points, a new program record. In her RMU career, Gebhard scored 74 goals and 124 assists for a grand total of 198 points in 139 games.

Marcuzzi, who was also a senior this year, played in all 36 games this season, recording 7 goals and 8 assists for 15 points. In her career, she recorded 20 goals and 20 assists for 40 points, appearing in 139 games.

In a quote released via the NWHL’s Twitter page, Robert Morris women’s hockey head coach Paul Colontino had nothing but praise for his former player in Gebhard.

“Congratulations to Jaycee on being drafted to the NWHL expansion team in Toronto. Toronto, you’re getting an absolutely amazing player and, better yet, just an outstanding person. Good luck to the new expansion team in Toronto and good luck to you too, Jaycee!”

Gebhard becomes just the third-ever Robert Morris player drafted in the NWHL, joining defender Maggie LaGue (22nd overall in 2018) and forward Brittany Howard (10th overall, 2017), while Marcuzzi joins that group as the fourth.

Five Robert Morris alumni have played in the NWHL: Rebecca Vint (’15), Ashley Vesci (’15), Brianne McLaughlin (’11), Morgan Beikirch (’09), and Meeri Räisänen (’11). Former operations director and assistant coach Kelly Steadman also had a two-season tenure in the NWHL.