Since dropping the season’s opening game in Schenectady, N.Y., the Robert Morris women’s hockey team put together three consecutive wins to begin their return season.
The Colonials defended their home ice for the first time since Feb. 27, 2021, as they defeated Saint Anselm with two offensive explosions, scoring six goals in each game against the Hawks. The Colonials will look to continue their success as they head to the Garden State, where the Princeton Tigers await.
The Colonials have only seen Princeton twice in program history. It has been over 11 years since the two teams faced off, where the Tigers took both meetings in January and October of 2012. This will be the Tigers’ opener for their 2023-24 season after an exhibition game against the University of Toronto in September, where they prevailed 3-0. Princeton currently sits as the number 15 ranked team in the nation.
The Tigers are led by last season’s leading goal scorer, Sarah Filler, who was kept off the scoresheet in the exhibition matchup but dominated the dots as she won 11 of her 14 face-offs.
The Colonials come into the weekend fifth in the nation in goals, much in part of their second line of Janelle Evans, Madison Primeau, and Morgan Giannone. Evans and Giannone are coming off College Hockey America (CHA) Player of the Week awards and lead the Colonials in points. Giannone, the back-to-back CHA offensive player of the week, currently sits tied for fifth in the nation with an average of 2.50 points per game.
Across from Giannone is freshman Evans, who has recorded a point in every game in her first collegiate season. In between the two is Primeau, who has three points (2g, 1a) through four games and a 55% face-off win rate. The three will look to get past Princeton’s defense, who gave up a 2.6 goal per game rate in the 2022-23 season.
A member of the Tigers is former Colonial Ellie Marcovsky. The Pittsburgh native spent her freshman year with the hometown team, with 18 points (8g, 10a) in 25 games. Her time at Princeton has been not as bright, as Marcovsky has tallied six points (1g, 5a) in 41 games played. Marcovsky was not in the lineup in the September exhibition game against Toronto. It will be interesting to see if she makes the lineup to face her former team on Friday.
The puck will drop at the century-old Hobey Baker Rink on Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m. and 1 p.m. The games will be streamed on ESPN+.
