Grand Rapids, Mich. – The Robert Morris Women’s Hockey team swept their weekend series from Grand Valley State University on the road, winning 3-2 on Saturday, October 13th and 3-1 on Sunday, October 14th. The Eagles raised their record to 6-0-0 on the season with the victories.
Saturday’s game started off strong for the Eagles as senior defensive leader Kasey Powers scored less than two minutes in with a strong shot from the point on a pass across the blue line from Becky Katz to find the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
The first period was a battle of puck possession from both teams and before the period was over, RMU scored another goal to take a strong two-goal lead before the period ended. The goal resulted from a nice breakout pass, with Chelsea Kasprick rushing the puck up her strong side and firing a shot. Her shot took the goalie by surprise and she was unable to locate it, giving freshmen center Madi Biluk a rebound on the doorstep to capitalize and score at 3:13.
The Lakers were the first team to put up a goal in the second period and that goal gave them life in the game. The goal came at 12:19 after the Eagles managed to kill a few penalties but they were not able to hold them off completely. This goal sparked the RMU offense yet again and the Eagles answered back less than two minutes later at 10:39 to gain their momentum back. A nice slot pass from linemates Emily Wagner and Chelsea Kasprick to Madi Biluk marked her second goal of the game to give the Eagles a 3-1 lead.
The third period was a battle of persistence and desire from both teams, but RMU would favor the lead and battled hard. At 1:47 left in the period, Grand Valley State scored a goal to try and push their way back into the game, but goaltender Laura Noble stopped the rest of their attempts allowing the Eagles to hold on for the 3-2 win. Noble stopped 18 of 20 shots on the night and the Eagles recorded 31 shots against GVSU.
During Sunday’s matchup against Grand Valley State, the Eagles came fired up and ready to play. They started this game off much like the previous day scoring early in the game to give them a 1-0 lead. At 18:03, freshmen forward Chelsea Kasprick scored off a solid wrist shot from a rush into the zone which was assisted by linemates Emily Wagner and Madi Biluk. The Eagles continued the momentum and continued to dominate the play. Before the period ended the Eagles posted their first power play goal of the season. This goal came from senior defensive leader Becky Katz who received a pass from Biluk in the corner and took a shot from the point to record the goal.
The Eagles went into the second period with a 2-0 lead which was cut to one as the Lakers scored off a rebound off of Staci Pomering at 14:16. RMU was then struck with some unfortunate penalty luck and found themselves on the penalty kill for a majority of the second period. This was not a factor in the determination of the Eagles however, and they fought hard to control the play of the game. At 4:00 remaining in the period, sophomore Jordyn Tremain rushed the puck, cut center ice and fired a shot that trickled past the GVSU goaltender for a 3-1 lead. Assists on her goal were from Madi Biluk and Rachel Black.
The third period was yet again a battle of desire from the Eagles and they controlled the tempo and pace of the game to solidify the win and give the Eagles the sweep of the weekend series. Staci Pomering got the win in net for RMU stopping 21 shots. Freshmen forward, Madi Biluk had herself a breakout weekend, earning five points in the two games on two goals and three assists.
The Eagles are off this coming weekend off and hit the ice again on Friday, October 26th and on Saturday, October 27th against Central Michigan University. Both games begin at 8:30 P.M. at the Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville.