Any victory against a ranked opponent is a good thing in Paul Colontino’s book.

Even so, when his Robert Morris University women’s hockey team beat No. 4 Mercyhurst College, 3-2, last Saturday, there was an extra sense of satisfaction for Colontino.

The longtime Mercyhurst assistant led his Colonials into Erie, ended the Lakers’ 28-game unbeaten streak in College Hockey America play, and helped establish an RMU program record for victories in a season (13).

Oh, and it was the Colonials’ first victory against the Lakers in 29 previous attempts.

“It was a good day, for sure,” Colontino said Wednesday.

'Shows us where we want to go'

The first-year Robert Morris bench boss had a personal sense of accomplishment, too, because he spent the previous five seasons as Mercyhurst’s associate head coach.

“I think that comes from having invested a lot with Mercyhurst in terms of recruiting, helping build the program there and knowing the work ethic its players possess there,” Colontino said. “Getting that first win against them when you know what they’ve done and how things were built, it’s special, sure.

“In the big picture, though, I think it lets us know where we’re at and shows us where we want to go. We view it as sort of a benchmark to take stock of things.”

RMU improved to 13-6-2 with Saturday’s win, which came on the heels of a 4-2 loss to Mercyhurst on home ice the previous night.

“Sometimes you play well and aren’t rewarded,” Colontino said. “That’s what happens in hockey and athletics. We played well against Bemidji State (on Dec. 30-31) when they were ranked No. 7, but we lost two one-goal games.

“The win at Mercyhurst gives the gals some confidence. They know you can get rewarded for maintaining the work ethic and committed team play we talk about.”

To beat the Lakers in Erie, the Colonials needed two goals in the final three minutes of the third period, including Thea Imbrogno’s decisive score with 53 seconds left.

Top scorers, goalie return next year

RMU improved to 8-1-1 on the road, an important part of the program-building process, its coach said.

“Internally, as a staff and as players, we’re constantly trying to raise the bar,” Colontino said, “whether it’s working on stuff in practice – such as special-teams play – or off-ice stuff.

“We’re trying to have a steady incline. The line doesn’t need to be straight up, but it’s to be moving forward and on an incline all the time for us to be where we want to be.”

The Colonials’ best days appear to lie ahead. Four of RMU’s top five point producers return next season, including freshman Rebecca Vint (31 points), sophomore Imbrogno (25), and juniors Kelsey Thomas (19) and Cobina Delaney (18), all forwards.

And standout goalie Kristen DiCiocco (1.93 goals-against average, .930 save percentage) also is a junior.

“It’s tough whenever you lose to one team as many times in a row as we did to Mercyhurst,” Colontino said. “People said we finally got the monkey off our back or whatever you want to call it.

“Maybe we learned in a sense that we can really play with anybody now and beat any team you put your mind to beating.”