Rivier's Mya Luna moves ahead of Worcester State's Grace Laubenstein in chasing the puck during Saturday night's game at Conway Arena. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – A learning curve is always difficult, but when that curve has a slight gap, it’s even harder to follow.

The Rivier University women’s ice hockey team found that out on Saturday night. They were glad to get back on that curve, but the results certainly weren’t what they had hoped for.

The Raiders shook off any rust from not playing a game in three weeks and competed, but still fell to Worcester State 7-0 at Conway Arena.

Why the layoff? The Raiders had two games cancelled due to COVID-19 protocols, and were also without head coach Chris Czarnota last night for that same reason. He’s due back Tuesday when the Raiders are at New England College.

“They’ve been hustling hard all week at practice, getting better every single day,” said Rivier assistant coach Helen Markovic, who ran the team with fellow assistant Sarah Plourde. “I think we came out not amazing but we picked it up right away. We showed so much aggression and stayed into it no matter what the score was. Incredibly proud of them for that.”

Worcester’s Clare Conway had two goals while Cassidhe Wozniak had a goal and two assists. WSU’s Katie Puulmala had a goal and an assist. Other goal scorers for the Lancers (4-2) were Kiersten Erickson, Emily Pavoni and Trinity White.

Rivier’s Madelyn Morgan and Rachel Hinkley shared goaltending duties, with Hinkley making 27 saves while playing the bulk of the time. Freshman Mya Luna had a strong game for Rivier with four shots on goal.

The Raiders did practice the last couple of weeks despite having to deal with the protocols. Worcester State, which had Nashua’s Amber Lee in goal with 10 saves for the shutout, led 3-0 after one period and 5-0 after two. Perhaps the rust got to the Raiders early.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say it was rust, we were ready because we were practicing pretty hard all week,” Markovic said. “We were there every single day to get better.

“We got the rust off during practices this week. Something we’ve got to work on is we’re a young group, we’ve got to work on being there right when the puck drops.”

There are a lot of adjustments a first-year team has to make, and Worcester State coach Eliza Kelley dealt with the same thing at Becker, which closed last year with many of the players heading over with her to begin anew at WSU.

“I did it at Becker, there are growing pains that come with a true first-year program,” Kelley said. “It takes time. It takes time to develop your culture, it takes time to develop your leadership.

“I think you kind of underestimate how much upperclassmen really do for a team, guiding the path and guiding the way on and off the ice. But they’ll (the Raiders) come into it. They’ve done a nice job.”

“We’re still learning,” Plourde said. “And I think there’s a learning curve for all of them. But the passion and the effort they all show from start to finish is incredible.”