The Robert Morris Colonials scored four goals in the first 4:56 of the third period to take an 8-5 victory over the Quinnipiac University Bobcats Saturday night at the TD Banknorth Sports Center.
Both teams combined for seven goals in the final stanza, with the Colonials (5-12-4) scoring five. Chris Margott recorded a hat trick in the game while chipping in with two helpers for a five point night.
“Defensively, we struggled and gave up too many quality shots and our goaltending was an issue tonight,” said Quinnipiac University coach Rand Pecknold.
Robert Morris took their first lead of the game at 3:02 of the third and never looked back when Cody Crichton banged home a rebound shot off of the pads of Bobcats’ goalie Bud Fisher. Scott Kobialko took a shot from the slot that Fisher made the initial save on but an alert Crichton
Only 25 seconds later, Chris Kushneriuk added a tally when he beat Fisher under the bar. Then, Margott added his second of the night and extended the lead to two at 3:54.
After the goal, Fisher was replaced by Dan Clarke. On the first shot faced by Clarke, he gave up a goal to Lewis top shelf blocker side at 4:56 of the third to end the scoring rush.
The Bobcats (13-9-2) were able to respond with two quick goals after the change.
Jean-Marc Beaudoin got the Bobcats to within three when he added his second of the game. He corralled a pass from Mike Atkinson and banged home the puck on the penalty kill at 8:10 of the third
Chris Myers added a goal of his own when he slid the puck under the pads of the Colonials’ Wes Russell in front of the crease at 11:20. Myers took a pass from Eric Lampe on his backhand and took a quick wrist shot that trickled past Russell for the goal.
The Bobcats opened up the scoring with a Scott Zurevinski goal from the doorstep of the crease. Greg Holt controlled the puck and as he attempted to stop, fell to the ground and gave a pass to Spencer Heichman between the circles. Heichman then sent a quick pass over to Zurevinski to beat Russell at 13:51 of the first.
“I thought the intensity was pretty good in the first period and we played pretty hard, but had a breakdown on the goal they scored,” said Pecknold. “We had no intensity in the second and most of the third. Give Robert Morris credit; offensively they played well.”
Russell was a member of the Bobcats squad in the 2005-2006 season before transferring to Robert Morris.
Robert Morris responded quickly with a power-play goal by Nathan Longpre. Trevor Lewis sent a pass across the front of the net to Margott. He then fired a backhand pass into the slot to Longpre for an open net, as Fisher slid across the crease.
Quinnipiac retook the lead with a power-play goal of their own. Beaudoin pounced on a loose puck outside of the crease at 18:40. Zach Hansen received a one-time pass at the blue line from Andrew Meyer, but missed the net. The puck bounced directly back out off the boards and Beaudoin standing outside the crease put it in the net.
The Bobcats quickly added to their lead with David Marshall’s goal 19 seconds into the second period. Bryan Leitch fed Eric Lampe through the left circle. Lampe went behind the net, stopped and waited for Marshall to get open for the one timer shot under the cross bar for the two goal lead.
The Colonials answered quickly, once again on the power play. Danny Urban ripped a shot that was blocked by traffic. Margott found the puck in between the circles and threw the puck at the net for the goal at 1:57.
Robert Morris tied the game at three, when Jason Towsley came in on a breakaway goal and beat Fisher over the glove side. Kushneriuk sent a lob pass from the goal line to center ice that Towsely picked up and brought into the zone for the goal at 16:16.
Margott added and empty-net goal to cap off the hat trick and record his 10th goal of the season.
