For the Robert Morris Colonials, the mission was to play a full 60 minutes of hockey with the focus they knew they were capable of this weekend against the Army Black Knights. Although the completion of their mission might be up for discussion in their 4-2 victory at Island Sports Center on Friday night, the Colonials took a huge leap toward that goal, as they opened up a two-goal lead in the first period and showed resiliency against a determined Army squad that fought their way back into the game.
The Knights threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Colonials in a third period that saw them outshoot the host by a 21-6 margin. However, the Colonials and goaltender Francis Marotte took care of business with key penalty kills and a few highlight-reel saves to preserve the victory, improving their record to 2-2-0 in the process.
“We played with energy, we played with enthusiasm and our effort was good,” Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley said. “In the second period, they responded after an off week and they got a little bit better. When you’re trailing 4-2, you’re going to push. It’s tough because you’ve got a two-goal lead and you know they’re going to come. Did we handle it great? No, but I think we learned a little bit from the Canisius game when we were up 3-0 and they came back and tied us 3-3.”
Another thing the Colonials might be learning is the true depth of their scoring among the forward lines. Sophomore Luke Lynch showed some flashes of brilliance in the second half of his freshman campaign and has carried those flashes over into this season, posting three goals and an assist in his first four games.
“I think there was a lot of little things we did wrong last weekend that we really picked up this weekend,” Lynch said. “The work ethic’s been there and we just took it to them right from the drop of the puck. Tomorrow night we just need to come out and play our game; we can’t get into their game with the stuff after the whistle. We just need to keep putting pucks behind them, working their defense low and getting pucks to the net like we did tonight.”
Lynch added two goals that put the Colonials up by two goals on both occasions. He tucked his first tally under the crossbar in the first frame to give Robert Morris a 2-0 lead and found the net again late in the second period when he put a rebound past Army netminder Cole Burns to provide the final margin of victory.
Defenseman Eric Israel opened the scoring just 1:46 into the game with a power-play goal from the top of the slot following a beautiful feed from Michael Louria, while leading scorer Brady Ferguson provided the third Colonials tally with a second period short-handed breakaway goal.
The Black Knights showed no quit, keeping the Colonials from taking command of the game and providing answers to Robert Morris goals, as both Tipper Higgins and Michael Wilson responded to Colonials goals less then two minutes later to cut the lead to one goal. The Colonials will need another effort similar to the one they came up with on Friday night if not better to earn the weekend sweep.
“They never stop,” Marotte said. “They’re always on us, they’re always on the puck, they come up with big hits and that’s what really sets them apart.”
Around Atlantic Hockey
No. 5 Notre Dame 3, Sacred Heart 1
Joe Wegwerth provided two of the three goals as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated the visiting Sacred Heart Pioneers. Dawson Cook also scored for the Irish, who ran their record to 3-2-1 while the Pioneers fell to 2-3-0 on the year. Sacred Heart goaltender Nathan Perry stopped 40 of 43 Irish shots in the loss.
AIC 3, No. 11 Penn State 2 (OT)
The American International Yellow Jackets traveled to Happy Valley and earned their first victory of the season, taking the second game of a Thursday/Friday series. Dominik Florian tied the game with a goal at 11:39 of the third period and Darius Davidson provided the game-winner 3:47 into the overtime period. Sophomore goaltender Zacharias Skog stopped 29 Nittany Lions shots in the victory. Cole Hults and Nate Sucese each scored for the Lions, who dropped to 3-3-0 on the year, while the Yellow Jackets improved to 1-5-1.
Bemidji State 4, No. 20 Air Force 1
Kyle Bauman’s two-third period goals helped push the Bemidji State Beavers past the visiting Air Force Falcons. Beavers goaltender Michael Bitzer stopped 19 of 20 shots in the victory. The Beavers improved to 2-0-1 on the season, while the Falcons dropped to 3-1-1. Matt Serratore scored the lone Air Force goal.
Union 6, RIT 1
The Union Dutchmen got goals from six different players while goaltender Darion Hanson stopped 24 of 25 shots as Union cruised to a 6-1 victory in Rochester on Friday night. RIT’s Erik Brown scored the lone Tigers goal in the loss, which saw them fall to 0-1-1 on the year, while the Dutchmen improved to 1-5-0.
Holy Cross 4, Bentley 3 (OT)
Brett Mulcahy’s goal in overtime gave the Holy Cross Crusaders their first win of the season on Friday night as they defeated the visiting Bentley Falcons in conference action. The Crusaders outshot the Falcons by a 46 to 20 margin and got goals from Scott Cooley, PJ Crinella, and Mitch Collett in the win, which improved their record to 1-0-2, while Bentley fell to 0-1-1. Kyle Schmidt, Tanner Jago and Michael Zuffante scored for the Falcons, while goaltender Jayson Argue stopped 42 shots in the loss.
Ferris State 3 Mercyhurst 2
Dominic Lutz’s goal just 5:17 into the third period stood up as the game-winner as the Ferris State Bulldogs made edged past the Mercyhurst Lakers. Lutz also tallied at 17:04 of the second period, while Matthew Whitaker and Patrick Piacentini scored for the Lakers. Bulldogs netminder Darren Smith stopped 28 of 30 shots in the win, which improved their record to 2-3-0, while the Lakers fell to 0-1-2
Niagara 4, Rensselaer 3 (OT)
Behind Johnny Curran’s two goals and Sean King’s overtime game-winner, the Niagara Purple Eagles downed the RPI Engineers after three straight third-period RPI goals sent the game to bonus time. The Eagles outshot RPI by a 31-19 margin, as Guillaume Therien stopped 16 shots in the win, which saw Niagara improve to 2-1-0 on the year while the Engineers dropped to 0-1-2.
