Robert Morris scored a big win in its final non-conference game of the 2005-06 slate, soundly defeating Princeton, 5-2, Tuesday night. Three Colonials recorded multi-point games while junior Joe Tuset tallied 30 saves in just his second career start.
The win was the first for Robert Morris over a team from the ECACHL after losing to Rensselaer in 2004-05 and Quinnipiac twice earlier this season. The Colonials snapped a four-game winless skid to improve to 6-15-2 on the year while the Tigers (7-13-1) fall for the first time in their last three games. Sophomores David Boguslawski and Brett Hopfe each had a goal and an assist in the game while sophomore Jace Buzek picked up two assists.
Wright put the Colonials on the board with 11 seconds left in the first period with a power-play goal, putting away his own rebound. Freshman Chris Margott fired a shot from the left circle that Hopfe redirected out to Wright on the edge of the left circle. Princeton goalie Eric Leroux made the initial stop on Wright’s shot but the rebound came right back out to the senior and he roofed it on the second try.
Sophmore Logan Bittle carried the puck left to right across the slot after Boguslawski won it in the neutral zone. Bittle shoveled a back hand shot from the slot across Leroux’ and under his outstretched right pad at 6:30 of the second period. Freshman forward Andrew Jackman picked up an assist on the goal as he helped Boguslawski free the puck.
The Colonials spent much of the period on the penalty kill after being whistled for four penalties playing a man down for 7:34 in the frame. Princeton took advantage with 12 shots in the period while Robert Morris had just three in the period after owning the first period edge, 12-7.
Penalties, power plays, an empty net and goals were the story of the third period as the teams combined for 10 penalties, nine power plays and five goals. Surprisingly, though, just one goal was scored on the power play while the Colonials scored twice on a Tigers net that was left empty for 2:36.
Princeton cut the lead to 2-1 as Patrick Neundorfer scored 1:47 into the period, picking up a rebound from a shot by Mike Moore.
Robert Morris answered 1:35 later after a tripping penalty on the Tigers’ Brian Carthas. Boguslawski made Princeton pay when he beat back-up goaltender B.J. Sklapsky on the high stick side with a rebound shot from the slot. Just seconds earlier, Sklapsky stopped sophomore Jeff Gilbert’s hard slap shot from the right point, but couldn’t control the rebound which bounced out to Boguslawski.
Five penalties and five power plays followed with neither team able scored. Trailing 3-1, Princeton pulled Leroux with 4:36 left to play. The Colonials took advantage when sophomore Doug Conley scored his second of the season on an empty with assists from Buzek and sophomore Andrew Bonello.
The Tigers replaced Sklapsky after the goal, but pulled him 17 seconds later when Gilbert was whistled for a cross-checking infraction. This time the move paid off with Grant Goeckner-Zoeller scoring his team-leading 11th goal of the year with 2:00 left in the game and cutting the lead to 4-2.
After the goal, Princeton kept the net empty only to have Robert Morris score 17 seconds after the ensuing faceoff. Sophomore Joel Gasper intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and fed it to Hopfe who didn’t miss the wide-open net from the middle of the slot.
Leroux finished the game with 12 saves and two goals against in 29:49. Princeton held a 32-25 advantage in shots on goal, including 25-13 over the last two periods. Each team had one power-play goal with the Tigers having nine opportunities to the Colonials six.
