West Springfield, Mass. – The Robert Morris University men's hockey team must have had its fill of drama in Friday night's 5-5 tie with American International College, because it never loosened its grasp on Saturday's rematch.

David Friedmann scored his first collegiate hat trick, one of four Colonials with multiple points, and goalie Terry Shafer recorded a 19-save shutout in RMU's 6-0 win over the Yellow Jackets at Olympia Ice Center.

The Colonials ended a three-game winless streak (0-1-2) with the resounding victory, which improved them to 8-1-3 overall. Robert Morris is 6-1-3 in Atlantic Hockey Conference play, ensuring it will head into its Thanksgiving bye week at the top of the league standings.

"I think the biggest thing was that we erased last night from our memory," said Friedmann, who has five of his six goals in the past four games. "We went out and played our game from start to finish. We had to regroup this morning…and move on and be better as a unit."

Cody Wydo and Chase Golightly had a goal and an assist each, while Brady Ferguson helped set up two of Friedmann's three tallies. Zac Lynch netted a shorthanded goal in the third period, giving him a program-record five for his career.

RMU, which trailed three separate times Friday night, returned to the formula that helped them win seven of their first eight games: get ahead and stay ahead. Friedmann's first goal came just 4:47 after the opening faceoff and the Colonials outshot AIC 14-4 in the first period.

"I challenged them to have a good start," said head coach Derek Schooley. "We wanted to play in (AIC's) end as much as possible and tire them out. We had a great first period and it continued from there. We played with a sense of urgency all night."

The visitors pumped in three more goals in the second period to take control, with Friedmann scoring his second and third goals less than a minute apart midway through the middle frame to make it 4-0. The forward line of Friedmann, Ferguson and Daniel Leavens had another strong performance, combining for six points.

"Good things happen when you do the little things right and go to the net," said Friedmann of his linemates, who also accounted for four points Friday. "We played a defensively sound game and moved the puck efficiently."

Friedmann, a junior, is the veteran of that line, with the freshman Ferguson and sophomore Leavens in tow. They have totaled 23 points (13g, 10a) on the season, most of the time while playing together.

"They're confident and contributing," Schooley said. "They're clicking for us. It's good to get depth scoring and not just rely on the first line."

Not to be forgotten, RMU leading scorer Wydo capped the afternoon with a beautiful breakaway goal, his eighth of the season. The senior, whose assist on Lynch's goal gives him 18 points in 12 games, stole a puck at center ice and blazed a trail to the net for a slick backhand deke.

But for as nice as that finish was, it was all about the start for RMU, which improved to 3-0-2 on the road. Friedmann redirected Leavens' feed at the doorstep for a 1-0 edge in the first, then junior defenseman Golightly got into the act with his first goal of the year at 4:10 of the second.

Senior forward Jeff Jones, playing in his second game since returning from an injury that cost him more than a month, earned the primary assist on Golightly's goal with a pass to the pinching defenseman near the right dot.

"As a D-man the first priority is taking care of your own end, then it's recognizing the right time to jump into the play," Golightly said. "Luckily tonight I was able to jump up and Jones found me."

Friedmann went back to work at 10:57 to make it 3-0, burying the rebound of Alex Bontje's point shot. Friedmann added his third goal 35 second later, capping a passing play started by John Rey deep in the RMU end and relayed by Ferguson near the AIC blue line.

"Everyone was coming back and we were able to break the puck out as a unit," Golightly said. "Coach Schooley challenged us to bounce back after last night and the boys really took it to heart and responded."

Lynch tacked on his fourth goal of the year 6:27 into the third with the Colonials killing a penalty. Wydo took a loose puck at center ice, swooped around the AIC goal and fed Lynch in the slot for a quick shot past Jackets goalie Alex Murray. Lynch, a junior from Shaler, moved past Ryan Cruthers and Wydo for the most shorthanded goals in program history.

From there the only suspense surrounded whether Shafer could finish the shutout; the junior now has four in his Colonials career. RMU has three shutouts in its first 12 games, with the first two recorded by sophomore Dalton Izyk.

Robert Morris will return to the ice Dec. 5-6 at 84 Lumber Arena against conference foe Sacred Heart.