Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University men's ice hockey team used a four-goal second period to tie Ohio State, 5-5, at the Mellon Arena Friday night. With the tie, the Colonials are now 5-3-1 on the season.
Ohio State jumped out to a, 1-0, lead 2:41 into the first period with a Tommy Goebel unassisted goal. The Colonials were able to tie the game up with Nathan Longpre's (Peterborough, Ontario / Mahoning Valley Phantoms) third-goal of the season on the power-play at the 11:36 mark. Ryan Cruthers (Farmingdale, N.Y. / Army) and Chris Kaufman (Gig Harbor, Wash. / Helena Bighorns) picked up assists on the play. The Buckeyes took a, 2-1, lead into the intermission thanks to a Nick Biondo deflected shot, that beat senior goalie Christian Boucher (Orleans, Ontario / Cumberland Grads), with just under four minutes left in the frame. Kyle Reed recorded an assist on the play.
The two teams exploded in the second frame, scoring a combined seven goals making the score 5-5 at the intermission. Ohio State opened the period with two unanswered goals 2:07 apart giving the Buckeyes a, 4-1, lead with goals from Kyle Reed and Jason DeSantis. Jason Towsley (LaSalle, Ontario / Leamington Flyers) made the score, 4-2, at the 5:21 mark with Sean Berkstresser (Apollo, Pa. / Pittsburgh Forge) and David Boguslawski (International Falls / Wichita Falls Rustlers) picking up assists on the play. Kyle Hood made the score, 5-2, at the 8:05 mark of the second period, but the Colonials finished the period with three unanswered goals. Denny Urban (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Ohio Blue Jackets) got things going with his first career goal at the 8:59 mark, and then Chris Margott (Thousand Oaks, Calif. / Bay State Breakers) scored off a one timer in front of the net, beating Buckeye goalie Joseph Palmer off a Cruthers pass. Urban also picked up an assist on the play. Cruthers then tied things up on the power-play at the 18:55 mark with Margott picking up an assist.
After a scoring fest in the second period, the two teams skated to a scoreless third period and overtime session. The two teams went a combined 0-for-4 on the power-play during the final two periods.
Boucher allowed five goals on 11 shots, before Wes Russell (Springfield, Ill. / Quinnipiac Bobcats) came in the game in the second period and stopped all 13 shots that he faced.
RMU and OSU tied in the shot department at 24 apiece. While RMU went 2-for-6 on the power-play and Ohio State went 1-for-7.
The two teams meet again on Sunday, Nov. 18 in Columbus, Ohio completing a home-and-home series. The game is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m.
