Huntsville, Ala. ? Led by four first-period goals, the Robert Morris University men's ice hockey team charged past College Hockey America rival Alabama-Huntsville, 7-1, in a rare Monday night game. With the victory RMU moves back to .500 on the season with a 7-7-1 overall record, including a 4-1-0 mark in conference play.
The Colonials took an early, 3-0, lead just 6:10 into the first period and never looked back. Nathan Longpre (Peterborough, Ontario / Mahoning Valley Phantoms) got RMU on the board just 1:18 into the game. Sean Berkstresser (Apollo, Pa. / Pittsburgh Forge) picked up an assist on the play. Berkstresser tallied his fourth goal of the season 1:42 seconds later giving the Colonials a, 2-0, edge. Jason Towsley (La Salle, Ontario / Leamington Flyers) and Longpre picked up the assists on the goal. Towsley made it, 3-0, with an unassisted power-play goal at the 13:50 mark. The Chargers got on the board with their only tally of the night when Matt Sweazey scored with 11:24 left in the frame. The Colonials got the last marker of the session however when David Boguslawski (Cottage Grove, Minn. / Tri-City Storm) notched his third goal of the season, on the power-play, with assists from Jake Sparks (Evergreen, Colo. / Central Texas Blackhawks) and Brett Hopfe (Didsbury, Alberta / Olds Grizzlys) with 1:17 left.
The Colonials tacked on two more tallies in the second period with the pair of goals coming 2:10 apart. Senior defenseman Andrew Bonello (Brampton, Ontario / Aurora Tigers) beat Charger goalie Cameron Talbot for his first goal of the season just 4:14 into the second period. Boguslawski notched his second goal of the game giving RMU a, 6-1, edge at the 13:36 mark. Kyle Frieday (Burlington, Ontario / Oakville Blades) and Logan Bittle (Peoria, Ill. / Soo Indians) tallied the assists on the play.
The CHA's dynamic duo were held in check during this scoring outburst of the Colonials until Chris Margott (Thousand Oaks, Calif. / Bay State Breakers) tallied his fifth goal of the season with 9:23 left in the game. The CHA's leading scorer Ryan Cruthers (Farmingdale, N.Y. / Army) picked up an assist on the play.
Senior goalie Christian Boucher (Orleans, Ontario / Cumberland Grads) stopped 22-of-23 shots he faced en route to claiming his seventh victory of the season. Talbot and Blake MacNicol combined to allow seven goals on 35 RMU shots.
The two teams square off again tomorrow night, in game-two of their two-game series.
