Huntsville, Ala. ? The Robert Morris University men's ice hockey team skated to a 4-4 tie with CHA foe Alabama-Huntsville Tuesday night in Huntsville, Ala. With the tie, The Colonials are now 7-7-2 overall and 4-1-1 in CHA action.
The Charger's jumped out to a, 1-0, lead just 2:19 into the first period when Neil Ruffini beat senior goalie Christian Boucher (Orleans, Ontario / Cumberland Grads) for his first goal of the season. Freshman Kyle Burton (Calgary, Alberta / Calgary Canucks) answered back for RMU at the 5:04 mark making the score, 1-1. Ryan Cruthers (Farmingdale, N.Y. / Army) and Denny Urban (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Ohio Blue Jackets) tallied assists on the play. Josh Murray put UAH back on top with 8:09 left in the period, but Cruthers notched his ninth goal of the season on the power-play with just one second left on the clock. Sean Berkstresser (Apollo, Pa. / Pittsburgh Forge) and Chris Kaufman (Gig Harbor, Wash. / Helena Bighorns) picked up assists on the goal.
Matt Banter gave the Charger's the lead again just 2:34 into the second period, with Ruffini and Kevin Morrison tallying assists on the play. Cruthers again tied the game for the Colonials notching his second tally of the game with 3:54 left in the second session with a power-play goal assisted by Chris Margott (Thousand Oaks, Calif. / Bay State Breakers) and Kaufman.
Senior Jeff Gilbert (Barrie, Ontario / Aurora Tigers) gave RMU its only lead of the game with his second goal of the season, but Joe Federoff sent the game to overtime when he beat Boucher with just 21 seconds left on the clock to steal a point from the Colonials. RMU outshot Ala.-Huntsville, 4-2, in the extra period but neither team could score ending the game in a, 4-4, tie.
RMU outshot UAH 33-28 and went 2-for-4 on the power-play. Boucher made 24 saves on 28 shots, while Charger goalie Blake MacNicol stopped 29-of-33 shots he faced.
The Colonials do not return to action until Jan. 4-5 when they make on last non-conference road trip. They will take on American International in a 7:05 p.m. start on Jan. 4 and a 3:05 p.m. start on Jan. 5.
