Pittsburgh, Pa. ? The Robert Morris University men's ice hockey team watched a pair of two-goal leads evaporate, including one with 14:44 remaining in the third period, as they fell to Ala.-Huntsville, 7-5, Friday night at the RMU Island Sports Center. With the loss the Colonials are now 10-11-3 overall and 5-4-2 in College Hockey America action, while UAH improved to 4-15-2 on the season and to 1-6-2 in CHA action.
The Colonials took a quick, 2-0, lead with a pair of goals 4:46 apart, the first of which came on the power-play when Chris Kaufman (Gig Harbor, Wash. / Helena) beat Charger goalie Blake MacNicol off a back door pass from Chris Margott (Thousand Oaks, Calif. / Bay State Breakers). Ryan Cruthers (Farmingdale, N.Y. / Army) picked up the second assist on the play at the 10:20 mark. Margott notched his ninth of the season with a shot from the slot after receiving a pass from Cruthers. Nathan Longpre (Peterborough, Ontario / Mahoning Valley) recorded his 14th assist of the season on the play. UAH however would battle back to tie the game before the first period ended with a pair of goals just 1:22 apart. Matt Sweazey got the Chargers on the board with a breakaway goal at the 15:44 mark and Andrew Coburn tallying a power-play goal at the 17:06 mark making the score, 2-2.
The Colonials retook the lead just 4:30 into the second period when David Boguslawski (Cottage Grove, Minn. / Tri-City Storm) knocked the puck into the net after a Kyle Burton (Calgary, Alberta / Calgary Canucks) shot from the point trickled through MacNicol's legs. Tom Biondich (International Falls, Minn. / Wichita Falls Rustlers) also picked up an assist on the play. UAH tied the game for a second time just 2:18 later when Brennan Barker rifled a shot passed Christian Boucher (Orleans, Ontario / Cumberland Grads) from the top of the circle beating him high on the far side. The Colonials would take a, 4-3, lead before the period ended when Scott Kobialko (Spruce Grove, Alberta / Camrose Kodiaks) scored on a 2-on-1 after receiving a pass from J.C. Velasquez (Clarksen, Mich. / Green Bay Gramblers).
Robert Morris took a, 5-3, lead just 5:16 into the third session when Burton notched his fourth goal of the season, with Biondich and Brandon Gay (Calgary, Alberta / Drayton Valley Thunder) picking up the assists on the play. The Colonials then went on to allow four straight third period goals including a pair of shorthanded goals and three straight goals by Cale Tanaka, his third and game-winning goal came with just 40 seconds on the clock. Josh Murray added an empty net goal with only one second left in the game giving Ala.-Huntsville a, 7-2, victory.
Each team went 1-for-6 on the power-play and RMU outshot UAH 35-32.
Boucher made 25 saves for RMU, while MacNicol stopped 30 shots, including 14 in the third period.
The two teams meet again tomorrow night at 7:35 at the Island Sports Center as they complete their two-game weekend series.
