Hamden, Conn. ? The Robert Morris University men's hockey team continued its five-game road stand at Quinnipiac University on Friday night at the TD Banknorth Center. The Colonials finally got the start they have been looking for, breaking their 19-game streak by scoring the first goal of the contest for the first time during the 2008-09 season. Although the Colonial offense put forth a strong effort, the Bobcat's nationally ranked scorers would prove to be difficult to overcome.
With freshman Brooks Ostergard (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Bay State Breakers) making his first collegiate start in goal, RMU hoped to shake things up and immediately put momentum on their side. The Colonials came out firing on all cylinders, putting 11 shots on goal in the first period while Ostergard came up with all eight saves.
At 15:59, CHA leading scorer Nathan Longpre (Peterborough, Ontario / Mahoning Valley Phantoms) put an end to Robert Morris' 19-game streak and scored the first goal of the night to take 1-0 lead. Senior forward Chris Margott (Thousand Oaks, Cali. / Bay State Breakers) picked up his 18th point of the season with an assist, while freshman Trevor Lewis (Lititz, Pa. / Syracuse Stars) also notched a helper on the goal.
However, the Bobcats wasted little time rallying back in the second period. Only 26 seconds into the second, Yuri Bouharevich tied the score at one all with his second goal of the season. Assists on the game tying goal were awarded to Brandon Wong and Jean-Marc Beaudoin.
Just over three minutes later, Quinnipiac took their first lead of the evening at 3:42 when Eric Lampe pushed one past Ostergard off of assists from Brian Leitch and Dan Henningson to put the Bobcats ahead by a 3-2 margin.
The Quinnipiac offense continued to pile on the shots, outshooting the Colonials 8-0 in the first six minutes of the second.
But the Colonials were not ready to give up just yet. Senior Jake Obermeyer (Chanhassen, Minn. / Tri-City Storm) tallied his first score of the season to deadlock the game at two. The goal, scored at 6:53 in the second, was assisted by Chris Kushneriuk (Ottawa, Ontario / Wayne State) and Kyle Burton (Calgary, Alberta / Calgary Canucks).
Once again, the tied game would be short lived. On a power play, the Bobcats reclaimed the lead at 8:18 of the second with Lampe's second goal of the contest. Leitch, the NCAA assist leader, picked up his second helper of the night on the score. Also adding an assist was David Marshall.
The second period continued at a furious pace when Kushneriuk recorded his second point of the night to tie the game once more, this time at three apiece. Lewis and Sophomore Denny Urban (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Ohio Blue Jackets) tallied assists on the goal at 16:05 of the second. Urban's was his his 13th assist of the season.
The Bobcats responded once more just 15 seconds later as Greg Holt lit the lamp shorthanded to extend the Quinnipiac lead back to one. At 16:20 of the second period, Marshall picked up his second assist of the night on the Bobcat's fourth goal of the period.
Shots at the end of the second period ended at 25-17 in favor of the Bobcats.
After a fast tempo second period, the final twenty minutes of play slowed down quite a bit.
With a five-on-three advantage, Marshall tacked on the Bobcat's fifth goal at 12:01 in the third period, giving him his third point of the night. Henningson picked up the assist on the score, recording his second helper of the contest.
Robert Morris refused to throw in the towel and answered quickly with Urban's second goal of the 2008-09 season to bring the Colonials back within one. Urban's goal at 13:44 of the third was helped by a strong passes from Margott and Longpre.
However, the Colonials comeback effort would fall short as RMU was unable to score another goal in the remaining six minutes of regulation.
Overall, Ostergard picked 34 saves in his first complete game. Quinnipiac outshot Robert Morris 39-26 while RMU was one for six on the power play.
The Colonials (4-12-4 ; 1-3-2 CHA) will play the second game of the two-game series against Quinnipiac tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. On Monday, Robert Morris will travel to Princeton University to take on the #9 Tigers at 7:00 p.m.
