Pittsburgh, Pa. ? The Robert Morris University men's ice hockey team was back in action after a 20 day hiatus when they took to the ice in a non-conference matchup with American International College. Although the Colonials trailed 1-0 going into the second, RMU scored three goals in the second and third periods to defeat the Yellow Jackets 5-2.
For the first 19 minutes of play, the teams remained deadlocked at zero through three power opportunities. However, with under a minute to go in the first the Yellow Jackets lit the lamp with sophomore Tom Mele's sixth goal of the season. The goal, scored at 19:01, was assisted by senior defenseman Matt Woodard and junior forward Mike McMillan.
The second period got off to a relatively slow start, with neither team seeing many chances to score. With the AIC's goaltender got caught behind the net, sophomore forward Kyle Burton (Calgary, Alberta / Calgary Canucks) slapped a quick pass to Cody Crichton (Palgrave, Ontario / Brampton Capitals) who was able to record his first career goal and Robert Morris' first goal of the night. The game tying goal was scored at even strength at 10:26 of the second period.
The Colonials, only seconds into their third power play of night, took a 2-1 lead with sophomore Denny Urban's (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Ohio Blue Jackets) hard one timer that flew past AIC's Tom Fenton and into the top of the net. Urban's first of the season was assisted by freshman defenseman James Lyle (Nepean, Ontario / Smiths Falls Bears) and senior forward Chris Margott (Thousand Oaks, Ca./ Bay State Breakers) at 14:32 in the second.
Holding a 2-1 lead going into the final period, the Colonials found themselves tied once more with AIC's quick goal scored only one minute and 30 seconds into the third. Junior Chris Campanale slipped one past RMU's Wes Russell (Springfield, Ill. / Quinnipiac) as he tallied his third of the year with a helper from Mele.
However, the gridlocked game would be short-lived. The Colonials answered back on their fourth play power of the contest when Margott hit a hard shot over Fenton's shoulder making the score 3-2 in favor of Robert Morris at 3:36 of the third period. The goal was Margott's seventh of season and was assisted by Urban and Lyle.
The Robert Morris offense continued their charge making the score 4-2 as Lyle tallied his first collegiate goal and third point of the game at 16:17 of the third. Assists were awarded to sophomore Nathan Longpre (Peterborough, Ontario / Mahoning Valley Phantoms) and senior Jason Towsley (LaSalle, Onatrio / Leamington Flyers).
Finally, the Colonials sealed the victory with an empty netter scored by sophomore Scott Kobialko (Spruce Grove, Alberta / Camrose Kodiaks) off of passes from Longpre and Margott extending the lead to 5-2.
Russell made 30 saves while allowing only two goals in his 15th start of the 2008-09 season. The Colonials went 2-4 on the power play, their best effort this year.
The Robert Morris Colonials, now 4-10-2, will face American International again tomorrow afternoon at 4:05 p.m. at the Island Sports Center.
