Pittsburgh, Pa. ? Hoping to snap a five-game losing skid, the Robert Morris University men's ice hockey team matched up against the Bemidji State Beavers for the third time in just two weeks. After being swept by BSU at home last series, the Colonials opened the game firing at a tenacious pace to take an early lead and defeat the Beavers 3-0.
Senior Chris Margott (Thousand Oaks, Ca. / Bay State Breakers) started the scoring at 12:26 of the first period with a one timer that whistled above the left shoulder of BSU goalie, Matt Dalton. His 16th of the year was assisted by sophomores Nathan Longpre (Peterborough, Ontario / Mahoning Valley Phantoms) and Denny Urban (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Ohio Blue Jackets).
Robert Morris held the Beavers without a single shot on the goal for the first 15:37of the first period. The Colonials outshot Bemidji State 14 to 6 in the first. Freshman Brooks Ostergard (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Bay State Breakers) made his third start of the season picking up all six stops in the first twenty minutes.
However, the Beaver's offensive bounced back in the second, racking up 12 shots while holding Robert Morris to only six. The Colonial's penalty kill unit put forth a solid effort in the second period coming up with a key performance as they killed off a five-on-three advantage for the Beavers.
At 12:59 third, senior Jason Towsley (LaSalle, Ontario / Leamington Flyers) looped around the goal and pushed a forehand shot behind Dalton for a 2-0 lead in favor of the Colonials. The unassisted score was Towsley's seventh of the season.
Robert Morris's Ron Cramer (New Wilmington, Pa. / Indiana Ice) also notched an empty net goal with 8 seconds remaining in the game off of helpers from Brandon Blandina (Centennial, Colo. / Indiana Ice) and Longpre.
Ostergard recorded his first career victory with the shutout win. He finished the night with 32 saves and was named the first star of the game.
The Colonials (6-17-4 ; 2-7-2 CHA) will look to sweep the Beavers tomorrow afternoon when the two teams face off at 5:05 p.m. at the Island Sports Center.
