Huntsville, Ala. ? Looking to extend its unbeaten streak to four games, the Robert Morris University men's hockey team faced off against the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers for the second consecutive afternoon at the Von Braun Center. The Colonials offensive got rolling quickly as they stormed past UAH, 6-3 for their first sweep of the 2008-09 season.
Finding themselves shorthanded only four minutes into the game, the Colonials could not be stopped as freshman Ron Cramer (New Wilmington, Pa. / Indiana Ice) notched the first goal of the contest. His first career shorthander, scored at 4:11 of the first, was assisted by fellow freshman Brandon Blandina (Centennial, Colo. / Indiana Ice).
However, the Chargers got even at 12:43 of the first period with Cody Campbell's goal. Andrew Coburn and Joe Federoff picked up the assists on the game tying score.
Six minutes later, Robert Morris reclaimed their lead with Scott Kobialko's (Spruce Grove, Alberta / Camrose Kodiaks) fifth goal of the year. Senior Jason Towsley (LaSalle, Ontario / Leamington Flyers) and sophomore Denny Urban (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Ohio Blue Jackets) were awarded the assists on RMU's second goal.
However, the Chargers tied the game at two just three minutes into the second period when Matt Sweezey recorded his second score of the weekend on a power play. Tom Train and Kevin Morrison had assists on the goal at 3:16 of the second.
But the Colonials refused to let UAH take their first lead of the weekend. At even strength, sophomore Nathan Longpre (Peterborough, Ontario / Mahoning Valley Phantoms) tallied his tenth goal of the season to give Robert Morris a 3-2 advantage. Trevor Lewis (Lititz, Pa. / Syracuse Stars) picked up the helper on Longpre's goal.
Firing on all cylinders, the RMU offense added a fourth goal when Lewis netted the game winning score on the power play off of assists from line mates Chris Margott (Thousand Oaks, Calif. / Bay State Breakers) and Longpre at 12:33 of the second period.
Attempting to seal the victory, freshman defenseman James Lyle (Nepean, Ontario / Smiths Falls Bears) scored his second career goal with under one minute remaining in the second period of play. Freshmen Nick Chiavetta (Harrisburg, Pa. / New York Applecore) and Furman South (Sewickley, Pa / Bay State Breakers) each recorded their first collegiate point with assists on Lyle's goal.
At the beginning of the third period, the Chargers went on a five-on-three power play for nearly a full two minutes. With the two man advantage, UAH's Scott Kalinchuk added a third goal for the Chargers at 2:26 of the third period.
With less than seven minutes remaining in the game, Chris Kushneriuk (Ottawa, Ontario / Wayne State) added a sixth goal for the Colonials. Urban and Lyle both picked up their second points of the afternoon at 13:09 of the third period.
Freshman netminder, Brooks Ostergard (Chagrin Falls, Bay State Breakers), had another strong showing in goal as he made 22 saves. Robert Morris also was a solid two-for-five on the power play.
The Colonials (8-17-5 ; 4-7-3 CHA) have now won three of their last four and have moved into sole possession of third place in the CHA standings. Robert Morris will attempt to move into second when the Niagara Purple Eagles visit the Island Sports Center for RMU's final home stand of the 2008-09 season. On Friday, Feb. 27, the game will be broadcast live on RMU TV from Clearview Arena at 7:35 p.m. Saturday's contest is also set for a 7:35 p.m. start.