Bemidji, Minn. ? On Friday afternoon, the Robert Morris University men's hockey team shocked the number two seed, Niagara, in the CHA Tournament as they advanced to play in the CHA Championship Game on Saturday night. The Colonials played aggressive from the start, taking an early 1-0 lead over the Purple Eagles for their first win over Niagara in the 2008-09 season.
The Purple Eagles entered Friday's game unbeaten against the Colonials in their last seven meetings. However, RMU's fortune was about to change thanks to solid goaltending and production from both forwards and defensemen alike.
Freshman Brooks Ostergard (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Bay State Breakers) of the 2009 CHA-All Rookie Team made another solid start in goal for RMU as he notched 27 saves in his fifth victory of the year.
The Colonials opened the scoring midway through the first period when Denny Urban (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Ohio Blue Jackets) notched his fourth goal of the season to give Robert Morris an early 1-0 lead on a power play. Fellow CHA-All First Team selection, Chris Margott (Thousand Oaks, Calif. / Bay State Breakers) assisted on Urban's goal at 11:53 of the first.
The first period concluded with Robert Morris outshooting the Purple Eagles 11-7.
The Colonials kept up the physical play in the second, as they continued to outshoot Niagara 13-10 in the second.
RMU took a 2-0 lead with the eventual game winner as freshman Trevor Lewis (Lititz, Pa. / Syracuse Stars) hit a strong one-timer into the back of the net. Assists on the goal, scored at 14:09 of the second, were awarded to defensemen Brock Meadows (White Rock, B.C. / Wayne State) and Jake Obermeyer (Chanhassen, Minn. / Tri-City Storm).
Niagara picked up its lone goal 5:49 into the third period when Derek Foam scored his first of the season to cut the RMU lead in half. Sam Goodwin and Chris Moran grabbed assists on Foam's score.
However, the one Purple Eagle goal would be all Ostergard would allow in route to a 2-1 victory.
The Colonials outshot Niagara 29-28 overall. RMU's penalty kill unit continued to look strong as they held the Purple Eagles zero-for-six on power play chances. On Robert Morris' four power play opportunities, they converted on only one.
Tomorrow night at 7 p.m., the RMU hockey team will play for their first trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Colonials have previously only advanced to the championship round once. That appearance was in the 2006-07 season when the Colonials lost to Alabama-Huntsville in overtime.
The game will be broadcast live on the B2 Network. Details can be found on the CHA Tournament website.
