USAFA, Colo. – Oct. 16, 2011 –The Robert Morris men's hockey team opened the Atlantic Hockey season on Sunday, falling 4-2 to Air Force at the Cadet Ice Arena. The Colonials are now 1-1-0 in AHA openers after joining the 12-member conference last year.
Senior forwards Trevor Lewis (Lilitz, Pa. / Syracuse Stars) and Tom Brooks (St. Louis, Mo. / St. Louis Bandits) tallied goals for the Colonials while senior goaltender Brooks Ostergard (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Bay State Breakers) stopped 31 of the 34 shots he faced in the loss. The Falcons would add an empty-net goal to seal the win.
Air Force would strike first on Sunday night, notching the game's first goal at 5:40 off the stick of junior defenseman Stephan Carew. But Robert Morris (1-2 overall, 0-1 Atlantic Hockey) would respond four minutes later when Brooks tallied the equalizer in his first game of the year. The senior found the back of the net at 9:40 with a top-shelf attempt that beat Falcons goalie Stephan Caple on Robert Morris' second shot of the game and first true scoring opportunity. Freshman defenseman Tyson Wilson (Brockville, Ontario / Brockville Braves) recorded his first career point on the play with an assist. The Falcons (2-2, 2-0) would take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission, however, when junior forward Kyle De Laurell knocked in a rebound at 13:46. Freshman forward Cole Gunner and sophomore forward George Michalke were credited with assists on the play. Air Force sophomore forward Jason Fabian would tally the eventual game winner 1:29 into the second period with an assist from junior forward John Kruse.
But the Colonials defense would hold firm the rest of the way, paving the way for a late charge to get back into the contest. Furthermore, the Robert Morris penalty kill unit continued to shut out the opposition – keeping the Falcons without a successful conversion in five opportunities on Sunday including a 40 second 5-on-3 advantage that saw Air Force fail to land a shot on goal. The Colonials are 10-for-10 on penalty kills this season.
Ostergard would go unblemished after Gunner's early second period goal, making 18-straight saves before being pulled for the extra attacker with 2:01 to play. And just a few seconds later Lewis – the senior captain – would strike, tallying his second goal of the season with 1:37 left to play to bring the Colonials within one of the home team. Lewis, who has tallied a point in all three games this season, was set up by senior forward Brandon Blandina (Centennial, Colo. / Indiana Ice) and sophomore forward Colin South (Sewickley, Pa. / Bay State Breakers). The late goal by Lewis gave Robert Morris just over a minute and a half to find the equalizer. But the Falcons, who outshot RMU 35-20 in the contest, would get an empty-net goal from Kruse to seal the win.
Caple would make 18 saves on 20 shots to improve to 2-0-0 on the season while Ostergard took the loss for RMU to fall to 0-2-0.
Robert Morris continues the 2011-12 season with a two-game home series against Quinnipiac next weekend. The Colonials host the Bobcats in a Friday/Saturday series at Island Sports Center. Both games are scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET start times.
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