Pittsburgh, Pa. – Senior goaltender Eric Levine (Wheeling Ill. / Pembroke Lumber Kings) notched 51 saves to extend his unbeaten streak to eight games and freshman forward Brandon Denham (Milton, Ontario / Oakville Blades) picked up his first career goal as the Robert Morris University men's hockey team earned a 1-0 win over No. 5 Miami University on Saturday evening. The victory earned the Colonials the first Three Rivers Classic championship in front of a crowd of 10,797 at the CONSOL Energy Center.
Coming off of a 6-0 victory against Penn State in the opening night of the Three Rivers Classic, the Colonials continued to ride the hot glove of Levine as the goaltender provided 51 of his 99 saves over the duration of the tournament to propel Robert Morris over the nationally-ranked RedHawks.
The only goal needed came at the 7:54 mark of the third period as Denham crashed the net and found a loose puck that he was able to get past a diving Miami goaltender. After an offensive zone faceoff win by Greg Gibson (Burlington, Ontario / Amarillo Bulls), assistant captain Tyler Hinds (Orleans, Ontario / Nepean Raiders) would carry the puck along the far boards before finding Denham in front of the net.
With his second shutout in as many games, Levine improves his record to 8-2-2 this season while riding an eight-game unbeaten streak in which the Illinois native has registered six wins. Levine's third shutout of the season gives the goalie four career shutouts, a new program record. Levine has been in net for the two times in program history that the Colonials have shut out a nationally ranked opponent. The Colonial goaltending corps has shut out four opponents this season which is also a single-season team record.
Hinds' assist on the game winning goal extended the defenseman's point streak to three consecutive games.
Levine and sophomore forward Cody Wydo (Southgate, Mich. / Motor City Metal Jackets) were both named to the All-Tournament Team while Levine was also named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
Robert Morris returns to action on Friday night as the Colonials travel to Army for the first game of a two-game series. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. as the game is going to be nationally televised on the CBS Sports Network.
