Pittsburgh, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's ice hockey team returned to the 84 Lumber Arena for the first time since Nov. 3 as they hosted Ohio State on Saturday night. Returning home after a 3-2 victory in Columbus, Ohio last night, the Colonials would extend their unbeaten streak to four games with a 2-2 tie in front of a sellout crowd of 1,589, the largest in program history.
After allowing the first goal in last night's game, the Colonials would net take the early lead as senior Adam Brace (Cobden, Ontario / Canisius College) would pick up his second goal of the series 5:47 in to the period. Brace would take a pass from captain Brendan Jamison (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Jersey Hitmen) as the forward shifted through Buckeye defender before firing a shot that would beat the Ohio State goaltender. Jamison's assist would be the senior's first point of the season as Brace picked up his fifth goal of the year. RMU would carry the advantage in to the locker room after the first period in which the Colonials would out shoot Ohio State by a 9-6 margin.
In the second period, Ohio State would answer with a goal of its own while on the power play. At 4:50 of the period, the Buckeyes would cycle the puck to the open man on the power play and beat goaltender Eric Levine (Wheeling, Ill. / Pembroke Lumber Kings). The goal would be the second allowed on the power play in the series by Robert Morris. Despite thirteen shots on goal in the period for RMU, the two teams would head in to the locker room tied after forty minutes of play.
Less than two minutes in to the third period, the Colonials would retake the lead on a goal by David Friedmann (Toronto, Ontario / Toronto Jr. Canadiens). Friedmann would collect his fourth goal of the year as he tapped home a pass from Tyler Hinds (Orleans, Ontario / Nepean Raiders). Hinds would collect the puck on the blue line and deke around a sprawled out Ohio State defender before setting up Friedmann at the 1:53 mark of the third period. With less than four minutes remaining in the game, Ohio State would collect the game-tying goal directly off of an offensive zone face-off after an icing call on Robert Morris. While being outshot 19-12 in the period, RMU would hold on to force overtime for the second time this season.
In the overtime period, Brace would get called for a checking from behind penalty that would force the Colonials to kill off a fourth man advantage for Ohio State. Robert Morris was up to the challenge and responded with its own scoring chances in the latter stages of the overtime period before time would expire.
In front of the sellout crowd, the two teams would put on a shootout exhibition that would not count in the final statistics. By rule, if a game remains tied after five minutes of overtime, the two teams can mutually agree to participate in a shootout even though the final result will officially be recorded as a tie.
Robert Morris would opt to shoot first and would send Cody Wydo (Southgate, Mich. / Motor City Metal Jackets) out against the Ohio State goaltender. Wydo would get stopped by the right pad of the goalie and give the Buckeyes the chance to take the early lead in the shootout. Levine would stop the first shooter for Ohio State as RMU head coach Derek Schooley would send out Friedmann as the team's second shooter. Friedmann would come in on net and stutter-step before getting a shot off blocker side to put the Colonials up 1-0. The second shooter for Ohio State would keep the shootout tied as he beat Levine. Looking to give the advantage back to the Colonials, Brace would step up as the third shooter but was denied by the glove of the OSU net minder. Ohio State could seal the shootout if its third shooter was to score, but Levine had different thoughts as he went to the splits to force sudden death. Senior Zach Hervato (Stittsville, Ontario / Smiths Falls Bears) was tabbed as the next up for the Colonials squad and beat the Buckeye goalie high glove with a quick wrister. Looking to prolong the shootout to a fifth round, the Ohio State skater came in on Levine who responded by flashing the glove for the save that would give RMU a 2-1 shootout victory although the game would officially be recorded as a 2-2 tie.
In the 2-2 tie, Levine would register 37 saves to improve his record to 5-2-2 on the season. In the four-game unbeaten streak, Levine has made at least 30 saves in each contest. The Colonials would out shoot Ohio State 39-38 as Wydo would lead the way with eight shots on goal. In front of Levine, the Colonials would block 21 shots as Jamison led the way with six blocks.
Robert Morris will return to action next Saturday as the team travels to Penn State for their first ever meeting with the Nittany Lions. Face off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
