ERIE, Pa. – Feb. 10, 2012
–Despite
outshooting Mercyhurst by nearly a 3-2 ratio and winning over two-thirds of the
game's faceoffs, the Robert Morris men's
hockey team couldn't generate enough offense on Friday night, falling 3-1 to
Mercyhurst in the series opener to drop to a .500 overall record for the first
time since Dec. 2, 2011.
Mercyhurst
built a two-goal lead over the first 28 minutes of play including just the
ninth power-play goal that Robert Morris has allowed all season. Ryan Misiak
knocked in his first goal of the night on the power-play at 15:58 of the first
before giving the Lakers a 2-0 lead at 7:26 of the second when the forward
jumped out of the penalty box and caught a long pass to score on an untested
breakaway.
Just
over three minutes later, sophomore forward Colin South (Sewickley, Pa. / Bay
State Breakers) would cut the lead in half in a four-on-four situation, scoring
on a loose puck in front of the net for his seventh goal of the year and 25th
career point at 10:34 of the second stanza. Freshman defenseman Tyson Wilson (Brockville,
Ontario / Brockville Braves) started the scoring opportunity; ringing a shot
off the post and sending a rebound to freshman forward Cody Cartier (Sylvan
Lake, Alberta / Canmore Eagles). Wilson has now recorded an assist in each of
the last three games. The Lakers would respond before the period was out,
however, as Nardo Nagtzaam made it a 3-1 game at 10:34 of the second stanza.
The
Colonials (13-13-3 overall, 11-8-3 Atlantic Hockey) appeared to cut into the
lead for a second time 4:20 into the third period when senior forward Trevor Lewis (Lititz, Pa. / Syracuse Stars) scored on a Colonials power play. However,
officials waved off the goal because Mercyhurst goaltender Jordan Tibbett's
helmet fell off in the middle of play. Mercyhurst (16-11-4, 13-5-4 Atlantic
Hockey) would stifle the Colonials' offense the rest of the game to hold on for
a league win.
Senior
goaltender Brooks Ostergard (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Bay State Breakers) made 20
saves on Friday to fall to 7-9-2 on the year. Tibbett made 31 saves to pick up
the win, improving to 3-0-1 for the season.
Robert
Morris closes out the weekend on Saturday, hosting Mercyhurst at Clearview
Arena. Game time is 7:05 p.m.
-Robert Morris University, 2013 NCAA® Frozen Four® Host Institution-
