Box Score

ERIE, Pa. – December 14, 2013 - The Robert Morris University men's ice hockey team concluded its three-game road trip with an evening contest at Mercyhurst on Saturday.  In a heavyweight bout, the two teams slugged it out and traded punches in a contest that ended in a 5-5 tie.

In the final stages of killing off a major penalty, Robert Morris (2-10-2, 2-6-2 AHA) took a 5-4 lead with a shorthanded goal by Greg Gibson (Burlington, Ontario / Amarillo Bulls).  Gibson stole the puck and streaked in all alone on Mercyhurst (9-7-2, 7-1-1 AHA) goaltender Jimmy Sarjeant and deked to the forehand to shuffle the puck behind the Mercyhurst netminder just four minutes into the third period.

Just over two minutes later, Mercyhurst responded with a goal from Matthew Zay that tied the score, 5-5, with 13 minutes remaining in the third.

Mercyhurst would net the first goal of the game seven minutes into the opening frame as Kyle Cook capitalized on a defensive zone turnover by the Colonials and ripped a shot past Terry Shafer (Penfield, N.Y. / New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs), the starting netminder for RMU.

Midway through the opening frame, Robert Morris would answer with a power-play goal.  Sophomore Zac Lynch (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Bay State Breakers) picked up his seventh goal of the season at the 9:56 mark of the first period as he beat the Laker starter, Jimmy Sarjeant, with a shot from the left wing circle.

The Lakers would regain the lead with just under seven minutes remaining in the opening frame as Kyle Dutra ripped a shot over Shafer's blocker to make the score 2-1 in favor of Mercyhurst.

It would take the Colonials less than two minutes to respond and tie the game for the second time in the period.  In the aftermath of a net-front scramble Scott Jacklin (Kimberley, British Columbia / Trail Smoke Eaters) found the loose puck and stabbed it through Sarjeant to tie the score, 2-2.

RMU would have a full two minutes of a two-man advantage in the final seconds of the first period that would carry over into the start of the second frame.  The Colonials would capitalize 73 seconds into the second period when Colin South (Sewickley, Pa. / Bay State Breakers) banged home a cross-crease pass past Sarjeant to give Robert Morris a 3-2 lead.

The Colonials would double their lead seven minutes into the second frame when Cody Wydo (Southgate, Mich. / Motor City Metal Jackets) deflected a point shot over Sarjeant's glove as RMU took a 4-2 lead.  The goal was Wydo's team-leading 12th goal of the season.

On a two-man advantage of its own, Mercyhurst would make the score 4-3 with a goal from Nick Jones who ripped a slapshot past Shafer midway through the second period.

The Colonials would spend five minutes on the penalty kill in the final stages of the second period that carried over into the final frame.  Less than a minute into the third period, Mercyhurst would tie the game, 4-4, with a goal by Zac Frischmon.

Shafer finished the game with 38 saves, making a minimum of ten stops in each period while improving his record to 2-8-2.

With a goal and an assist in the game for his sixth multi-point game this season, Lynch continues to lead the Colonials with 17 points.  Lynch has now scored in four consecutive contests while earning seven points during the scoring streak.

Robert Morris will return to action after the holiday break when they take to the ice at CONSOL Energy Center to defend its title in the 2013 Three Rivers Classic.  The action kicks off on Friday, Dec. 27 when the Colonials will take on in-state rival Penn State at 7:35 p.m.

Two-day ticket packages and single-day tickets are available at the Dick's Sporting Goods Box Office at CONSOL Energy Center or online through ticketmaster.com.