Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Robert Morris University men's ice hockey team hosted in-state rival Mercyhurst in a rare Tuesday night contest at the 84 Lumber Arena. Coming in to the game, both teams had played one fewer game than the rest of the AHA so the winning team would gain a valuable two points in the standings. The Colonials would fall in a contest that was played closer that the final score, 8-1, would indicate.
Mercyhurst didn't wait long to open the scoring as the Lakers capitalized on a rebound just 19 seconds after the opening faceoff. Less than 80 seconds later, the Lakers would take a 2-0 advantage while the Colonials were on the power play.
Robert Morris would come within a single goal at the 5:41 mark of the first period when Mac Roy (Chilliwack, British Columbia / University of Alabama-Huntsville) slid the puck through the sprawling legs of the Mercyhurst goaltender. The goal came after junior defenseman Andrew Blazek (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Topeka Roadrunners) made a long outlet pass to freshman forward David Friedmann (Toronto, Ontario / Toronto Jr. Canadiens) who came in 2-1 with Roy. After a slick pass by Friedmann, Roy deked to his backhand and beat the goaltender. The first period would come to an end with the score at 2-1.
Mercyhurst would start to control the game in the second period after scoring on the power play to make the score 3-1. With less than five minutes remaining in the period, the Lakers' would net their fourth goal of the game and hold a 4-1 lead that would chase senior goaltender Eric Levine (Wheeling, Ill. / Pembroke Lumber Kings) after just two periods of play.
The Colonials would start the third period with freshman goaltender Terry Shafer (Penfield, N.Y. / New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs) seeing his first game action since the middle of November. Shafer would record five saves before giving way to redshirt-sophomore Eric Ferber (Scottsdale, Ariz. / Bridgewater Bandits) for the final few minutes of the game. Both goaltenders would allow two goals as the Lakers would record four more tallies in the final five minutes of the game to make the final score 8-1.
After going a perfect 4-for-4 with the man advantage on Saturday and clicking at 50 percent during the series against the Pioneers, the Colonials' power play regressed as they were unable to capitalize on any their six power play opportunities. The shining part of the night for Robert Morris was in the faceoff circle as the Colonials were able to rack up 43 wins. Three Colonials recorded double-digit win totals from the dot as senior Zach Hervato (Stittsville, Ontario / Smiths Falls Bears) led the team with 12 wins.
The Colonials will look to get back on track this weekend as AHA rival RIT makes the trip to the 84 Lumber Arena for a two-game series that will start on Friday with a 7:05 p.m. faceoff.
