Erie, Pa. – Things rarely seem to come easily for the
Robert Morris University men's hockey team at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.
That trend didn't change Saturday night, but the 17th-ranked Colonials nevertheless persevered to earn a 7-4 victory over in-state rival Mercyhurst. RMU built leads of 4-0, 5-1 and 6-2 before the host Lakers rallied to keep the result in doubt until the closing seconds.
"I'm in no way upset with the result," said Robert Morris head coach
Derek Schooley. "Good teams stick to it and this is a tough place to get two points."
The first-place Colonials (11-1-3, 9-1-3 Atlantic Hockey) had been winless in their past six meetings with Mercyhurst, including a pair of 5-5 ties in Erie last season. In addition, Robert Morris hadn't triumphed on the Lakers' home ice since Nov. 11, 2011, a span of four games.
It looked like RMU would make quick work of ending those streaks and clinching their fourth consecutive win. After overwhelming Sacred Heart with an eight-goal avalanche last Saturday, the Colonials chased star Mercyhurst goalie Jimmy Sarjeant with four goals in the first.
"We played the game the right way in the first period," Schooley said. "We did a lot of good things and advanced pucks behind their (defensemen). On top of that, we were opportunistic around the net and finished the play."
Now averaging 4.4 goals per game, RMU remains the highest-scoring team in the nation. The Colonials have been especially potent during their current five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1), during which they've lit the lamp 31 times.
As expected prior to the season,
Cody Wydo paces that attack. The senior winger rang up his fourth career four-point game with a goal and three assists, boosting his season total to a conference-leading 25 points (11g, 14a). Junior
Brandon Denham enjoyed his second consecutive three-point effort (1g, 2a), with
Daniel Leavens (1g, 1a),
Scott Jacklin (1g, 1a) and
Greg Gibson (2a) chipping in two points each.
Zac Lynch,
Matt Cope and
Evan Moore also added goals in the Colonials' latest offensive bonanza, although they were sobered by allowing four goals for the third straight game. They were quick to absolve goalie
Dalton Izyk (34 saves) of any blame, however, as he made several critical saves in the third when Mercyhurst (7-5-2, 5-3-2 AHC) pressed hard to equalize.
"At no point did I feel like we were in trouble, but Izyk was very good when we were under siege late," Schooley said. "We have standards that we need to maintain no matter what the score is."
Overall, Schooley said he was pleased with how his team handled a late-game scenario that could've easily slipped away.
"After the last media timeout, we strung a whole bunch of good shifts together to protect the lead," he said. "We have lots of guys like (redshirt junior defenseman)
Tyson Wilson and the Wydo-Lynch-Jacklin line who have played in those types of situations before."
The Colonials were flying to start the game, pumping three goals past Sarjeant in the opening seven minutes. Lynch started the party at 1:28 by finishing a pretty pass from Wydo at the inner edge of the left circle. Jacklin earned the second assist with an accurate relay that triggered a 2-on-1 rush.
"We just came out playing our game right off the bat," said Wydo, who had his first four-point game since the Atlantic Hockey championship last March. "We got a couple of good chances right away and we were able to capitalize on them."
Cope made it 2-0 less than three minutes later, driving the net to deposit the rebound of Denham's sharp-angle shot. The Colonials took advantage of another second opportunity with exactly seven minutes gone, as Moore rifled a slap shot over Sarjeant's shoulder from the left circle after
Rob Mann's initial attempt was denied.
"When we are most successful, we are playing in their end and behind their 'D,'" said Moore after scoring his first goal of his junior season. "We proved that in the first period tonight."
Tweet of the Game: RMU continued to drive play for the majority of the opening frame, leading to a pair of power plays. The Colonials converted on the second of those chances with 11 seconds remaining before intermission, with Wydo chopping a loose puck past replacement netminder Brandon Wildung.
Brady Ferguson pushed the puck to the front to create the chance.
Although Mercyhurst's Daniel Bahntge scored a power-play goal on a right-circle wrister 8:53 into the second, the Colonials restored their four-goal lead a minute later. Following a faceoff win by Gibson, defenseman
Tyson Wilson crept down the left wall and put a pass on the tape of Denham, who guided his fifth goal of the season around Wildung.
Mercyhurst freshman Jack Riley cut the margin to 5-2 with 3:20 left in the second, but RMU responded 2:22 into the third when Leavens netted his second goal of the night – and fifth in five games – to seemingly put the game out of reach.
After withstanding a long shift in their own end, the Colonials counterattacked with Wydo leading the charge. He floated a pass to
John Rey, whose initial shot hit the crossbar. However, Rey gathered the puck and put it on a platter for Leavens to rip a one-timer under through Sarjeant, who reentered the game late in the second period.
The 6-2 lead didn't last long, with Anthony Mastrodicasa scoring 14 seconds later following a Mercyhurst faceoff win. The Lakers kept the pressure on, ending up with a long two-man advantage near the midway point of the period. The Colonials did well to kill most of it, but Mastrodicasa slithered a long drive through traffic to make it a 6-4 game with 10 minutes left.
"They are pretty talented up front," Moore said of Mercyhurst. "We got away from what made us successful (earlier in the game) and we can't play that way against a team like that. Also, we got into penalty trouble…we've got to be smarter and tighten that up."
Mercyhurst ended up 3 for 6 on the power play, marking the third consecutive game RMU has surrendered at least five such opportunities.
"We need to be better at controlling our emotions," Schooley said of the recent penalty outbreak.
There were a handful of tense moments late, as Mercyhurst generated a 22-11 edge in shots on goal in the third period. But Izyk projected a steady presence to complement a composed defensive effort by the Colonials. Jacklin finally ended the drama by sliding the puck into an empty net with 1:06 to play.
"We just stuck to playing our defensive-zone coverage and tried to keep their shots to the outside," Wydo said. "We were able to keep pucks deep and hold Mercyhurst in their zone a little bit."
Robert Morris will conclude its fall semester schedule with a Sunday matinee in Erie. Faceoff with the Lakers is set for 4 p.m.
