STORRS, Conn. – March 15, 2014 – The Robert Morris University men's ice hockey team earned its first appearance in the Atlantic Hockey Semifinals with a 3-2 victory over Connecticut on Saturday evening.  With the victory, the Colonials swept the Huskies in two games to earn the berth.

"We played a very good team game," said head coach Derek Schooley after the victory, "we bent a little bit but we never broke and our guys sold out in the end and got the job done.

"I'm so happy for our guys, we've endured so much as a team and this is a very good accomplishment to battle back to .500," the bench boss boasted in his post-game interview.

With less than eight minutes remaining in the second period, freshman forward Ben Robillard (Ottawa, Ontario / Ottawa Jr. Senators) broke a 2-2 deadlock with his fourth goal of the season to give Robert Morris (17-17-5, 13-9-5 AHA) a 3-2 lead that the Colonials protected for the remainder of the game.

Freshman goaltender Dalton Izyk (Oswego, N.Y. / Indiana Ice) started back-to-back games for the first time this season and recorded 36 saves to earn his third-consecutive victory in the Atlantic Hockey playoffs.  In the two-game sweep of Connecticut (18-14-4, 15-9-3 AHA), Izyk allowed just two goals while making 69 saves.

"[Izyk] had a couple scrambles where he made some key saves as pucks were flying everywhere and the defense sold out in front of him," said Schooley when describing the play of his freshman goaltender, "our depth in net showed itself in this series."

All five goals scored by both teams came in the second period; including the game's first goal scored by sophomore forward Zac Lynch (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Bay State Breakers) almost three minutes into the middle frame.  Lynch's 18th goal of the season put RMU ahead, 1-0, as the sophomore capitalized on a Robert Morris power play.

Two minutes later, Connecticut tied the game with a goal from Tyler Cooke, making the score 1-1.

The Huskies would then take the lead for the first time in the series, 2-1, when Trevor Gerling found the back of the net seven minutes into the second stanza.

Only 24 seconds would elapse between Gerling's goal and a marker from sophomore defenseman Evan Moore (Grosse Pointe, Mich. / Sioux Falls Stampede).  Moore's third goal of the season tied the contest, 2-2, approaching the midway point of the period.

Robillard's goal followed Moore's tally later in the second period and turned out to be the game winning goal after a performance by Izyk in the third period in which he turned away all 16 shots he faced in the final chapter of Connecticut's season.

"After [Robillard's] goal, [Connecticut] came out with a lot of desperation and we didn't want to sit back and hold on for the win," said Schooley.

"We did a great job of pushing everything up the ice and our penalty kill was outstanding in the third period," exclaimed the coach.

Assisting on Lynch's goal was junior forward Cody Wydo (Southgate, Mich. / Motor City Metal Jackets).  With the assist, Wydo became just the fourth Colonial in program history to reach the century mark.

With the victory and sweep of Connecticut, the Colonials will advance to the AHA Semifinals on Friday, March 21 in Rochester, N.Y. to face a yet-to-be determined opponent.