Box Score ST. PAUL, Minn. – March 29, 2014 – Taking part in the 2014 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship for the first time in program history, the Robert Morris University men's ice hockey program took on No. 1/2 Minnesota in a West Regional Semifinal on Saturday afternoon.  Entering the game with a five-game winning streak, the Colonials put up a valiant effort but came up on the short end of a 7-3 contest.

"We never quit," said head coach Derek Schooley.  "I am really proud of our hockey team and I hope everybody realizes how hard our team plays."

In the contest, junior forward Cody Wydo (Southgate, Mich. / Motor City Metal Jackets) set the program's career goal record, picking up the 65th goal of his career.  Wydo surpassed Chris Margott – who played from the 2005-06 season through the 2008-09 campaign and recorded 64 goals.

Down 4-0 with less than seven minutes remaining in the second period, Wydo got Robert Morris (19-18-5, 13-9-5 AHA) on the board with his record-breaking goal.  Wydo's 31st goal of the season opened the scoring for the Colonials as line mate Zac Lynch (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Bay State Breakers) picked up his 19th goal of the season with 44 seconds remaining in the middle stanza as the Colonials were in striking distance, 4-2, after two periods.

Wydo finishes the season with 31 goals and 54 points, both of which are single-season records at Robert Morris.

After spending the first 15 minutes of the contest in a scoreless draw, RMU surrendered the game's first goal with less than four minutes remaining in the opening frame.  Minnesota (26-6-6, 14-3-3 B1G) would pick up two more goals before the end of the period as the Colonials trailed, 3-0, after 20 minutes.

Eight minutes into the second period, the Golden Gophers would make the score 4-0 before RMU got on the board with Wydo's marker followed by Lynch's tally to end the second period.

On a power play with less than six minutes remaining in the third period, Minnesota took a 5-2 lead but the three-goal advantage was nullified by David Friedmann (Toronto, Ontario / Toronto Jr. Canadiens) who scored just 25 seconds later.  Friedmann's goal made the score 5-3 as RMU remained within striking distance with five minutes remaining.

In his final game as a Colonial, Colin South (Sewickley, Pa. / Bay State Breakers) picked up an assist on Friedmann's third-period goal.  South finishes his career at Robert Morris with 36 goals and 41 assists for 76 points while playing in 142 games at RMU.

With the goalie pulled while on a power play, RMU surrendered an empty-net goal that made the score 6-3 before the Golden Gophers netted a seventh goal with one minute remaining in the contest to make the final score 7-3.

Freshman goaltender Dalton Izyk (Oswego, N.Y. / Indiana Ice) made the start between the pipes and recorded 41 saves in the contest.  The game was Izyk's second 40+ save performance in the 11 games that he has seen action and second in the last three postseason contests.

"Our goaltending was very good," said Schooley of Izyk's performance.  "Our goalie gave us a chance and we never quit on him."

The top line of Lynch, Wydo, and Scott Jacklin (Kimberley, British Columbia / Trail Smoke Eaters) accounted for six of the eight points collected by the Colonials in the contest.

After a 2-12-2 start, RMU turned its fortunes around in the second half of the season and finished the 2014 portion of its schedule with a 17-6-3 record.  In just ten years, Schooley has taken the second-youngest program in the NCAA to the NCAA Championships after earning the program's first Atlantic Hockey Championship crown just last week.

This season's graduating class – Andrew Blazek (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Topeka Roadrunners), Jimmy Geerin (Anchorage, Alaska / Burnaby Express), Evan Renwick (Calgary, Alberta / Canmore Eagles), Mac Roy (Chilliwack, British Columbia / Alabama-Huntsville), South, and John Walton (West Chester, Pa. / Philadelphia Jr. Flyers) – leave Robert Morris with a program-record 74 victories and they are the only class in the ten-year history of the program to not have a losing season during their four years as a Colonial.

"As a senior it's nice to have this be our first trip to the national championship," said South, the team captain, "to be a member of this team when it happened is something special."

With the loss of the six seniors, Robert Morris will return Wydo – an All-AHA First Team honoree – as well as goaltenders Terry Shafer (Penfield, N.Y. / New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs) – an All-AHA Third Team honoree – and Izyk who was the lone goaltender on the AHA Tournament Team.  Including in the returning squad is the current sophomore class which was at or near the top in goals, assists, and points this season.