West Point, NY – Robert Morris men's hockey comes home from Army West Point with a hard-fought 5-2 victory. Five different players scored goals for the Colonials, who have found success this season with a balanced offensive attack. The Colonials take 3 of 4 points on the weekend, putting Robert Morris one point back of first place Mercyhurst in the Atlantic Hockey conference.

Robert Morris opened the scoring 6:58 into the first period. Greg Gibson won a battle behind the net, put the puck on the stick of Daniel Leavens who tossed it over the shoulder of Army netminder Brendan Gahagen to give the Colonials a 1-0 lead.

Less than one minute later, Robert Morris took advantage of its' first power play opportunity of the night. 24 seconds into the man-advantage, Leavens took a shot near the blue line and Brandon Denham knocked the shot home from the slot, lifting the Colonials lead to a 2-0 margin.

Junior forward Ben Robillard returned to the Colonials lineup for the first time this season and made his presence known. With just 40 second remaining in the first, Robillard raced between the circles to snipe in the rebound off a shot by Brady Ferguson for his first goal of the season. Robillard scoring in his first game of the season in similar fashion to Spencer Dorowicz who also scored in his first game back from injury against Michigan.

The 3-0 lead held by Robert Morris at the end of 20 minutes of play makes 20 first period goals scored by the Colonials this season, the most by any team in college hockey.

Army went to goaltender Cole Bruns to start the second period, but early in the session, Robert Morris scored once again on the power play, besting its' earlier time of 24 seconds. The first shot of the power play chance found the back of the net 23 seconds into the man-advantage. Freshman defenseman Eric Israel passed from the point to Denham who was camped in the slot. Denham quickly passed across the net to Ferguson who netted his sixth goal of the season, extending the Colonials lead to 4-0. The second assist awarded to Israel is his first career point at Robert Morris.

Army West Point closed the gap midway through the second frame on a power play goal by Clint Carlisle. RMU held the 4-1 lead until the 15:35 mark of the third period. After a sprawling blocker save by Colonials goaltender Terry Shafer, Nick DeCenzo finished the Black Knights next opportunity with a power play goal, cutting the RMU lead to just two.

With its' goaltender pulled, Army made a push until Zac Lynch scooped up the puck in the Colonials end and tossed it from the far blue line into the back of the net for a shorthanded empty net goal to put the game out of reach. Lynch's shorthanded goal in Friday's game against Army broke the Robert Morris program record for shorthanded goals, giving Lynch 7, surpassing Cody Wydo's mark of 6. With Saturday's tally, Lynch now has 8 sharthanded goals, which also leads all active players in college hockey.

The 5-2 victory puts Robert Morris' record at 5-2-3 overall and 4-1-3 in Atlantic Hockey conference play. The Colonials return to action at home next Saturday and Sunday with a series against Sacred Heart at 84 Lumber Arena. Saturday's game is at 7:05 pm and Sunday is at 5:05pm. For tickets, call 412-397-4949 or visit RMUtickets.com

VIDEO: Robert Morris 5, Army 2