Rochester, NY – The Robert Morris University men's hockey team opened the season with a 6-3 loss to Rochester Institute of Technology Friday night.

The Colonials held the Tigers at bay throughout much of the first period of play. RIT outshot RMU 13-6 in the opening frame, cashing in on a Caleb Cameron goal to take a 1-0 lead into the second.

It didn't take much longer for the scoring to open up both ways. Timmy Moore notched his first goal of the night just 1:17 into the second, picking up the rebound of an Alex Bontje one-timer and burying the puck past Tigers goaltender Mike Rotolo. Brandon Watt snagged the second assist on the tying goal.

RIT answered with three consecutive goals to take a 4-1 lead. The Colonials gained a 5-on-3 power play and pulled back within two goals of the lead on the 5-on-4 finish of the man-advantage. Brady Ferguson sniped the puck over the right shoulder of Rotolo to make it a 4-2 game with 3:13 to play in the second. Ferguson's power play tally was assisted by Daniel Leavens and Eric Israel, who both had scoring chances during the power play.



RIT jumped back to a three-goal lead 1:10 into the third with a goal by Gabe Valenzuela, who led the Tigers with a three-point night. Moore brought the Colonials back within two just 2:29 later. Luke Lynch tallied his first collegiate point with an assist after battling for the puck near the blue line. Watt picked up his second assist of the night and nearly scored, but Rotolo made the initial stop. Moore stuck with the puck and batted it in for his second goal of the night, the first multi-point game of his career. Watt's two assists mark the first multi-point game of his career as well.

RIT added a final power play score with a Myles Powell goal and took the victory 6-3.

Dalton Izyk made 45 saves, the highest total of his career in Atlantic Hockey play. Robert Morris blocked 17 shots, led by senior defenseman Rob Mann who had five. Forwards Lynch, Jacob Coleman, Matthew Graham and goaltender Francis Marotte all played in their first collegiate games. Lynch finished plus-one with an assist and a block, Graham registered three shots, Coleman recorded a shot and a block and Marotte played 2:25 in net to close the third period, stopping the two shots he faced.

Robert Morris (0-1-0) will take on RIT (1-0-0) once again Saturday night at 7:05pm at the Gene Polisseni Center in Rochester.

Saturday, October 8  7:05pm
Live Stats  |  Live Video ($)
Game will be aired live on Time Warner Cable Sports television in Rochester.

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