Colorado Springs, Colo. -- Daniel Leavens finished his hat trick with what proved to be the game-winning goal as Robert Morris University men's hockey captured a 7-4 victory over Air Force Academy in a battle of the top two teams in Atlantic Hockey Friday night. The win guarantees a fourth-place finish or better for the Colonials, securing home ice for the second round of the AHC playoffs.

The game could not have started better for the Colonials, who took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission. Lakewood, Colorado native Matt Cope tapped a puck that trickled over the goal line to put Robert Morris on the board with a power play goal 6:29 into the contest. Leavens scored his first goal of the game at 14:31 of the first. Evan Moore battle for the puck in the left wing corner and worked it out along the boards to Brady Ferguson who centered the pass to Leavens for his 14th goal of the season. Just 3:31 later, Leavens strikes again, this time on the power play. Leavens' shot from the left faceoff circle kicked back out and he buried his own rebound for his second goal of the game, chasing Air Force starting goaltender Shane Starrett. Ferguson's assist marked the fiftieth point of his career in just his second season.

A 3-0 lead wasn't enough. The Colonials were on the penalty kill to start the second period. Zac Lynch batted the puck away from the Falcons, drove up the ice, keeping control of the puck off the edge of his skate and through traffic, to tuck a goal past the sprawling leg of Billy Christopoulos just 25 seconds into the second. The shorthanded goal was Lynch's NCAA-leading seventh of the season, thirteenth of his career, extending his RMU record and leading all active players.



Air Force didn't back down. Facing a 4-0 deficit, the Falcons scored three consecutive goals, by Tyler Rostenkowski, Ben Kucera and Tyler Ledford, cutting the Colonials lead to just one, ending the second period with RMU holding onto a 4-3 lead.

But Leavens answered the call 77 seconds into the third period. Timmy Moore worked the puck free in the Colonials defensive zone, passed to Ferguson streaming up the ice, and Ferguson laid a beautiful pass on the stick of Leavens who was driving towards the net. Leavens tips home the goal, completing his first career hat trick to put the Colonials in front 5-3.

Air Force had one more goal in store, Kucera's second of the game on a power play at the midway point of the final frame. The Falcons were relentless with shots on goal but Terry Shafer stood strong, posting 45 saves in the victory.

"Shafer gave up four goals but competed hard and was a big reason why we were able to win tonight," Head Coach Derek Schooley said after the game.

Robert Morris knew it couldn't stay comfortable with a two-goal lead. Spencer Dorowicz came up the ice on a breakaway and fired a shot that was brushed off by Christopoulos, richoted off the post and out to David Friedmann who tapped in the goal to give Robert Morris a 6-3 lead with four minutes to play.

With a power play opportunity, Air Force pulled goaltender Christopoulos in favor of an extra skater and took a 6-on-4 run at the Colonials. Greg Gibson ended that attempt by picking the pocket of a Falcons player and ripping a shot into the empty net with 2:02 to play.

Air Force outshot the Colonials 49-25, holding the Colonials to just seven shots in both the first and second period, but Robert Morris went two-for-three on the power play, scoring four special teams goals.

"We were very opportunistic tonight and converted on our chances," Schooley said. "We need to manage the puck better in key areas of the ice so we are not in our zone as much as we were tonight."

Robert Morris (19-8-4, 16-5-4 AHC) has a chance to clinch the Atlantic Hockey Association regular season title with a victory in Saturday's 7:05pm EST (5:05 MT) game at Cadet Ice Arena. If the Colonials earn a point in the standings with a tie on Saturday night, the point guarantees at least a share of the regular season title. RMU can clinch the outright title two ways: a win; a tie, paired with an RIT tie or loss AND a loss by Holy Cross.