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Robert Morris University Athletics

lynch breaks program record vs bentley ahc quarterfinals
Fred Vuich/For RMU Athletics
4
Winner BENTLEY BEN 14-18-6
3
Robert Morris RMU 21-10-4
Winner
BENTLEY BEN
14-18-6
4
Final
3
Robert Morris RMU
21-10-4
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
BENTLEY BEN 2 1 1 4
Robert Morris RMU 1 1 1 3

Game Recap: Men's Hockey |

Lynch Breaks Record, But RMU Falls in Game One

Bentley takes 1-0 series lead, Lynch becomes all-time scoring leader

Pittsburgh, Pa. - Robert Morris University men's hockey drops the Atlantic Hockey tournament quarterfinal series opener to the Bentley Falcons 4-3 Friday night.

The Colonials heavily outshot Bentley 48-28 but couldn't bury enough goals to pull ahead, despite a power play opportunity and two-skater advantage in the final 92 seconds of regulation.

The night started out in grand fashion as senior forward Zac Lynch picked up a puck battled free by Evan Moore and Matt Cope on a Falcons power play and skated up the ice, flicking the shot into the back of the net recording his 151st career point to capture the Robert Morris all-time scoring record. Lynch's goal was his eighth shorthanded tally this season, while no other NCAA player has more than four. Lynch eclipsed the 150 point mark held by Cody Wydo ('15).

Bentley quickly responded with a Matt Blomquist goal less than two minutes later to even the game at one. The Falcons leading scorer Max French put the team ahead 2-1 on a power play goal with 2:10 remaining in the first and took that lead into the first intermission.



Robert Morris came back to tie the game 11:23 into the second. Brady Ferguson nearly put the tying goal home with a wraparound attempt. Timmy Moore gathered the puck and fired home the rebound past leaping Falcons netminder Gabe Antoni, knotting the game at two.

Bentley pulled ahead again less than five minutes later with Andrew Gladiuk's seventeenth goal of the season, giving the Falcons a 3-2 lead heading into the third period. The Colonials outshot Bentley 22-9 in the second frame.

Robert Morris continued to apply pressure in the third and just couldn't bury a chance until a scrum for the puck resulted in a goal. The Colonials surrounded Antoni's crease, keeping the puck moving and finally Eric Israel worked it lose. Israel passed the puck to Tyson Wilson who dished to Cope. His initial shot was blocked but on the second attempt, the slapshot sailed into the net and the game was tied at 3 with 5:49 to play.

The Colonials, who won the faceoff battle 51-26, lost the ensuing faceoff and the Falcons top line struck once again. French scored his second goal of the game just 38 seconds later and the go-ahead goal held as the game-winner.

"You want to make sure that you have a good bounce back shift and that it's a momentum shifter," Schooley said. "That's one of our key points, no goals on the next shift. We gave up one and we have to make sure we don't do that."

Robert Morris (21-10-4) now faces elimination the rest of the way, returning to the ice Saturday night at 7:05pm for game two of the quarterfinal series with Bentley.

"We'll draw on our veteran leadership and we'll draw on our seniors," said Schooley. "If a team comes in and wins two games in our building, they deserve to advance and we don't."

When asked about breaking the program scoring record, senior Zac Lynch wasn't thinking of his milestone.

"Maybe later on it will be special to me,' said Lynch, " but right now I'm just focusing on winning tomorrow."
 
 
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