Buffalo, NY - Robert Morris University men's hockey staved off a third period Canisius rally with a chip in goal by
Spencer Dorowicz to give the Colonials a 4-3 win, their first of the 2017-18 season.
Robert Morris amassed a 3-0 advantage through the first two periods of play before the Griffins came charging back with a trio of third period tallies to tie the game. Dorowicz's game-winning goal came with four minutes remaining and was the fourth game-winner of his career.
The Colonials power play continued to click in the first period. After a blocked shot took senior forward
Timmy Moore temporarily off the ice, his replacement on RMU's top power play unit came up with the first score of the game. Sophomore forward
Matthew Graham jumped in with the first group and put home a rebound to give Robert Morris a 1-0 lead 9:18 into the game.
Brady Ferguson and
Alex Tonge earned assists as Tonge set up Ferguson with a pass and Ferguson's shot caromed off Canisius goaltender Simon Hofley's pads and onto the stick of Graham who didn't miss on the golden opportunity.
Another power play chance came minutes later and a Ferguson pass took a bounce off a body and landed on the stick of
Michael Louria in the slot and he buried the shot for his first goal as a Colonial, to put RMU up 2-0.
With 4:12 remaining in the second, Robert Morris extended its lead on a heads up play by
Luke Lynch. The sophomore forward came off the bench and jumped right into a Griffins pass, quickly firing a shot from the left circle over the shoulder of Hofley to extend RMU's lead to 3-0. Lynch's score was the first 5-on-5 marker for the Colonials this season.
Canisius battled back in the third period, scoring three goals in a span of 4:59 in the middle of the frame to tie the game at three goals apiece. Nick Hutchison scored on the power play before a tremendous individual effort by Ryan Schmelzer pulled the Griffs within one. Less than three minutes later, a bouncing puck landed in the Colonials net and was credited to Matt Long to tie things up with under ten minutes to play.
With 4:00 remaining, Dorowicz collected a loose puck and snapped it into the net to put RMU back in front and they'd hold on for the win.
Head Coach
Derek Schooley considered it a 50-minute effort by the Colonials.
"When you give up three in 10 minutes, if you sit back, you're going to lose," said Schooley. "We did a good job of responding when it was 3-3, but we should have never been in that situation. We've got an older, veteran team that should be able to close out a three-goal lead heading into the third period."
Francis Marotte made 30 saves on a night the Colonials were outshot by Canisius 33-26, including three in the final 2:20 while the Griffins pulled their goaltender in favor of an extra attacker. Robert Morris blocked 11 shots including three apiece from
Elias Ghantous and
Timmy Moore.
The Colonials (1-1-0, 1-1-0 AHC) face off against Canisius once again Saturday night at 7:35pm at the HarborCenter in Buffalo, NY.
Watch ($) live or listen to the
audio broadcast beginning at 7:25pm.
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