Pittsburgh, Pa. - Sophomore defenseman
Alex Robert scored his first career goal to break a third period tie, but a late goal by Holy Cross knotted the game for good as Robert Morris University comes away from Friday's contest with a 5-5 draw and one point in the Atlantic Hockey standings.
Eleven Colonials recorded at least a point and four players recorded multi-point efforts, including forwards
Alex Tonge and
Luke Lynch who each scored a goal and an assist. Defenseman
Eric Israel and forward
Daniel Mantenuto both chipped in a pair of assists.
The Colonials power play opened the game strong with a goal just 2:13 into the first period,
Brady Ferguson from Tonge and Israel. Holy Cross answered four minutes later with an even-strength tally by Michael Laffin, his first of the game, tying the game 1-1.
That score held until the second frame when the floodgates opened for both teams' offense. RMU and Holy Cross scored three goals apiece in the period, both in the form of a power play goal and two five-on-five goals.
T.J. Moore put the Crusaders ahead 2-1 before Atlantic Hockey's leading goal-scorer Scott Pooley (8) put Holy Cross up by two with a goal on the man-advantage. With 5:39 left in the second,
Matthew Graham found the back of the net for the second time this season, both times on the power play. After Graham cut the deficit two one, the Crusaders wasted no time pushed their lead back to two. Frank Boie scored 15 seconds later to make it 4-2.
Graham's goal started a string of three goals in a span of 71 seconds. Less than a minute after Holy Cross went ahead 4-2, Lynch scored his sixth goal of the season with assists from Mantenuto and
Timmy Moore. With a two-point night, Lynch (6-2-8) ties Ferguson (4-4-8) for the team points lead with eight.
Trailing by one, the Colonials weren't done yet. The newest member of RMU's first line of forwards, right-winger
Jacob Coleman, raced up the ice with time winding down in the second, dishing the puck to Tonge who was flying towards the net and tapped home the shot on the yawning net of Paul Berrafato. Tonge tied the game 4-4 with just 17 seconds left in the second and sent the Colonials to the locker room with momentum.
"He's a really easy player to play with," Tonge said of the sophomore Coleman. "He made a great play and I just tried to put it on net."
Robert Morris came out strong to start the third period and got the go-ahead goal from an unexpected player. Sophomore defenseman
Alex Robert, who had two assists in 20 career games, got the puck on his stick and blasted home his first career goal into what he deemed a "wide open net."
"There was a scramble right in the middle of the ice, I creeped in, and luckily the puck came right to me," said Robert. "Definitely good to get the monkey off the back."
Robert's go-ahead goal nearly took RMU the distance. Goaltender
Francis Marotte saw the bulk of the action in the third period as the Crusaders outshot the Colonials 10-5 in the frame. Robert Morris had a 29-21 lead on shots entering the third and finished the game with a 39-32 advantage.
With four minutes to play, the Colonials would have to kill a penalty and nearly completed the task. Laffin scored his second of the night, this time on the power play, to tie things up 5-5 with 24 seconds remaining on the Crusaders power play and 2:25 left in the game.
After Holy Cross forced overtime, RMU took control in the extra session, outshooting the Crusaders 5-1 including one huge chance on a power play with less than 30 seconds to play. Moore nearly chipped home the game-winner on the Crusaders doorstep, but Berrafato stuffed the puck to the ice and held on to preserve the tie.
Holy Cross blocked 20 shots to RMU's 14, with the Colonials dominating shot attempts 69-49. RMU held a 43-35 advantage in the faceoff circle, where it picked up a terrific performance on the draw from Ferguson, who won 26 of 37 faceoffs.
While RMU gains an important point in the Atlantic Hockey standings, the team is still searching for the 'W', going 0-3-1 in its last four games.
"We just have to be better," said head coach
Derek Schooley. "We haven't had everybody going and playing their best at one time yet. A step in the right direction, yes, but still some things we've got to tighten up."
Robert Morris (2-5-1, 2-3-1 AHC) will look to do just that in game two of the weekend series with Holy Cross (3-1-3, 2-0-3 AHC). The teams square off once again Saturday night at 7:05pm at Colonials Arena at the RMU Island Sports Center. Follow the action with the
video stream ($),
radio broadcast (on 970 AM ESPN Pittsburgh),
live stats, or on social media.
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