Men's Hockey | 12/14/2017 7:00:00 AM

College hockey aficionado and Pittsburgh media personality Mike Prisuta contributes regular commentary on the RMU men's hockey team. This is his latest:

Pittsburgh, Pa. -  The headline from a much-anticipated home-and-home series with No. 18 Penn State was the Colonials lost two more games.

But the story might yet turn out to be a turning of the corner for Robert Morris.

"We just had a belief in our team," head coach Derek Schooley said of the way the Colonials comported themselves during last Saturday night's rematch at PSU's Pegula Ice Arena. "Our bench was awesome. Guys sold out, they left everything on the ice. We didn't get the result we wanted but it was a different feeling.

"We had a mojo, an energy, a belief about us that we haven't had all year."

Robert Morris still ended up on the wrong end of a 7-4 score (Penn State's sixth goal was scored into an empty net and the seventh came on a power play at 19:53 of the third period).

But the effort individually and collectively was much more representative than what Robert Morris had been able to muster during last Friday's 5-2 loss at PPG Paints Arena.

In between, the Colonials had held a team meeting -- standard protocol prior to getting on the bus for a road game -- during which their expectations of themselves and for their season wound up being reaffirmed.

"I posed the question, 'Are we good enough?'" Schooley said. "I told them, 'Maybe we're just not that good.' I got a resounding 'that's not true,' from our team and our staff. I already knew the answer but I wanted to hear it from them.

"I think they needed to say it."

Schooley ultimately saw a different team on the ice at Penn State, one committed to blocking shots and finishing checks, one that did "most of the little things we need to do to be successful," he said.

Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky said the Colonials deserved "a lot of credit," for Saturday night's effort.

"They're an incredibly gritty team," Gadowsky told reporters. "When we were able to get ahead, they just kept coming. I like the mentality."

RMU's overall record still fell to 5-11-1 at the regular season's halfway point.

But Schooley emerged encouraged.

Among the reasons why:

—The consistency of senior center Spencer Dorowicz: "He's been a diligent worker from Day One and he's getting results to back it up," Schooley said. "His line with (junior winger Michael) Louria and (sophomore winger Luke) Lynch was very effective. They have skill but they're also diligent on the puck."

—The resilience of senior center Brady Ferguson: "I was pleased with Brady's bounce-back game," Schooley continued. "He laid out to block a shot, and he and (senior winger) Timmy Moore executed a beautiful short-handed goal."

And,

—The determination of senior defenseman and RMU captain Alex Bontje: "Alex was really good on Saturday night," Schooley added. "He was irritated with his performance on Friday night (minus 3). He bounced back on Saturday night (plus 3)."

The Colonials had more scoring chances than the Nittany Lions (21-15) on Saturday night.

They didn't get any points for that, but it might be enough to help get them going this weekend against Mercyhurst (Saturday 7:05pm, RMU Island Sports Center; Sunday 4:05pm at Mercyhurst).

"We need our upperclassmen to take it over," Schooley emphasized. "It was good to see them step up their game when you needed them to (at Penn State).

"Although the result wasn't what we wanted, it was something -- if we can sustain it -- you can look back on it, potentially, as being a good thing for us. But the key will be sustaining that emotion, that passion, that belief. It just comes down to the guys believing in each other, believing in the process, believing that we're better than our record states and we have to go out and earn it.

"It's hard when you've had a little bit of a rough start. But I think Saturday showed we have that capability, now we have to go out and do it. If we play that hard on a consistent basis (the rest of the way) it'll make this tough patch a distant memory."


COLONIALS MEN'S HOCKEY ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Snapchat  |  YouTube