Rochester, NY - A remarkable run comes to a close Saturday night for the Robert Morris University men's hockey team, falling 2-1 to Air Force Academy, who takes home the Atlantic Hockey tournament championship title.

Senior forward Ben Robillard scored the goal for the Colonials, who were riding a six-game winning streak following Robillard's overtime game-winner on senior night exactly one month ago.

Air Force grabbed an early lead on an Erik Baskin goal 1:15 into the game and held on until Robillard tied things up with 3:58 left in the second period. Eric Israel earned an assist on the goal. Air Force would not head into the second intermission tied, as Falcons leading scorer Jordan Himley collected the puck from Tyler Ledford and reached it past Francis Marotte for the go-ahead goal with 31 seconds to play. The Colonials outshot the Falcons 10-5 in the second period and controlled play through much of the frame.

The pattern held in the third as the Colonials outshot Air Force 12-4 and put in a record-setting defensive performance, allowing just 14 total shots, the fewest allowed in a single-game in Robert Morris history (previous 15 shots, Oct. 29, 2005 vs. Quinnipiac).

Both Brady Ferguson (58 points, 24G 34A) and Israel (30 points, 8G 22A) finish the season as the highest scoring Atlantic Hockey players at their respective positions. Ferguson now holds the RMU single-season scoring record with 58 points, taking the spot from Zac Lynch '16 (55 points), while Israel tallied the second-highest scoring season by an RMU defenseman, trailing only Denny Urban's 40-point senior campaign. Ferguson, a junior, is now fifth all-time in scoring at Robert Morris with 118 points.

Marotte finishes a fantastic freshman season with RMU single-season records of a 2.08 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. 

The Colonials Class of 2017 seniors -- Dalton Izyk, Daniel Leavens, Rob Mann and Ben Robillard -- end their Robert Morris careers with 89 wins to their credit, the most of any class in the history of RMU's program.

Izyk, limited by injury this season and off and on throughout his career, played in 52 games, compiling a 28-11-1 record in goal, the fifth-most wins in RMU history. Izyk amassed 1357 saves, with a career .913 save percentage and 2.86 goals against average. The senior from Oswego, NY was instrumental in the Colonials first NCAA berth in the 2014 Atlantic Hockey postseason.

Robillard, an alternate captain, ends his career with twelve goals, scoring six this season, following two years of missing significant time due to injury. The senior from Ottawa, Ontario played in 83 games and had 18 career points, with three of his twelve goals being game-winning goals, including a goal to advance the team in the 2014 Atlantic Hockey tournament.

Leavens, an alternate captain, finished this season with 49 points, the fifth best individual season in program history, and the eighth all-time leading scorer with 108 career points. The senior from Toronto is owner of the single-season assists record with 35 helpers this season. Leavens posted five game-winning goals in his senior campaign and eight over the course of his career.

"I'm at a loss for words of how thankful I am to be able to wear this jersey for four years and be a part of this," said Leavens following the game.

Mann, the team's captain, has been a defensive stalwart throughout his career, ranking in the top 15 nationally in blocked shots each of the last two seasons. Mann, a native of Oshawa, Ontario, blocked a total of 253 shots in his career. Mann found an offensive touch his senior season, with 3 goals and 9 assists for 12 points, more than doubling his total from his first three seasons, finishing with 6 goals and 16 assists for 22 points, including a pair of game-winners.

"We just witnessed the end of the career for four tremendously important players in the history of Robert Morris hockey," said an emotional head coach Derek Schooley."[Leavens] is a big point producer and a big offensive guy, but it's the character, it's the glue. It's the people. I'm sad. This has been my most enjoyable year of coaching."


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