Springfield, Mass. - Robert Morris University forged a late push with a third period goal by sophomore Jacob Coleman, but couldn't find the equalizer as American International closed sixty minute of play handing the Colonials their second-ever road loss to the Yellow Jackets, by a score of 3-1.
 
AIC jumped out to an early lead with a power play goal by Hugo Reinhardt just 1:36 into the game. A low-shooting affair started with a first period that saw the Colonials outshot 7-5.

Despite efforts from goaltender Francis Marotte, the second period belonged to the Jackets as well. Martin Mellberg fed Blake Christensen the puck 4:47 into the frame and AIC was rolling with a 2-0 lead.

Robert Morris came out strong in the third period, outshooting the Yellow Jackets 10-4 in the final stanza. Following a successful penalty kill, Coleman stayed on the ice, battled for the puck along the left wall in the offensive zone, skating out to the slot and firing home his first goal of the season, to pull the Colonials back within one. Sophomore defenseman Sean Giles earned an assist on the goal.

RMU tried to continue that comeback effort and created several chance, out-attempting AIC 17-8 in the third period. But the rally came up short, when Dominic Racobaldo tallied an empty net goal to seal the game with a 3-1 final score.

The Colonials were 0-for-3 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill, blocking 8 shots, well below their average of 14 per game. RMU went 20-for-56 from the faceoff circle for a .357 percentage, an atypical mark for a group that has a .517 average for the season.

Friday's loss is just the second-ever loss for the Colonials on AIC's home ice and fifth-ever loss to the Yellow Jackets overall (18-5-3 all-time). RMU was 8-1-1 against AIC in the previous 10 games entering the weekend. With the win, the Jackets move ahead of RMU in the Atlantic Hockey standings with 21 points to the Colonials' 20.

Robert Morris (10-13-2, 9-8-2 AHC) will face off against AIC once against Saturday at 1:05pm at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass. That game can be viewed on AtlanticHockey.tv


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