ERIE, Pa. -- Saturday was a night of firsts for the 2018-19 edition of the Robert Morris University men's hockey team.

First road win. First weekend sweep. First Saturday victory. First winning streak.

Yes, this 7-1 triumph on the campus of Mercyhurst University meant a little more than most November wins, with five special-teams goals propelling the Colonials above .500 in Atlantic Hockey play for the first time this season. The six-goal margin of victory was RMU's largest since Jan. 28, 2017, a span of 64 games.

"I've said we've been playing well, we just haven't put it together back-to-back," head coach Derek Schooley said. "We've had one good, one bad. We found a way to do it and now we have to go on the road. We want to make sure we finish up the semester in a positive direction. We're well on our way right now."

There are four games to play before the winter break, with a road series at Sacred Heart up next weekend. What the Colonials (5-6-1, 4-3-1 AHA) accomplished this weekend should assist in the effort to keep rising in the conference standings.

Justin Addamo scored two of RMU's four power-play goals, as the freshman winger pounced on a rebound in the first to make it 1-0 and raised the Colonials' lead to 4-0 with a deflection late in the second. The Colonials went 4 for 8 on the advantage in a penalty-filled game, spending all sorts of time in the offensive zone during those power plays and being more direct in their approach.

"I think we moved the puck well," said Addamo, who doubled his season goal total in a couple of hours. "We made simple plays. We got the puck to the net and didn't try to 'sauce' it backside or go between their legs. We just made simple passes, simple plays and hoping you'd see a guy open somewhere. That's how we scored."



Daniel Mantenuto connected for a shorthanded goal late in the first, while Kip Hoffmann and Kyle Horsman netted power-play goals in the third to turn the back end of this home-and-home series into a runaway. Hoffmann's rebound tally was his first as a collegian, making him the sixth RMU freshman to achieve that milestone in the first 12 games of the season.

Michael Coyne piled on with a strong individual effort in the final minute, burying his first of the year and giving RMU its largest offensive outburst so far. Thirteen Colonials in all recorded at least a point, with Addamo, Mantenuto and Eric Israel leading with two apiece.

"We're really proud," Addamo said. "Finally a win on Saturday. Really good feeling for the guys, winning two in a row. Really proud of this."

Much like Friday night at the RMU Island Sports Center, the Colonials had to kill several penalties to secure the win. On top of Mantenuto's shorty that put Robert Morris ahead by two at the first intermission, the visitors held Mercyhurst (5-7-2, 3-4-1 AHA) off the board on six opportunities.

After RMU killed three consecutive penalties in the second period, sophomore Nick Prkusic scored what might've been the most important goal of the night with 3:08 left before intermission. Taking a lead pass from Nick Lalonde in transition, Prkusic burst to the goal and stuffed a last-second backhand deke around Lakers starting goalie Stefano Cantali.

Although the Colonials were on the kill too much for their liking in the first half of the game, they largely took the high road late, when frustration took over for the Lakers. Mercyhurst has won just once in eight home games, dropping to 1-5-2 in Erie.



"We took some dumb penalties; they took some dumb penalties," Schooley said. "Our guys kept their heads (late), kept their cool."

Outside of their power plays, the Lakers' only extended push arrived early in the third, when Josh Lammon's second goal of the weekend foiled Francis Marotte's bid for his second shutout of the season. Marotte wasn't challenged with as many prime chances as he faced Friday on the Island, but the junior goalie was similarly strong in stopping 25 shots.

Once the Colonials withstood Mercyhurst's second wind, they put a stranglehold on their sixth win in their last eight games against their Keystone State rivals. With the two-game broom job, RMU has leveled the all-time series at 12-12-8, with another home-and-home series lurking at the end of the regular season. This was just the second time the Colonials have scored seven goals against the Lakers, and the first time they've ever defeated 'Hurst by more than five.

Getting back to the present, the Colonials will savor their finest weekend performance to date before preparing for their first two-game trip of the year. 

"We're excited to get a sweep," Schooley said. "Really proud of our guys."