SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Grant Hebert and Jacob Coleman scored tying goals in the third period Saturday night, but a late power-play tally gave American International a 4-3 win over Robert Morris University men's hockey team at MassMutual Center.

AIC's Hugo Reinhardt deposited a rebound with four minutes to play, giving the Yellow Jackets (8-7-1, 8-4-1 Atlantic Hockey) their fifth straight victory. RMU, which fell to 7-9-1 and 6-6-1 in AHA play, allowed more than two goals for the first time in six games, but the Colonials also scored more than two for the first time in four.

The Colonials struck first courtesy of Luke Lynch early in the second, but the middle frame quickly got away from the visitors as the second-place Jackets outshot and out-chanced RMU. AIC carried a 2-1 lead into what turned out to be a wild four-goal third period for two teams coming off lengthy winter breaks.

"I thought in the second period they out-competed us," RMU head coach Derek Schooley said after the Colonials' first game in 21 days. "Our compete level wasn't high enough in the second and we turned too many pucks over. I didn't like our energy in the second, but I thought we came out well in the third, got goals from guys who don't score as much."

Coleman's first NCAA short-handed goal was the most spectacular of the bunch, as the junior Moon Township native picked off a puck at the blue line and soared in for a long breakaway against AIC goalie Zackarias Skog. Coleman's fitted his close-range snap shot perfectly over Skog's glove, tying the score 3-3 with just under nine minutes to play.

"I was up high and pushing," said Coleman, who lifted his season goal total to two. "I think I baited the defenseman (Brennan Kapcheck) into thinking my stick was (on the other side). Once I saw him make the pass I was able to pick it off. I looked up and just tried to catch the goalie off-guard."



Coleman's goal countered a perfect one-timer from AIC's top gunner Tobias Fladeby, who cracked the puck past a helpless Francis Marotte after a turnover behind the RMU net. Fladeby's ninth was itself an answer to Hebert's slam dunk two minutes prior. Daniel Mantenuto put a pass on a platter for the freshman Hebert to hammer past Skog at 7:40 for his second NCAA tally.

In the end, though, the pushback went for naught when the Yellow Jackets scored on their fourth power play of the night. Martin Mellberg turned the puck on goal from the side of the net, with Marotte's save hopping right on the stick of Reinhardt. 

"We got going a bit in the third, but we needed a kill at the end of the game and we did not get it," Schooley said. "I thought we did some good things and there's stuff to build on."

Robert Morris was outshot in the first period 11-7, but the Colonials came closest to scoring twice, as Nick Lalonde and Nick Jenny each hit the right goal post behind Skog. At the other end, Marotte picked up where he left off before the break, calmly making a couple of high-danger saves when the Yellow Jackets were buzzing. 

RMU connected for its first goal of the season's second half when a counterattack bore fruit. Lynch buried a centering pass from Mike Louria high into the net just 1:52 into the second, beating Skog to the blocker side. Eric Israel triggered the play with a sharp pass from his own line, hitting Louria 100 feet ahead. Louria went on to get the secondary assist on Hebert's goal, making for the redshirt senior's first multi-point game of the season.

But AIC answered Lynch's fifth goal of the season rather quickly when freshman Justin Cole wristed the puck through traffic from the right wall and it slipped through Marotte at 3:08. The Yellow Jackets grabbed their first lead at 9:34 on Joel Kocur's rebound tally from the right post. After AIC's leading scorer Blake Christensen pulled a puck off the boards and shot wide, Kocur jammed the loose change home before Marotte could recover.

"The second period kind of deflated us a little bit," Coleman said. "We've got to be more consistent throughout the game."

A penalty kill late in the second period appeared to give the Colonials life, however, and they started the third with a power play when Israel forced the Jackets into scramble mode. They didn't connect on that advantage chance or their second one shortly thereafter, but Hebert's goal might as well have been a PPG, considering he scored it one second after AIC returned to even strength.

Despite the signs of offensive life early and late, one area where the Colonials would like to improve is getting more pucks toward the AIC goal. They generated just 20 shots on Skog and 29 overall attempts.

"We haven't been hitting our shot total that we want every game," Coleman said. "Be good defensively, be good in the neutral zone, and then once we get in the offensive zone, just funnel pucks to the net. That'll open up a lot of things for us."

With less than 24 hours to regroup from an emotional finish that included a couple disputed calls, RMU will aim for a split Sunday afternoon on a rink where AIC is now 5-1-1. The rematch is set for 3:05 p.m.