Worcester, Mass. – For the fifth consecutive season, the Colonials are on to Rochester. Robert Morris University swept Holy Cross in the quarterfinals for the second season in a row, this time, as the lower seed and on the Crusaders home ice. The Colonials skated away 5-1 victors to win the series in two games and advance to the Atlantic Hockey semifinals in Rochester, NY.
Second verse, same as the first. For the second night in a row,
Matthew Graham buried the opening tally to put the Colonials up 1-0.
Luke Lynch raced up the ice, dancing through the defense and driving the net, where Graham cashed in for his second goal of the series – third of the postseason and sixth of the season – giving the Colonials the early advantage.
With a 1-0 lead in the second, the Colonials added to their lead.
Brady Ferguson brought the puck into the zone and tossed it right on the tape of
Timmy Moore's stick and he tapped it in to put RMU ahead 2-0. Graham earned his second point of the night with an assist on the play.
Sophomore goaltender
Francis Marotte weathered a storm of 16 Crusaders shots in the second period, making a number of saves in a sequence midway through the period, as Holy Cross crashed the crease and worked to create chances.
Moore extended the lead with a power play goal with just 14 seconds remaining in the period. Ferguson eyed Lynch near the goal line and he backhanded a pass to Moore who buried the puck past Crusaders netminder Paul Berrafato to give the Colonials a 3-0 advantage through two periods.
Just 30 seconds into the third period, Holy Cross finally cashed in. T.J. Moore fired a wrister to the right side of the cage past Marotte for the Crusaders first goal of the game, just their second of the series, and that's all they'd get.
Marotte continued to shine, making a stop three minutes later on a prime chance by Holy Cross' leading goal-scorer Scott Pooley.
The Colonials added to their lead on the power play once again, this time, Lynch burying the puck from Ferguson, with Moore earning an assist, making it a 4-1 game with 13:50 to play.
Holy Cross continued to pour on the shots, looking for any hope to keep their season alive, pulling Berrafato in favor of the extra attacker, with six and a half minutes remaining.
With 2:45 to play, Lynch stepped into a Crusaders clearing attempt and put home the empty net goal, capping the Robert Morris victory with his 17th goal of the season, completing a career-high four point night with two goals and two assists.
Ferguson, playing in his 150th career game, tallied three assists, to surpass 100 career assists, extending his RMU record to 101 helpers.
Marotte finished the game making 37 saves and has made at least 37 saves in three of RMU's four postseason wins this year.
The Colonials were two-for-four on the power play and a perfect five-for-five on the penalty kill. Defenseman
Eric Israel and
Elias Ghantous each blocked three shots while
Alex Robert blocked two.
Robert Morris, now 17-19-3, awaits its semifinal opponent, as only top seed Mercyhurst was able to punch its ticket in a two-game sweep, finishing off Sacred Heart in overtime on Saturday. Canisius and AIC will play a game three on Sunday, as will Army and Air Force. The Atlantic Hockey semifinals will be played on Friday, March 16, with times yet to be determined.
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