College hockey aficionado and Pittsburgh media personality Mike Prisuta contributes regular commentary on the RMU men's hockey team. This is his latest:

Pittsburgh, Pa. -  Moments after he and fellow defenseman Elias Ghantous had spent all but the final seconds of a two-minute minor on the ice together killing the penalty, Eric Israel insisted he was ready to do it again if necessary.

"It's the playoffs," Israel maintained between periods two and three of what became a series-clinching victory last Saturday night at Holy Cross. "You do what you have to do.

"If you're out there for 10 seconds or for two minutes it doesn't matter, you have to give it everything you've got."

It likewise didn't matter that an upper-body injury had prevented defenseman Sean Giles from dressing for Game 2 against the Crusaders, or that defenseman and captain Alex Bontje had been knocked out of action a mere 2:40 after the opening face-off.

The Colonials killed two more penalties in the third period of Game 2 while in the process of finishing off Holy Cross, 5-1, on the way to Rochester, N.Y., and the Atlantic Hockey Conference Final Four.

"The guys stepped up," head coach Derek Schooley assessed.

He wasn't just talking about Israel and Ghantous.

— With Giles unavailable, freshman defenseman Nick Jenny played for the first time since Feb. 17 and played as if he'd embraced the playoff stage.

— Sophomore winger Matthew Graham opened the scoring for the second consecutive game, his third goal in five playoff games after a three-goal regular season.

— Sophomore goaltender Francis Marotte allowed one goal on 38 shots, the only time he was beaten at even strength all series.

— And sophomore winger Luke Lynch provided the exclamation point in Worcester, Mass. His empty-net goal capped a four-point night (2-2—4) and ran his playoff totals to three goals, seven assists and 10 points in five games.

"I think one of the things that held us back a little bit this year is our sophomores hadn't taken the step that we thought they would," Schooley said. "I think they have now.

"(Daniel) Mantenuto, Graham and Alex Robert, Marotte was outstanding. Michael Coyne, I thought, had a really good weekend."

They all did, from freshman winger Nick Prkusic, who scored late in the second period and gave RMU a two-goal lead on the way to a 4-1 victory in Game 1, to senior winger Timmy Moore, whose two goals in the second period of Game 2 helped the Colonials assume command in what became the clincher.

"A complete effort, especially when you lose your captain," Schooley said. "We could have really let that get to us and let that make us feel sad and not excited abut where we're going, but we did a pretty good job after that."

Schooley said Bontje suffered a non-displaced fracture of his right ankle.

"He's put so much heart and soul into it," Schooley said. "We're not going to replace his minutes without other people stepping up.

"Other people did."

The reward is Rochester, again.

The place where Robert Morris has competed in each of the past four seasons.

The place where the Colonials played for the AHC postseason tournament championship in each of the past two seasons.

The place where the Colonials defeated Canisius, 7-4,on March 22, 2014, a victory that secured the first bid to the 16-team NCAA Tournament in Robert Morris history.

"Roch Vegas, baby," Schooley said. "It was an up-and-down year but we put it together at the right time."

The way championship teams often find a way to do.


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