Rochester, NY — The Robert Morris University men's hockey team, in its third consecutive appearance in the Atlantic Hockey Championship game, fell just short of a conference title and NCAA Tournament berth in a 5-1 loss to the Air Force Academy on Saturday, March 17 at Blue Cross Arena.

Freshman forward Nick Prkusic had the Colonials' lone tally of the night, an unassisted power-play goal at the 15:52 mark of the second period. Senior goaltender Andrew Pikul had 14 saves and didn't allow any goals in nearly two periods in his final appearance for Robert Morris.

Senior forward Brady Ferguson, who had a hat trick in an overtime semifinal win over Mercyhurst University on Friday, was named to the Atlantic Hockey All-Tournament Team.

In a rematch of last year's championship, the Falcons took command with a strong start — Kyle Haak and Jonathan Kopacka scored 50 seconds apart to give Air Force a 2-0 lead before three minutes had lapsed in the contest.

Jordan Himley added another goal with 4:26 to go in the first to give the Falcons a 3-0 lead headed into the first intermission; by 5:07 of the second period, it was a 4-0 game thanks to a goal from Evan Geisler.

Prkusic's goal at 15:52 of the second, a strike that found its way through traffic, broke the shutout by Air Force netminder Billy Christopoulos, who made 35 saves on the night and was named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Air Force sealed the win with an empty-netter from Haak with exactly six minutes to go in the contest.

The Colonials outshot the Falcons 36-32 over the course of the game, including by a 29-17 margin over the final two periods.

Robert Morris concludes the season with an 18-20-3 overall record. The Colonials, who entered the tournament as the seventh seed, won five of their seven postseason games, including a two-game sweep of third-seeded Holy Cross in the quarterfinals and an overtime upset of top-seeded Mercyhurst.


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