Pittsburgh, Pa. – Robert Morris university men's hockey used a 37-save performance by sophomore goaltender Francis Marotte to kick off the first round of the 2018 Atlantic Hockey playoffs with a 3-1 Colonials win. Junior forward Alex Tonge scored a pair of goals to reach a team-high 15 goals on the season, while fellow junior Brandon Watt scored what proved to be the game-winning goal.

For Marotte, the win marks the 30th of his career, tying Eric Levine '13 for 4th all-time in wins in RMU program history.
 
Robert Morris brought the firepower early and kept it going through the first 40 minutes of play. The Colonials fired 16 shots on goal in the first period, five coming off the stick of sophomore Luke Lynch.

The trend continued into the second period, when RMU was able to bust the zeroes off the scoreboard. With 6:50 remaining in the second, senior Brady Ferguson raced up with Timmy Moore, who passed to Tonge, blasting the puck bar down past Bentley's Aidan Pelino to give the Colonials a 1-0 lead.  



After posting 16 shots on goal in the first and 15 in the second, outshooting the Falcons 31-23, Bentley returned fire in the third. 

Marotte stood tall while the Colonials were outshot 15-3 in the closing twenty minutes. RMU's first shot attempt of the third came with 7:29 to play, and the first shot on goal finally came on a power play in the final two minutes of the game.

On that same power play, Robert Morris would go ahead 2-0 on Watt's second goal of the season. The veteran penalty killer was out on the ice as Bentley worked to clear the puck out of the zone, looking to add an extra attacker. Senior Spencer Dorowicz stopped the clearing attempt along the wall, working it to Moore who saw Watt streaking up the ice. Watt fired a quick wrister past Pelino for his second goal of the season, to give the Colonials a two-goal advantage with 54 seconds to play.

Bentley was awarded a power play and Kyle Schmidt capitalized, turning a puck through several skates and past Marotte, ending the sophomore's shutout bid with just ten seconds left in the game.

On the ensuing faceoff, Ferguson won the draw, pushing the puck to Tonge who skated the puck to the empty net for his second goal of the game, sealing the Robert Morris victory.

Tonge finished with two goals, while linemates Ferguson and Moore each gathered a pair of assists, and Dorowicz added one. Ferguson and Dorowicz were part of a dominating night on the draw for RMU, as the Colonials held a 37-19 advantage in the faceoff circle (Ferguson 15-8, Dorowicz 9-6, Michael Coyne 6-3, Daniel Mantenuto 5-2).

The Colonials blocked 18 shots, in addition to the 37 stops made by Marotte. Senior Alex Bontje and sophomore Sean Giles posted three blocks each. Dorowicz, Lynch and Alex Robert each blocked two shots, as did Eric Israel, with one coming during a late Bentley power play. The Colonials penalty kill was ten seconds from a perfect outing, going 5-for-6 on the night.

Robert Morris (14-18-3) look to close out the Falcons on Saturday night, a 7:05 p.m. puck drop in game two of the best-of-three series, at Colonials Arena. Tickets are available at the door ($12 for adults, $7 for youth/military/seniors). Follow the action with live video ($), live audio, 970 ESPN Pittsburgh or via live stats.

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