Worcester, Mass. - Robert Morris University men's hockey came flying out of the gates to start the period and the Colonials would never trail, taking a convincing 4-1 victory over Holy Cross at the Hart Center on Friday night.

The Colonials got off to a hot start with none other than sophomore Matthew Graham – already with two career goals against Holy Cross – making it a third off a feed from Luke Lynch and Daniel Mantenuto, to put Robert Morris ahead 1-0 just 25 seconds into the game.

Two minutes later, Crusaders senior Brett Mulcahy broke free up the ice, all alone against Francis Marotte and the sophomore goaltender made the stop, one of twelve he'd turn away in the opening frame.

Holy Cross returned the blow dealt by Graham in the opening minute of the first, with a goal of its own in the opening minute of the second. Michael Laffin tallied a power play goal with just four seconds remaining in the Colonials penalty kill, 50 seconds into the second, tying the game at two apiece.

Less than five minutes later, Robert Morris would pull ahead for good. Senior Brady Ferguson popped Berrafato's water bottle with his 63^rd career goal, his 25th career power play strike, from Luke Lynch & Eric Israel, putting the Colonials up 2-1.

With 3:35 remaining in the second, a hard-working goal extending the Colonials advantage. After an intensive effort around the net, the puck came out to Israel, who passed it off the senior Elias Ghantous, who blasted it on Berrafato. The all-league goaltender made an outstanding save, but gave up a rebound to freshman Nick Prkusic who flung the puck into the net to put the Colonials up 3-1 with 3:35 to play in the 2nd.

Moments later, Marotte came up with another big stop to hold the Crusaders off the board, shedding Holy Cross' Danny Lopez with the blocker with three minutes to play in the second.

Marotte continued to rack up saves in the third period, as Holy Cross threw 13 more shots on goal, all turned aside by the sophomore, who made a season-high 39 stops in the winning effort, including a left pad sprawl with 6:27 to play.

With the Crusaders extra attacker on and the goalie pulled with two minutes to play, the Colonials shot-blockers went to work. Seniors Alex Bontje, Brady Ferguson and Timmy Moore, each blocked shots, five total, in the final two minutes of the game. Moore finished the night with a career-high five blocks, his most since a four block effort on Dec. 2, 2016 against Sacred Heart. Ferguson finished with three blocks, while Bontje, Ghantous and Sean Giles each posted a pair. A plus-two on the night, Bontje holds a plus-54 rating for his career, the second-best all-time at RMU. Israel reached 80 total blocks on the season.

Junior Alex Tonge capped the evening off with an empty net goal with four seconds remaining in the game, following a block by Moore, to finish off the game one victory with a 4-1 RMU advantage. Tonge moved closer to reaching 100 points for his career with his 97th career point on the emptynetter.

The Colonials outshot the Crusaders 44-40, recording 15 blocks to the Crusaders' 10, while Marotte's 39 saves were barely bested by Berrafato's 40 in the losing effort. The Colonials and Crusaders were both 1-for-4 on the power play.

Sophomores Graham, Mantenuto and Lynch, combined for a four-point night, bringing their total as a line combination, to twelve points in four postseason games this year.

RMU's all-time leading scorer Brady Ferguson extended his point total to 161 for his career, leading all active NCAA players in career scoring. Recording the game-winner, Ferguson now has 11 game-winning goals in his career, tied for second most all-time at RMU. 

No. 7 Robert Morris (16-19-3) looks to close out the best-of-three series on Saturday night in a game two, 7:05 p.m. puck drop at No. 3 Holy Cross, with a fifth consecutive trip to the Atlantic Hockey final four in Rochester, NY on the line.

You can watch Saturday's game on AtlanticHockey.tv or listen live online, using the iHeart app or over the airwaves on 970 ESPN Pittsburgh.


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