CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- While offensive heroics from freshman center Grant Hebert kept the Robert Morris University men's hockey team alive on Day 1 of the annual Three Rivers Classic, Brown's four-goal second period was ultimately the difference in the Colonials' 7-4 loss Friday night at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.

Hebert scored twice in the first period, helping RMU (8-10-1) to a 2-0 lead, then added a third goal in the third to complete his first NCAA hat trick. Senior defenseman Eric Israel even netted an extra-attacker goal to keep the suspense high, with Hebert getting the primary assist on that for a four-point night.

But the Bears (4-7-3) did just enough to keep their noses ahead and advance to the 3RC championship game Saturday. For just the second time in the seven-year history of this invitational tournament, the Colonials won't be playing for the Confluence Cup.

What they will have a chance to do is topple the top-ranked team in the nation, St. Cloud State. The Huskies suffered just their second loss of the season Friday evening, as No. 14 Union skated away with an eye-opening 7-2 decision. However, that won't in any way mitigate the challenge ahead for the Colonials.

"We've got to have an unbelievable effort from all of our group," RMU head coach Derek Schooley said. "We've gotta be ready for a quick turnaround. ... That's the nature of the sports. You've got to be able to bounce back."

It didn't appear any kind of Saturday rebound would be necessary after Friday's first period. Not only did the Colonials jump all over Brown with a 2-0 lead after nine minutes, they outshot the Bears 15-4 through 20 minutes and were the better team in essentially every category.

"We knew they'd have energy," Brown head coach Brendan Whittet said. "It's their tournament. ... I know they've won a lot of these championships and have played in a lot of championship games, so it's not going to be easy to get by them in this round."



Indeed, the Colonials been 5-1 in the first round of the 3RC since the tourney's inception in 2012. In RMU's first game ever at the Penguins' practice facility, Hebert gave his team a down payment on another Day 1 victory with two outstanding finishes. 

The first was at 3:57, as Hebert drove down right wing and jammed the puck to the front. With captain Brandon Watt occupying bodies at the goalmouth, Hebert popped the rebound under Brown goalie Luke Kania. Less than five minutes later, Hebert deposited a centering pass from Nick Prkusic for a power-play tally and his second multi-point game as a collegian. The Colonials had been scoreless on the power play over their past six games, so the mood on the home bench was bright.

"My linemates were excellent tonight," Hebert said. "They put the puck on my stick and all I had to do was tap it in. It wasn't hard. Made it easy for me."

But if RMU controlled the first, Brown was just as domineering in the second, pumping four goals into the net behind Francis Marotte. The Colonials' junior goalie faced 16 shots in the second and 38 for the game, with the Bears seemingly gaining strength through the night.

Joachim Weberg and Tommy Marchin scored even-strength goals in the opening three minutes of the frame, followed by a screened blast off the stick of Max Gottlieb with the Bears on the power play. The Colonials generated some chances to tie the score later in the second, only to watch Brown's Alec Mehr run the gauntlet for a short-handed goal a couple of minutes before the buzzer. 

"They came out ready to play," Hebert said of the decisive second period. "We didn't. They outworked us and we didn't have any answer for that. we didn't battle as hard as we should have."

But there was still time for a rally. Alex Tonge's drop pass to Hebert capped a counterattack rush at 4:38 of the third, pulling RMU within one goal again. Hebert's hat trick is the Colonials' second of the season, to go with Tonge's against ranked Penn State back in November.

That weekend against the Nittany Lions saw Hebert suffer an injury that compromised him through the end of the fall semester. Since the break ended, though, the Ontario-born center has played with more jump, leading to his placement alongside Tonge and Luke Lynch on Friday's line chart.

"He's gonna be a good hockey player for us," Schooley said. "Good to see him healthy and I'm glad to see him get rewarded."



There were moments later in the third when RMU came close to equalizing, but Brown's Zach Giuttari got a nice bounce off a Colonial's stick for a power-play goal at 11:10. Moments later, RMU freshman Nick Lalonde had an apparent deflection goal waved off due to a borderline high stick on the puck.

Israel made things interesting with three minutes to go, finishing Hebert's tight rebound, but the Bears' Colin Burston polished off a two-on-one rush to essentially end it.

"Our leadership team is pretty good and they helped us regroup and get up (for the third)," Hebert said. "Once we got one, things started getting on a roll again, but I guess penalties killed us at the end of the day. Confidence was high, but ... they turned around and scored right after. That's hockey, I guess."

While the Colonials won't be competing for hardware Saturday, they'll have quite the opponent in their final non-conference game of the regular season. RMU hasn't faced the top-ranked team in Division I in nearly nine years, when it memorably swept No. 1 Miami in a home-and-home that started at old Mellon Arena and finished in southwest Ohio.

That history won't matter much for Saturday's 5 p.m. faceoff at PPG Paints Arena, but there was enough from Friday's action to encourage a Colonials team that dressed seven freshmen in its 3RC opener. RMU ended up allowing more than four goals for the first time in eight games, but the offense has chipped in three or more in all three post-holiday contests.

"We were really, really good in the first period," Schooley said. "Played with a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of heart. They took it to us in the third, but we didn't quit. At the end of the day, we just dug ourselves too much of a hole in the second.

"We're still a young team. We still have to keep our focus for 60 minutes. You saw a glimpse of what we could do if we keep it going. If we can put it all together, we'll have a chance to take some massive steps."

After RMU takes its crack at St. Cloud State, Union and Brown will square off at approximately 8 p.m. for the tourney title.