College hockey aficionado and RMU men's hockey radio analyst Mike Prisuta contributes regular commentary. This is his latest.
They didn't win the fourth Confluence Cup they had been seeking.
Nor were the Colonials able to advance to the Three Rivers Classic championship game for the sixth time in seven tries.
But they may have gotten something more significant in the long run.
Coming off the disappointment that was blowing a two-goal lead in the semifinals against Brown last Friday, and facing the challenge that was taking on No. 1 St. Cloud State last Saturday after the Huskies had been spanked in their semifinal by No. 14 Union, the challenge was daunting.
Robert Morris responded. It wasn't quite enough to take down No. 1, but it might help the Colonials take off.
"Hopefully, being a younger team, we realize how good we can actually be when we play a full 60 minutes, and carry that into Atlantic Hockey," senior defenseman Eric Israel said.
Robert Morris was good enough to be tied with No. 1 with St. Could State with 17:42 left in regulation. And the third-place matchup was a one-goal game with less than 10 minutes left in the third period.
It was that because of how RMU had battled. The Colonials eventually wound up on the wrong end of an empty-net goal and a 5-2 final, but they didn't leave PPG Paints Arena empty-handed.
"We played nine freshmen against the No. 1 team in the country," head coach Derek Schooley said. "Pretty valuable experience."
St. Cloud State outshot RMU, 35-22. But the Colonials won the face-off circle (31-29) and almost matched the Huskies scoring chance for scoring chance (12-11, St. Cloud State).
The most encouraging aspect of the Colonials' effort might have been the pushback Robert Morris had repeatedly been able to muster. That hadn't been there in the tournament opener when the Colonials needed it at the outset of the second period and a 2-0 lead against Brown ultimately degenerated into a 7-4 setback.
This time, RMU countered St. Cloud State's game-opening goal with an equalizer from sophomore winger Nick Prkusic just 29 seconds later. Robert Morris was also able to tie the game at 2-2 when opportunity knocked early in the third period via freshman winger Nick Lalonde's power-play equalizer at 2:18.
Robert Morris, for the most part, also managed the puck well, went to the net with effort and held up physically in the corners and in front of goaltender Francis Marotte's crease. It wasn't a mistake-free game, but the Colonials competed and played with energy.
And with a confidence that grew as the game progressed.
"After the first few minutes we were like, we're right here," Israel explained. "They're not faster than us. They might have one or two more guys that are more skilled than some of our guys, but overall we were step by step right with them.
"Hopefully, it's a big stepping stone for us. We hung around with the No. 1 team in the nation and with a couple of different bounces here and there we could have beat them."
The challenge this weekend will be to beat Bentley, and to begin climbing upward in an Atlantic Hockey Association pack that includes seven teams within five points of one another, from first-place AIC (19 points) to seventh-place RIT (14).
The Colonials (8-11-1 overall) are tied for fourth in AHA play with Army and Mercyhurst at 7-6-1 (15 points). Robert Morris has 14 AHA games remaining in the regular season.
"I like the development of our team, the direction we're going," Schooley said. "We knew we'd have to be patient, but we knew it would pay off in the short term this year, and in the long term eventually."
The St. Cloud State game has Robert Morris anticipating a dividend.
"It may be cocky and it may be egotistical but I told our guys, 'When we win the Atlantic Hockey tournament, these are the type of games we're going to have to play,'" Schooley said, alluding to a possible first-round NCAA tournament game against a high seed.
"We knew this was going to come together. We knew we'd have to be better. Now we're going to find out if we can do it over the last 14 games."
