PITTSBURGH -- In at least one way, the
Robert Morris University men's hockey team applied a lesson learned last weekend.
Although the Colonials lost a late lead for the second consecutive game, this time they earned the extra point, as senior
Michael Coyne scored in three-on-three overtime to deliver a 3-2 win over rival Mercyhurst on Saturday night at the RMU Island Sports Center.
RMU (7-5-2, 7-2-2 Atlantic Hockey) didn't get all three of the available points in the AHA standings, but the two the Colonials did pick up kept them in first place,
by three points over Sacred Heart.
And although this result required the new three-on-three OT format, this is the first time in 16 seasons of Division I hockey that the Colonials have won eight of their first 11 league games. Regardless of how it was accomplished, this win certainly beat last Saturday's 2-1 loss to Air Force in the second extra frame.
"Our guys really responded in this scenario," head coach
Derek Schooley said. "We did what we needed to do. We'd rather have three points, but two is better than what we got last week."
There were plenty of obstacles for the Colonials in this one.
In the context of the game itself, Mercyhurst (4-8-1, 2-4-1 AHA) tied the score with 2:43 left in the third period, on Khristian Acosta's 30-foot wrister that capped his two-goal game. The equalizer came about 90 seconds after RMU sophomore defenseman
Nolan Schaeffer scored his first NCAA goal to give the Colonials their first lead.
After both teams had good opportunities to win in the first five-minute overtime -- which is played at five-on-five and would've given the winner all three points -- the Colonials had most of the puck during the three-on-three. In the final 15 seconds, Coyne turned a counterattack up ice, dropping for sophomore
Justin Addamo in the left circle.
Coyne sprinted to the net as Addamo shoveled a shot-pass that bounced off the pads of Mercyhurst goalie Garrett Metcalf and onto Coyne's stick for a top-shelf finish. While the goal doesn't count in the NCAA's eyes because the game officially goes down as a tie, that's the third time Coyne has put a puck in the net this fall, establishing a new single-season best at RMU.
"Trying to get the right areas and hopefully contribute a little bit more," said Coyne of his senior-year mentality. "I went to the net hard and I knew there wasn't much time left. Puck was in my feet and I threw it upstairs. Kind of a lucky bounce but I'll take it and we'll take the win."
The result was gratifying for the Colonials, but it felt secondary after sophomore forward
Grant Hebert was carted off the ice on a stretcher early in the second period. A nasty blind-side hit by the Lakers' Brendan Riley felled Hebert and caused his head to strike the ice on his way down.
Riley was penalized with a five-minute major for contact to the head and the game misconduct that goes with it, but that was little consolation to the home team. The Colonials received word before the game ended that Hebert was alert and able to move his extremities, but his recovery will be on the mind of every player and staffer.
"Unfortunate situation," Schooley assessed. "Those are the kinds of hits we want to get out of the game. That's a scary thing to happen in a game. ... It's tough to go out and play after that."
Added Schaeffer: "Things were sounding pretty good considering the circumstances. He's a great player for us. When something like that happens, hockey is probably the last thing on your mind at that point."
On top of all that, Acosta scored a short-handed goal during the ensuing major power play, putting the Lakers ahead 1-0 at 5:49 of the second. However, Acosta took an inexplicable unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for taunting, handing RMU a two-minute five-on-three advantage.
The Colonials cashed in, with senior co-captain
Luke Lynch feeding
Aidan Spellacy at the right post for the sophomore's fourth goal of the season -- all of them on the power play. Addamo earned the secondary assist, his first of two helpers on the night.
"They scored a big goal and they got us on our heels," Schooley said, "but our power play responded."
Although the Colonials did well to force turnovers and generally play better than they did last weekend, when they earned just one of a possible six points against Air Force, they still needed a handful of high-quality saves from senior
Justin Kapelmaster. Kapelmaster denied 44 shots in all, one short of a season high.
On the other end, RMU peppered Metcalf with 39 shots on target. The Anaheim Ducks draft pick was largely up to the task -- including a sprawling stop on Lynch late in the first overtime -- but he didn't appear to see Schaeffer's late shot from distance until it was behind him.
"I saw guys in front and just tried to get the puck through," said Schaeffer, who went 50 NCAA games without a goal. "It's a year and a half overdue, but nothing's like the first one."
There's nothing like the feeling of a sudden-death winner, either, a thrill the Colonials hadn't experienced since Game 3 of their Atlantic Hockey quarterfinal playoff series last spring. Addamo scored the decider that night at Bentley, and he again played a role in this pivotal moment.
"We practice it as much as we can," Coyne said of the three-on-three format. "When you're on defense, try to stick with your man. When you're on offense, try to create some separation and speed."
RMU will try to create more separation at the top of the AHA standings next weekend, when they challenge second-place Sacred Heart on the road. The two-game set in Connecticut is set for next Saturday and Sunday.
