PITTSBURGH -- With a second straight 4-2 win over Canisius on Saturday at the RMU Island Sports Center, the
Robert Morris University men's hockey team jumped back into first place in the Atlantic Hockey standings and continued its best start to league play in five years.
Sophomore center
Grant Hebert scored twice in the first period, powering RMU's second quick three-goal burst during this home-and-home weekend series. Junior co-captain
Nick Prkusic earned a career-high three assists, while senior goalie
Justin Kapelmaster carried a shutout through 50 minutes en route to a 36-save win.
Keeping up the deja-vu theme, second-year defenseman
Brendon Michaelian netted his second NCAA goal in as many games, helping the Colonials (5-4-0, 5-1-0 AHA) take a 3-0 lead after one period and eventually tie a season best for goals scored.
"We want to keep working our offense and do things the right way," head coach
Derek Schooley said. "You want to extend the lead and keep going. We got some big contributions from our 'D' and some others as well. We outplayed them big time in the first period."
Just like Friday night in Buffalo, the Colonials piled on Canisius (1-6-0, 0-2-0 AHA) with a trio of tallies over a span of less than three minutes. Senior
Jacob Coleman fed Hebert with a no-look between-the-legs pass at 3:39, setting a creative tone for the rematch.
Michaelian made it 2-0 on six minutes, snapping a quick shot from the left-wing wall that zipped over Canisius goalie Jacob Barczewski's shoulder. Twenty seconds later, Hebert led a three-man counterattack rush that ended when his intended pass bounced into the net off a Golden Griffins defender. That friendly bounce boosted the Ontario native into the solo team lead with four goals.
"We realized we had to get going early and try to get the sweep," said Michaelian, who went his first 35 RMU games before breaking through with a goal. "We kept working hard and getting pucks to the net. We were rewarded."
Senior co-captain
Luke Lynch broke his own goal drought late in the second period, blasting a power-play one-timer for his first goal of the season to seemingly put the result on ice. Michaelian picked up the primary assist on that, giving him four points on the weekend.
But Canisius snatched a couple of third-period goals, with Matt Long and J.D. Pogue scoring two minutes apart to introduce some unexpected drama at the Island. The Griffins also got a late power play, but thanks to the strong defending of Michaelian and others, the Colonials were able to ride out their third victory in three AHA home games. (RMU swept Bentley to open league play Oct. 11-12.)
Also, Kapelmaster fought through a third-period injury concern to help lift RMU back into solo first place in the AHA, one point ahead of RIT.
"Kappy's been hot for us, that's for sure, but we've been priding ourselves in our 'D' zone all year," Hebert said. "It's been going good, but we have to keep working on it so some of those late goals don't go in."
Schooley also addressed the Colonials' late looseness over the past two games, since Canisius managed to make it a game both nights, despite trailing by four after two in each contest.
"It got a little closer tighter than it should have been," Schooley said. "It's human nature to relax, and we did that both nights. But I'd rather learn to play with a 4-0 lead than be trailing 4-0. ... You rely on your older guys when it gets tight, and they've gotten the job done."
Added Michaelian: "It happens. It's hockey. We trust each other that we can get the job done. Work hard, do things right and get pucks out."
On the surface, the Colonials seem a younger team, with 16 underclassmen. However, a 10-man sophomore class learned plenty of lessons from experience last year, a factor that appears to be paying off in the early going this season.
While they're not even a quarter of the way into a 28-game AHA schedule, the Colonials have defied the preseason coaches' poll that tabbed them for a seventh-place finish in the 11-team league.
"We wanted to prove them wrong and come out hot," Hebert said. "We've done that. Our confidence is definitely higher (than last year). Our leaders are pretty good at keeping us on track. Hopefully we can keep it going."
The challenge to do just that will continue next weekend, when RMU hits the road for the second time in AHA action. They'll take on Bentley in Waltham, Massachusetts, next Friday and Saturday, as the two programs will square off for the eighth and ninth times in calendar year 2019.
