PITTSBURGH -- A recent trend continued for the
Robert Morris University men's hockey team, as they were shut out in their third straight series opener, falling 4-0 on Saturday night to Atlantic Hockey rival Army West Point.
The visiting Black Knights (12-5-0, 10-5-0 AHA) scored twice in the first period and added one more in each of the subsequent two frames to clinch their fifth win in six games, moving into a first-place tie atop the conference.
The Colonials (7-8-2, 7-5-2 AHA) got 39 saves from emergency starting goalie
Dyllan Lubbesmeyer, but lost in regulation for just the second time in seven AHA home games (3-2-2). They're 1-2 against Army this season, with the last of four regular-season matchups coming Sunday afternoon.
"You can't chase the game," said RMU head coach
Derek Schooley, whose team has been missing two of its top forwards (
Daniel Mantenuto,
Grant Hebert) in addition to Saturday's warmup scratch of senior netminder
Justin Kapelmaster, leading to Lubbesmeyer's first career NCAA start.
"We're in a challenging predicament right now," Schooley continued. "The hits keep coming, but it is what it is. No excuses: They outplayed us. We know we have to be better."
As part of RMU's first-ever Hockey Fights Cancer weekend, former Colonials captain Chris Kushneriuk '11 dropped the ceremonial first puck of the night, and the team wore lavender-tinted jerseys that are available for bids during a silent auction concluding Sunday.
Also adding to the atmosphere of the event: Members of the RMU athletic department painted on the ice surface the names of loved ones who've fought cancer or are still fighting the disease.
Army started playing spoiler early, as Kevin Dineen redirected a deflected shot from Anthony Firriolo into the RMU goal just 1:18 into the game. A Colonials stick got in the way of the initial attempt, but all that did was deflect the puck past Lubbesmeyer and into the crease.
The lead grew to two late in the first when Brett Abdelnour shoveled a one-timer home from the left circle during Army's first power play.
The two teams entered the night with the two best penalty-killing units in Atlantic Hockey, but Army's came out on top with a 3-for-3 performance that included a five-minute kill midway through the third period. RMU's struggles in generating shots on that last-call advantage were emblematic of a night in which they were outshot 43-25.
Combine that with Army's two power-play goals -- the latter of which a rebound score by Alex Wilkinson 2:44 into the second -- and the Colonials could point to special teams as the deciding factor in their penultimate game before winter break.
Although the Knights and junior goalie Trevin Kozlowski got the better of RMU on this night, there's still another chance for the Colonials to carry a good feeling into the holidays, to say nothing of their fourth-place standing in the AHA.
Perhaps they could take a cue from Kushneriuk, the two-time cancer survivor who delivered Saturday's pregame speech.
"He had a great talk to our team," Schooley said, "about how adversity is opportunity. We need to play to honor those names on the ice."
The final opening faceoff of the first half is set for 1:05 p.m. Sunday.
