PITTSBURGH -- The
Robert Morris University men's hockey team snapped a three-game losing streak Sunday afternoon, taking home a point in the Atlantic Hockey standings with a 2-1 shootout setback to Army West Point at the RMU Island Sports Center.
Juniors
Nick Jenny (power-play goal) and
Dyllan Lubbesmeyer (42 saves) played significant roles in RMU's final tilt before a three-week winter break, but the Colonials fell to 1-2 in games that go beyond the five-on-five first overtime period, even though they were markedly better than in Saturday's series opener.
"We worked hard," head coach
Derek Schooley said. "We were good defensively. We played with a lot of energy. We got more pucks to the net. We just have to convert on our chances. We gave ourselves an opportunity, but the margin for error is very thin when you only get one goal."
Eric Butte scored the tying goal for Army midway through the third, then the sophomore winger netted the decider in a one-round shootout that was the first in the history of both programs. Black Knights junior goalie Trevin Kozlowski barely got enough arm on
Luke Lynch's shootout attempt to give Butte the opening for the game-winner.
Officially, the game goes down as a tie, RMU's third in its past six games -- all on home ice. The Colonials (7-8-3, 7-5-3 AHA) will head into the holidays
tied for third in Atlantic Hockey with defending champion American International, while Army and Sacred Heart hold down the top two spots.
Since a four-game win streak in mid-November, the Colonials haven't been able to get past the two-goal threshold, limiting their chances to pile up more points in the standings.
"We gave ourselves an opportunity," Schooley said, "but the margin for error is very thin when you only get one goal."
As has been the case through most of the season, RMU couldn't blame its goaltending Sunday. In his second consecutive start in the place of injured senior starter
Justin Kapelmaster, Lubbesmeyer performed admirably. The Minnesota native stopped 81 of 85 shots over the weekend, jumping into the crease unexpectedly following Kapelmaster's warmup injury Saturday night.
"I felt solid for the most part," said Lubbesmeyer, who now has 12 NCAA appearances under his belt. "As the weekend progressed, I got more confident. Got my game legs under me. It snowballs and you start to get a good feel for it."
"Dyllan battles," Schooley said. "Dyllan competes, he works hard. Unfortunately, we didn't give him enough."
The Colonials had multiple opportunities to win the game, whether in regulation or sudden-death. Late in the third period, sophomore defenseman
Brendon Michaelian rattled a slap shot off the right post, and then RMU carried a power play over into the first overtime, when a goal would've delivered all three points.
Even though Army (12-5-1, 10-5-1 AHA) outshot the Colonials 8-3 beyond regulation, the legitimate scoring chances were essentially even in the 10 total minutes of overtime. After RMU buzzed the Army net a few times in three-on-three second OT, Lubbesmeyer forced the shootout with a point-blank denial of Daniel Haider in the final minute.
Lynch took the first shootout attempt in team history to start the tiebreaker, but his forehand hopped off Kozlowski and over the crossbar. Butte ended the game immediately, snapping a shot between Lubbesmeyer's legs to allow Army to snatch the extra point on a day that was generally encouraging for a short-handed RMU squad.
"It's frustrating that we lost, but there's a lot of positives," Lubbesmeyer said, commending his teammates for notching a season-best 28 blocked shots. "From top to bottom, everyone played the right way. I'm really kicking myself right now, because I'm usually a shootout guy. (Butte) popped a quick one ... he got one past me and it was over."
In addition to being Lubbesmeyer's first result in an RMU uniform, the game also was the first NCAA appearance for freshman defenseman
Tyler Love. The Moon Township resident wasn't eligible to practice or even enter the Colonials' locker room until Sunday, when the fall semester was officially concluded.
After Jenny went down due to injury, Love earned plenty of ice time down the stretch. On an intense afternoon with both teams expending their pre-holiday energy stores, Love was impressed by the atmosphere.
"It was a ton of fun," said Love, who grew up playing at the Island Sports Center for the Arctic Foxes youth organization. "A great experience. ... Once I got the first shift, I felt pretty good. I thought the team was great. Very lively on the bench and super-positive."
Love's first game-worn jersey in college hockey will go to a fan as part of a silent auction for RMU's first-ever Hockey Fights Cancer initiative.
Those lavender getups were all part of a weekend that was memorable in more ways than one. Following up Chris Kushneriuk's puck drop Saturday, cancer survivor Nick Chiavetta '12 got Sunday's game started.
Shortly thereafter, Jenny wired a point shot past Kozlowski; the defender's fourth goal of the season gave RMU its first power-play conversion in four games and its first lead in five.
But the Colonials couldn't add on despite four more opportunities on the advantage, as Army's 93-percent penalty-kill unit recovered.
"We have to find a way to will the puck into the back of the net," Schooley said. "It's a challenge right now. We're going to have to use (the break) to make sure we get healthy and make sure we're prepared to hit the second half hard."
After closing the fall with back-to-back series against the top two teams in Atlantic Hockey, the Colonials will next take the ice Saturday, Jan. 4 in an exhibition game against Ontario Tech in Johnstown, Pa. -- the
2020 College Classic presented by UPMC Health Plan.
Following that, RMU will take on ranked foe Penn State at Pittsburgh's PPG Paints Arena at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 11. Tickets for this showcase game are now
on sale via Ticketmaster.
