ERIE, Pa. -- The final 20-plus minutes sped by in a blur, with the two teams combining for eight goals while neither side could pull ahead by more than one.

The tension was high Friday night at the Mercyhurst Ice Center, in other words.

By the time Robert Morris University senior winger Alex Tonge completed his second career hat trick at 34 seconds of overtime, the Colonials were free to exhale and enjoy their most memorable victory of a challenging season, 5-4 over Atlantic Hockey rival Mercyhurst.

"We have a great group here, and you're only as good as how you finish," Tonge said after raising his season goal total to 17. "If you get hot at the right time, you'll be successful."

The Colonials (11-20-2, 10-15-2 AHA) know this axiom well. This program's three consecutive trips to the AHA championship game will bestow that kind of wisdom, especially considering last year's deep run that immediately followed an 0-5-1 slump to end the regular season.

RMU won't carry that kind of burden into the first round of the playoffs next week, in part because of two impressive comebacks in the past five games. Two weeks ago, the Colonials rallied from two goals down to beat Holy Cross on the road. The second half of the season has been difficult, with just four wins since the holiday break, but victories like this one have a way of resonating.

RMU trailed 1-0 through two periods Friday despite firing 28 shots at Mercyhurst sophomore goalie Stefano Cantali, but Tonge's cutback goal 1:13 into the third period started the offensive deluge.

Tonge's classmate/linemate Michael Louria deposited Daniel Mantenuto's pass at 5:51, followed less than two minutes later by Tonge's blue-line rip that sailed through a screen and past Cantali during RMU's third power play. Freshman Justin Addamo added a blind backhand goal between his own legs with 6:41 left in the third, giving the Colonials their second four-goal period of the season.

RMU ended up with a season-high 42 shots on goal, delivering some much-needed positive feedback for an offense that has had its share of frustration this season.



"We had to stick with it," head coach Derek Schooley said. "Obviously we had a whole bunch of shots and it wasn't going in. We had to stick with the process of putting pucks on net."

The only problem? The Lakers mixed in three goals of their own in the third, with two by Derek Barach bookending a deflection tally by freshman Greensburg native Dalton Hunter. When Barach buried a slick centering pass from Lakers defenseman Joseph Duszak -- the nation's second-leading scorer -- with 4:53 remaining, Mercyhurst was still in position to get something out of the madness.

At least, the Lakers were in position until Tonge whipped a right-circle wrister over Cantali's glove during an overtime power play, keeping RMU alive for home ice in the AHA first round. The Colonials will need to win again in Saturday's rematch on Neville Island, plus plenty of help elsewhere in Atlantic Hockey, but they've given themselves a chance to skate into the postseason on an uplifting note.

"I think it's nice for the team and the guys when we can pull out wins like that," Mantenuto said. "We gave up some goals with the lead, but we stuck with our game and kept believing. It's really good for the vibes going into the playoffs."

Not to be glossed over: Francis Marotte's 34 saves. In his 100th career NCAA appearance, the junior netminder did well to keep the Colonials within one with a flurry of saves in the second period. Marotte didn't have much of a chance on any of the Lakers' goals, but he still had a positive influence on the outcome despite allowing four. Tommaso Bucci's goal 40 seconds into the game for Mercyhurst (13-17-5, 11-12-4 AHA) exemplified Marotte's evening, as Bucci jumped on a rebound after Marotte stopped two point-blank chances.

It certainly wasn't a night for goalies in the box score, but several RMU skaters cleaned up there.

Start with Tonge, who put up his second four-point outing in five games, increasing his team-best point total to 33 and his career mark to 132, four shy of Chris Margott '09 for fifth on RMU's all-time scoring list. Addamo stretched his goal streak to three games, giving him seven in his first college season. Louria's first three point game of the season (1g, 2a) gave him points in 11 of 17 games since the winter break. Mantenuto and junior D-man Alex Robert matched season highs with two assists each.



The comeback wasn't all about offense, either. Two clutch penalty kills -- one spanning the second and third periods and another late in regulation -- were each immediately followed by Tonge tallies. And that was all done without the services of do-everything senior defenseman Eric Israel, who is out of the lineup due to injury.

"A big penalty kill at the end, and to have Alex finish the game off like that with a big-time goal .. we needed that," Schooley said. "Credit to our guys, big win."

Schooley noted that his team will have to be better in defending off the puck, because of Mercyhurst's high-volume attack and how they look to create havoc around the net. The Lakers will have their chance to strike back and avoid a four-game season sweep at 7 p.m. Saturday, but the Colonials will be buoyed by Senior Night festivities. 

Whatever happens in the regular-season finale, it'll be tough to top this one.