PITTSBURGH -- In the 120 minutes of hockey that made up their first-round Atlantic Hockey playoff series, the Colonials and Crusaders were never separated by more than one goal.

So when the series-deciding goal needed video review for confirmation, it couldn't have been more fitting.

With just over six minutes remaining in the third period, Robert Morris University freshman Nick Lalonde shoved the game-winning tally through a tangle of bodies in the crease, pushing the Colonials to a 3-2 Game 2 win Saturday night at the RMU Island Sports Center.

Robert Morris, which has never lost a best-of-three home series in eight tries, has swept Holy Cross out of the playoffs in three straight seasons. The Colonials haven't lost a playoff series played anywhere since the 2013 AHA quarterfinals, going 8-0 since.

After a regular season full of challenges and near-misses, the Colonials (14-20-2, 13-15-2 AHA) have now won four in a row -- all by a single goal -- to put together another one of the program's signature late-season surges. They will face a to-be-determined opponent on the road next weekend in the AHA quarterfinal round.

"Crazy," RMU head coach Derek Schooley said, summing up the white-knuckle series. "Happy to be advancing. A lot of emotion. Lot of energy. We're working hard and doing the things we need to do to be successful. And we've got to keep getting better, because it's going to get harder. Every play matters at this time of the year."

None more than Lalonde's successful jam job after linemates Justin Addamo and Luke Lynch were both denied what appeared to be sure goals by diving Crusaders. The result of the melee in front was a loose puck sitting under the shin of kneeling Holy Cross captain Michael Laffin. Treating his stick like a shovel, Lalonde emphatically broke a 12-game goal drought by recording RMU's biggest goal of the season.
 

Nick Lalonde's game-winner for @RMUMHockey this evening pic.twitter.com/1ksIzxdGAU

— Mitch (@PHD_Mitch) March 10, 2019

Just barely. Referees Chris Ciamaga and Michael Schubert initially ruled the controversial play a good goal, but they used an overhead replay angle to officially put the Colonials ahead for good.

"It was an absolute scramble in front of the net," said Lalonde, who has seven goals in his first NCAA season. "I saw some ice (between the puck and the goal line), but I was just hoping the referee saw it. Then I saw him signal 'goal.' Good news for us."



"At the worst, if it wasn't a goal, it was going to be a penalty shot," Schooley added. "We had people all around the net. I don't know how it stayed out the first time. We just kept kicking, slashing, whacking, whatever. ... It was hard work. It was effort."

Even with that adrenaline shot, the Colonials weren't out of the woods yet. A tripping penalty issued to Lynch with 1:44 left in regulation set up a six-on-four power play for Holy Cross, with goalie Tommy Nixon on the bench for an extra attacker. The fact that the Crusaders (10-21-5, 10-16-4 AHA) never got a great look at net during the sequence was a credit to RMU's penalty kill, which went 5 for 5 in the game.

But the nail-biting ending shouldn't distract from the Colonials' overall performance in this series. In both games, RMU took over in the second period and never ceded control again. Even though Holy Cross' Kevin Darrar tied Game 2 with a top-shelf dart six minutes into the third, the Colonials played on their front foot more steadily than the Crusaders in this matchup of the AHA's eighth and ninth seeds.

While RMU's two-goal second period Saturday wasn't technically decisive, rallying from an early 1-0 hole against a hot goalie in Nixon consolidated everything the Colonials have done better over the course of this season-long five-game unbeaten run (4-0-1).

"It was very hard-fought on both sides," said junior defenseman Alex Robert. "They played like they had something to prove to our league, but once again we prevailed. Everything's coming together at the end for us. It's very exciting."

Naturally, on a team with 11 freshmen, some of that late-year improvement is a result of first-year players getting up to speed. But Saturday's clutch victory was as much about veterans delivering as anything else.

For example, junior goalie Francis Marotte improved to 10-3 in the AHA playoffs by stopping 58 of 60 shots in the series. Senior wing Alex Tonge came through with a game-tying penalty shot goal, his team-best 18th. Junior center Daniel Mantenuto ripped a go-ahead goal late in the second period. Senior defenseman Eric Israel returned from a three-game injury absence and blocked a game-high seven shots.

"The way our league's drawn up, it comes down to what you can do at the end of the season, into the playoffs," Robert said. "Really excited that things are jelling for us now. We have all four lines going, all three 'D' pairings. Just gotta continue what we're doing."

In a carbon copy of Friday night, Holy Cross controlled play in the opening minutes, but unlike Friday night, the Crusaders converted that early edge into the first goal. Defenseman Spencer Trapp made it happen; the senior defenseman drove in deep and centered the puck for a net-crashing Ryan Leibold to chip past Marotte at 5:07.

After two total penalties in Game 1, the first period Saturday featured six minors called, three to each side.

RMU received the best opportunity from all that special-teams play, enjoying a 50-second two-man advantage near the end of the period. But Israel (missed net) and Tonge (hit post) both barely missed backdoor chances and the Colonials had to settle for a 1-0 deficit after 20 minutes.

But in a repeat of Game 1, RMU owned the second period, ripping 17 shots at Nixon and getting two past him. It seemed the Colonials were poised to clinch the series then and there.

"I thought it might've been our best period of the year," Schooley said. "It was contagious. We were advancing pucks. We were going to get them. We were competing hard down low. We were physical. We were getting pucks to the net."

The tying goal came in a most unconventional way — a penalty shot after Tonge was hooked from behind on a breakaway he created with a stolen pass. Tonge stickhandled wide to the forehand and launched a sharp-angle shot into the upper reaches of the net, scoring RMU's first penalty-shot goal since Lynch netted one Nov. 5, 2016 vs. Ohio State.
 

GOOOOAAAAALLL @RMUMHockey pic.twitter.com/mFxH5TdVK0

— Brianne McLaughlin (@BrianneMcL) March 10, 2019

After Tonge's solo mission was a success, RMU's second goal was a tandem effort, with sophomore Nick Prkusic pulling up inside the Holy Cross blue line and slinging a pass to a breaking Mantenuto. A split-second later, Nixon was beaten on a snap shot just under his glove with 6:54 left in the second.

And although the lead didn't last the rest of the way, the Colonials improved to 10-0-1 when ahead after two periods this season. Even though RMU struggled to get late leads for a stretch in the second half of the season, protecting them is one area in which Schooley's team has consistently excelled. It doesn't hurt that the Colonials have topped 20 blocked shots in each of their past three games.

"We're trying to play the game the right way," Lalonde said. "We knew we didn't play the best in the first period, but we absolutely dominated the second period and it carried over into the third."

RMU's 16th win in 21 all-time home playoff games sets up another best-of-three set next weekend, but the result of Sunday's Game 3 between 6-seed Niagara and 11-seed Canisius will determine the Colonials' opponent.

With 10-seed Army West Point already through with a sweep of Mercyhurst, RMU will play 2-seed Bentley if Niagara prevails and 3-seed Air Force if Canisius pulls it out.