ERIE — The Robert Morris University men's hockey team got back in the win column Tuesday evening against Mercyhurst, earning a 4-1 win over the Lakers at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.
The Colonials improved to 8-5-3 in Atlantic Hockey competition with the victory and are now tied with American International for third place overall in the conference.
Battling back from an early deficit for the second straight game, RMU showed their resolve on the road as Roman Kraemer, Alex Robert, Jacob Coleman, and Luke Lynch all recorded goals in the effort. Robert's first tally of the year proved to be the game winner while goalkeeper Justin Kapelmaster turned aside 27 of 28 shots on goal to earn the victory.
"I thought we were pretty good offensively," head coach Derek Schooley said. "We generated a lot of chances and put a lot of pucks to the net. We were a little sloppy at the beginning, but we were persistent, we worked hard, and we played aggressive. That's back to back games with 40+ shots, so we're heading in the right direction offensively."
For the second straight game, RMU found themselves in an early hole after Mercyhurst's Steven Ipri ripped a shot from the slot that beat Kapelmaster to put the Lakers up 1-0 just 3:31 in.
After RMU narrowly avoided disaster on a bad giveaway at the mouth of the net moments earlier, Ipri collected a loose puck in the zone before walking into the high slot and beating the RMU keeper for the early advantage.
The Colonials would soon find their footing, however, and before long things were all even courtesy of an incredible individual effort by Kraemer.
The freshman winger collected the puck near the blue line, entering the zone with speed before an impressive burst helped him split a pair of defenders and tuck the puck through the wickets of goaltender Garrett Metcalf to put RMU level at 1-1. Freshman Quinn Warmuth picked up his first collegiate point with an assist on the goal.
"We've got to get a little bit better at our starts," Schooley said. "Its been a while since we scored the first goal, and you don't want to chase games, so it was good for us to get one back quick."
Minutes later, it looked like Jake Coleman had found the go-ahead goal after burying a backhand chance in tight, however an official review overturned the goal for goaltender interference.
As the first gave way to the second, both teams got a chance to flex their special teams abilities in a game that featured 50 total penalty minutes.
The Colonials third-ranked PK was tested against a Mercyhurst unit that leads the league with 1.42 power play goals per game entering the night, and both it and Kapelmaster proved up to the challenge.
The senior net minder stopped a flurry of chances to preserve the tie midway through the second, including a dangerous looking chance in the slot towards the end of an Addamo elbowing penalty.
The RMU power-play would get its looks too, including over 1:40 of a 5-on-3, but a few nice stops from Metcalf kept things tied.
"Usually when you don't scored on a 5-on-3 it comes back to bite you in a game, so it's good that our guys stepped up and our power play got that third one."
Discipline problems continued to plague Mercyhurst as the second dragged on, and before long the Robert Morris power play finally made them pay.
First, after a bout of continued pressure, Alex Robert managed to break the stalemate, corralling a rebound off the end boards and banking a tough shot in off of Metcalf from a steep angle to put the Colonials ahead a goal with under three minutes to play.
They would add another with eight seconds left in the period, finally cashing in a power play as Jake Coleman a nice pass from Grant Hebert into a wide-open cage to push the lead to 3-1.
The intensity only ratcheted up in the third as Mercyhurst tried to dig itself out of their hole.
Despite being outscored 17-13 in third periods this season, the Colonials managed a superb shutdown effort in the final frame as Kapelmaster turned aside all nine shots he faced before a Lynch empty netter with seven seconds left sealed the deal.
"You want to get as many guys as you can involved in the game, and I thought the line of Kraemer and Coyne and Darcy Walsh did a great job with their opportunities, especially after power plays," Schooley said.
The Colonials will face Mercyhurst two more times this week, returning to action this Friday, January 17 when they head back to Erie for a second matchup with the Lakers at 7:05 p.m.
They will then return home to Colonials Arena and the RMU Island Sports Center for the rubber match Saturday evening to complete the three game stretch. The Colonials will remain home through next weekend when American International rolls into town for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday.
Robert Morris is now 6-0-1 in their last seven matchups against the Lakers, a stretch that dates back to February of the 2018 campaign.
"Any time you play a team four times in a year and three times in a week it's going to get a little bit more chippy, but we've got to stay disciplined and stay focused on what our goal is," Schooley said.
