PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's hockey team improved to 4-2 (2-1 AHA) on the season with a win against Air Force Friday Night in Colorado Springs.
Freshman goalie Noah West earned his first career win while fellow rookie Matthew Guerra scored his first NCAA goal in the victory.
Things opened up quickly from the first puck drop Friday night as both teams traded chances on some wonderful end-to-end action.
Aidan Spellacy earned the first good look for the Colonials, cutting hard to the net around an Air Force defender however keeper Alex Schilling did a nice job to wait him out on the stuff attempt in tight.
The Lakewood, Ohio native would not be denied, however. Minutes later he put the Colonials up 1-0 on a blistering shot from the left circle, beating Schilling high glove side with a heavy wrister after picking up a slick pass from Randy Hernandez.
West was calm and collected at the other end in goal for the Colonials, turning aside nine first-period shots including back-to-back stops on the doorstep from Luke Marshall and Madison Bowery.
One of the most heavily penalized teams in NCAA through five games, RMU found themselves shorthanded once again in the second as Roman Kraemer and Brian Kramer were each sent off, however an efficient Colonials kill limited the Falcons to just three total shots in four minutes of PP time.
Gaining some momentum from the kills, RMU continued to push the pace.
Nick Jenny made it 2-0 after some excellent forechecking from the Colonials, picking up a pass from Grant Hebert off the cycle before firing a bullet from a sharp angle that snuck in over Schilling's shoulder, just under the crossbar.
Two quick goals to start the third put RMU firmly in the drivers seat over the final 20.
Matthew Guerra scored the first of his career, hounding a loose puck after a nice steal from Hernandez before firing a turning shot from the high slot that beat Schilling glove side.
Nick Lalonde made it a four-goal lead five seconds later, crashing the net and finishing off a pass from Roman Kraemer for a tap-in into a wide open net.
Air Force would get one as well to spoil West's shutout but it wasn't enough as RMU hung on for their first road win of the year.
SCORING PLAYS
Spellacy, 8:19, 1st - Assists: Hernandez, Prkusic
Jenny, 11:22, 2nd - Assists: Hebert, Kramer
Guerra, 00:55, 3rd (PP) - Assists: Hernandez, Addamo
Lalonde, 1:00, 3rd - Assists: Kramer, Lafrance
Mirageas, 3:45, 3rd - Assists: Daskas
QUICK HITS
Noah West earned his first career win in net…Matthew Guerra scored his first career goal…Brian Kramer and David Lafrance each picked up their first career points with an assist…Randy Hernandez (2A) had another multi-point night...Colonials improve to 1-0 on the road…RMU ended an extended power-play slump, going 1-2 on the night…Colonials improve to 3-1 when scoring first...First RMU win against Air Force since 1/21/17 and first win in Colorado since 2/19/16
QUOTABLES
"I'm really proud of our guys. We had guys really step up and take advantage of opportunities, and I thought we played a fairly complete game. Instead of holding on, we extended the lead. Anytime you can get a win in Colorado Springs, which is a tough place to win, it's exciting for this team and we want to follow it up with a good performance tomorrow." - Head Coach Derek Schooley
UP NEXT
The Colonials finish out the road trip with another showdown against the Falcons tomorrow at 6:05 p.m. EST.
