ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The #19 Robert Morris men's hockey team dropped a road matchup with RIT 6-1 Friday night at Gene Polisseni Center, moving them to 14-6 (10-4-1 AHA).
Randy Hernandez scored the lone goal for RMU, his team-leading ninth of the year.
The Colonials managed to get the jump early on RIT Saturday, putting together a sold first period against the Tigers and out-shooting them 17-11.
Kyler Head nearly put RMU up 1-0 on a breakaway, but good back pressure from an RIT defender and a patient stop from Ian Andriano negated the chance for RMU.
Randy Hernandez finally capitalized on the momentum early in the second, depositing a loose puck in the back of the net after a rebound opportunity bounced to him all alone in the crease.
The momentum would be short lived as RIT tied things up on the power play four minutes later, crashing the net and following up a second-chance opportunity in close as Will Calverly tied things up on the man advantage.
Alden Dupuis gave RIT a 2-1 lead near the midway mark of the second before a short-handed goal from Calverley opened spa. Two-goal lead for his second tally of the night.
A pushback from RMU near the end of the second help stem the momentum, but chances from Nick Lalonde and Roman Kraemer missed their mark.
The Tigers shot-blocking proved effective at countering the RMU offense, blocking tons of Colonials chances despite RMU enjoying an overall 69-46 advantage in shot attempts.
Three more RIT goals in the span of 4:25of the blew the game open for the Tigers as RMU suffered its first loss since January 30.
SCORING PLAYS
Hernandez, 00:59, 2nd - Assists: Hartikainen
Calverley, 5:08, 2nd - Assists: Hamacher, Willett
Dupuis, 9:17, 2nd - Assists: Joffe
Walker, 10:23, 2nd (SH) - Assists: Calverley
Gonsalves, 5:35, 3rd - Assists: Hansen-Bukata, Hamacher
DiMurro, 8:25, 3rd - Assists: Nicholson, Bruce
Moretz, 10:00, 3rd - Assists: Willett
QUICK HITS
Hernandez now leads RMU with nine goals and is tied for most points with 21…Colonials finished 0-2 on the PP…RMU outshot RIT, 40-32
QUOTABLES
"I liked our start, I thought we came out and played well in the first, we're just ok in the second and then had a bad third. Give RIT credit, they played very well and their goaltender was sharp, but we've got to be better tomorrow as well. There were definitely some tough adjustments playing with a different lineup than normal, but we can't hang our hats on that, we've got to figure out a way to be better tomorrow." - Head Coach Derek Schooley
NEXT UP
The Colonials face RIT in the rubber match of the series tomorrow at 5:00 p.m.
