PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's hockey team dropped game two of its quarterfinal series against Niagara 3-2 in double overtime Saturday night at Clearview Arena.
The loss was the longest game in Colonials program history and sets up a winner-take-all game three tomorrow at 7 p.m.
RMU did its best to strike early, testing Veltri on a few close calls early into Saturday's action.
Some great work by the line of Justin Addamo, Grant Hebert, and Jordan Timmons led to a close call for Addamo near the side of the net, however he could not corral a bouncing puck to get a clean shot off before it was cleared away by a Niagara defender.
An interference call on the Colonials minutes later threatened RMU with the first good chances of the game for Niagara, but some hard work from the PK unit produced a big kill to keep it even early.
For the second straight game, the Purple Eagles got on the board first when Jack Billings slipped one under the pads of Noah West for an unassisted tally at 11:23.
Justin Addamo leveled things with a blast from the right circle on the power play for the Colonials at 16:03, however Niagara got it right back less than a minute later courtesy of Ludwig Stenlund to take a 2-1 lead into the dressing room.
The Colonials pressed for the equalizer in the second, spending quite a bit of time in the offensive zone, however excellent d-zone coverage from NU made it difficult for the Colonials to establish much rhythm.
Nick Prkusic finally broke through with his first goal of the series near the 7:00 minute mark, cutting through the slot off the rush and firing a hard, low wrister that beat Veltri blocker side to even things at 2-2.
Noah West came up huge in goal at end the period for the Colonials, holding the fort with a number of key saves as Niagara poured it on with more o-zone pressure to close out the second.
The Colonials had to survive two more minors in the third, coming up with huge kills with Nick Prkusic and Cameron Hebert in the box to keep it tied despite a chaotic final frame of regulation.
A shot from the corner struck the Niagara crossbar with five seconds to play, somehow bouncing up and over the goal and out as the Colonials and Purple Eagles headed to overtime for the second straight game.
Despite a 36-12 advantage in shots in the first OT frame, RMU could not find that back of the net, just narrowly missing on chances from Timmons and Aidan Spellacy in tight as the game headed into a second overtime.
A sharp angle shot from Jack Billings ended the game for Niagara at 7:31 of the second OT period.
SCORING PLAYS
Billings, 11:23, 1st - Unassisted
Addamo, 16:03, 1st (PP) - Assists: Prkusic, Hernandez
Stenlund, 16:55, 1st - Assists: Herman, Billings
Prkusic, 6:41, 2nd - Assists: Hernandez, Schaeffer
Billings, 7:31 (2OT) - Unassisted
QUICK HITS
Longest game in Colonials history…game three tomorrow at 7:00 p.m.
QUOTABLES
"No shot in overtime is a bad shot, and I think Niagara proved that tonight. I thought we were outstanding in the first OT, we generated a ton of chances and was probably our best period of the weekend, but we just couldn't get one past Veltri. Every game from here-on out is an elimination game so we know what we have in front of us." - Head Coach Derek Schooley
NEXT UP
RMU faces Niagara tomorrow in game three at 7:00 p.m.
