Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University men's hockey team ties Holy Cross, 3-3. RMU went on to win the extra point in the shootout. The Colonials are now 1-2-2 overall in the 2023-24 campaign and 0-1-2 in the AHA. Holy Cross stands at 4-0-1 overall and 1-0-1 in conference games.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Compared to last game when the goals came late, the goals happened earlier in Saturday nights match.
Holy Cross opened up the night with a goal three minutes into the opening period, as Devin Phillips scored on the power play.
Later in the period, the Crusaders found the back of the net again, making it 0-2. By the end of the first 20 minutes, Holy Cross was outshooting RMU, 13-3.
Early into the middle frame, RMU was stuck shorthanded once again, but killed the penalty off.
Chad Veltri made 10 key saves up until the halfway point of the period, RMU got called for another penalty.
Taking a 3-0 lead, Alec Cicero scored another man-up goal for Holy Cross.
With a comfortable lead, the Colonials faced adversity and refused to back down.
During the last five minutes of the second period, RMU quickly started to gain momentum.
"A switch clicked," said head coach Derek Schooley. "We got going and capitalized on a goal after a couple good shifts."
With two minutes remaining,
Tanner Klimpke, who scored yesterday, started the comeback, bashed in the puck off a rebound. Freshman
McKay Hayes on his wrap-around attempt was denied, followed up by Klimpke pounding it in.
Entering the third period, RMU got right back to work.
With a power play on the way, Veltri skated to the bench to add the extra attacker. Seconds later,
Logan Ganie ripped a one-timer wide. Off a bounce behind the net, the puck dribbled up towards goal to the stick of
Jackson Reineke, smashing it in to bring the Colonials within one.
Just a minute later, the Colonials tied the game up.
During the 5on3 power play, off a loose puck in front of the net,
Dallas Tulik found
Luke Johnson near the side of the net, burying in the tying goal.
After giving up three consecutive goals, Holy Cross did still have some fight in them. Clawing away in the offensive zone, goaltender
Chad Veltri was there every time to stop the opposition.
Over the last 10 minutes of the third period, Veltri made nine imperative saves to force overtime.
Although, 3on3 overtime is known to be exciting hockey, neither side created many chances for the five-minute period until the last second. Holy Cross took a penalty with 2.9 seconds left on the clock. With a face-off in the offensive zone, the coaching staff went to the whiteboards to draw up a play.
If only there were another second left, the Colonials play would have worked as
Cade Townend slapped the puck in just after the buzzer.
Heading into the shootout, the Crusaders were very close on their first two chances, as both shots by Lucas Thorne and Matt Guerra hit the post. Graduate forward
Logan Ganie was the first shooter for RMU, scoring past Jason Grande.
"I skated towards the net slowly," said
Logan Ganie. "It makes a goalie usually question what you're going to do. I saw the low pad was open so I got it off quick and fortunately it went in."
His goal was the only one needed, as Robert Morris picked up the extra point in the shootout victory.
"Last week we left points off the table. Tonight, we stole points. We found a way to get two points when things looked really dismal for us," stated Schooley.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Faceoffs were almost even tonight, as the Colonials owned the slight edge, winning 32 of 63. First-line center
Dallas Tulik won 10. Defensively,
Mitch Andres was huge on the penalty kill, leading all players on the ice in blocks with three.
Michael Craig also provided his second assist of the season.
COLONIAL FIRSTS
Freshman
Jackson Reineke scored his first career goal and point against Holy Cross. Alternate Captain
Luke Johnson, a veteran transfer from Providence, provided the game-tying goal and his first point in an RMU uniform. Scoring his first two career goals earlier in the campaign, freshman forward
McKay Hayes finished the night with his first multi-point effort, pacing for two assists.
POINT STREAK
Through the past three games, freshman
Tanner Klimpke has recorded a point. Producing a goal and assist tonight, the forward from Calgary, Alberta has heated up in conference play, owning two goals and two assists in the last three outings. Dating back to the first away game of the season at Bowling Green (10/8),
Logan Ganie has paced for two goals and three assists in the last four games.
QUOTABLE
"It felt good to score some goals and make a comeback. It showed a lot of resiliency from a team that's young and hasn't been together for very long."
– Head Coach Derek Schooley
"We had some guys step up for us in some key situations. Players like
Logan Ganie were huge for us.
Dallas Tulik really stepped up. We're still trying to get our young freshmen experience and I think they did a great job of that tonight.
Jackson Reineke,
Tanner Klimpke and
McKay Hayes did a good job and we got some hard minutes out of
Paul Maust and
Gavin Gulash."
– Head Coach Derek Schooley
"Coaches talked to us between the second and third period and we really started to play our style of hockey. It worked out for us."
– Forward Logan Ganie
"I think tonight showed that we can compete with anyone. As long as we stick to our system and play our way. We came out in the third and found a way to pick up more points and good teams find a way to do that."
– Forward Logan Ganie
UP NEXT
The Colonials continue conference play on home ice next weekend, as they host Bentley for another conference series to end the month of October. The first game will be played on Friday, October 27 at 7:00 p.m. and then the following day at 4:00 p.m.
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