Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University men's hockey team picked up their first victory of the season on home ice, beating Bentley, 4-3. The Colonials are now 2-2-2 overall on the season and are 1-1-2 in the Atlantic Hockey conference. Bentley now stands at 2-3-0 on the year and are 0-1-0 in conference games.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Building off earning two points last weekend to Holy Cross, RMU never held a lead on home ice yet up until tonight.
Just three minutes into the game, the fourth line got to work.
Dominic Schimizzi redirected the puck off the boards into the neutral zone. Rushing on the attack,
George Krotiris entered the zone with speed. He crossed the ice finding senior
Cameron Hebert on the back post to smash it in, giving the Colonials an early, 1-0 lead.
For the reminder of the first period, the game stayed as a close battle. Bentley held the edge in shots after 20 minutes, 10-9.
Entering the second period,
Chad Veltri kept RMU in the game with many saves, flashing the glove several times.
Bentley kept bringing pressure though, and found a way to score two goals within two minutes with a little over five minutes left in the middle frame.
Before the period was over, the Colonials tied it up. Battling in the corner,
McKay Hayes brushed the puck along the boards finding
Tanner Klimpke. Behind the net, Klimpke found center
Dallas Tulik right in the slot and he got a shot off finding the top right corner to tie up the game, 2-2.
In the third period, Bentley got onto the power play about five minutes into the last period. After scoring with the man-advantage in the second period, they did once again, taking back the lead, 3-2.
The Colonials kept pushing forward and freshman
Cameron Garvey found a way to win the game, scoring his first two career goals late in the third period.
On the first goal,
Luke Johnson kept the puck in deep, pinching forward on the forecheck. He found Garvey in the center of the ice for a one-timer, beating the goalie.
"It was a good overall forecheck by our line," stated Garvey. "I was fortunate enough to get the puck in the slot and get it off."
Under two minutes later,
Michael Craig took a slap shot from the blue line, bouncing to the stick of Garvey. He turned his body and wristed in another goal, giving RMU the lead late, 4-3.
"I had some confidence after scoring the first one," said Garvey. "On both goals it was really about the forecheck."
As time winded down, veteran netminder
Chad Veltri made some more key saves to keep his time in front. The Colonials finished the night winning their first game in front of their home crowd and earned all three points for the first time in the campaign against an AHA opponent.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
On the night, the Colonials had seven different players produce a point. From the blue line,
Michael Craig picked up his third assist.
Cameron Hebert notched in his first goal of the season and third point. Freshman
Dominic Schimizzi, who scored the first goal of the season, added in his first career assist on the team's first goal of the night. And,
Luke Johnson dished out an assist on the game-tying goal.
COLONIAL FIRSTS
Across his five-year collegiate career,
Dallas Tulik owns 16 career goals now. He scored a huge one for the Colonials tonight, cashing in his first in an RMU jersey. From Markham, Ontario, freshman
George Krotiris registered his first career point in today's victory, including a multi-point effort, passing out two total assists. And, freshman
Cameron Garvey out of Oakville, Ontario put on his most impressive performance in his young career, scoring a brace against the Falcons. Garvey found a way to be clutch for the Colonials, recording the game-tying and game-winning goal.
HOT STREAK
Freshmen
McKay Hayes and
Tanner Klimpke playing on the first line continue to do damage against opposing teams. The Canadian duo both produced another assist in a conference game. Klimpke owns two goals and three assists in his last four games and Hayes is on a two-game point streak, delivering three assists.
VELTRI THE VETERAN
Chad Veltri continues to make waves in the Atlantic Hockey conference as the graduate goaltender achieved a new career-high. Posting his second win of the season between the pipes, Veltri made 51 saves against Bentley. On the night, he posted a .945 save percentage and picked up his 36
th career win.
QUOTABLE
"You're going to see some young guys that when they get their first goal, they start to get the monkey off their back. We've seen that with
Tanner Klimpke and
McKay Hayes. Everyone who comes to this program is a scorer. They've realized how hard they have to play."
– Head Coach Derek Schooley
"I think even when we aren't playing our best we're a confident group and that starts on our back end, especially with our goalie. We always know that we're in the game when Chad is playing between the pipes. He gives the rest of our team so much confidence. When we were down 0-3 against Holy Cross we still held a belief in the room that there's always a fighting chance."
– Freshman Cameron Garvey
UP NEXT
The Colonials will play game two of the series back on home ice tomorrow, as they'll host Bentley again at 4:00 p.m. at Clearview Arena.
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