Photo Courtesy of Justin Berl/RMU Athletics
NEVILLE TWP.,Pa- So close, but so far away. The adage has been the way of it for the Robert Morris Colonials in the second half of the season as opportunities to win important games down the stretch have slipped through their fingers on a regular basis. Such was the case once again on Saturday night at Clearview Arena as the Colonials lost a 3-2 lead late in the third period as a hard, short side shot attempt from Air Force forward Chris Hedden that evaded Croix Kochendorfer in the Colonial net. And, following a scoreless five minute overtime period, the Falcons Nick Sajevic provided the only tally as his side took the extra point on the night, making for a five point weekend which maintained them as the seventh seed in the upcoming Atlantic Hockey playoffs. Hedden paced the Falcons with a goal and two assists on the night while in the Falcon net, Guy Blessing impressively stopped 43 of the 46 Colonial shots he faced as well as all three shooters in the shootout.
“We did some good things,” Robert Morris head coach Derek Schooley said. “We just have to get a clear, have to get a puck out, gotta get a block and gotta get a save. And if you don’t, your season’s over. We’ve got to get pucks out and move pucks forward. I think that will give us a chance, knowing where we’re going, we know who we’re playing and unless things change, it looks like we’re gonna be playing the same team three times in a row,” Schooley said regarding the Colonial’s upcoming playoff opponent. “Every play matters. You have to get saves and you have to make plays.”
The Colonials got off to a strong start as Walter Zacher unleashed a backhander from the lower left circle to put his team out front just 1:05 after the drop of the puck. The Falcons responded at the 11:49 mark of the first when Nolan Cunningham beat Kochendorfer to knot the score at one. However, forward Michael Felsing continued his strong play of late and with his team on a late first period power play, Felsing put home a rebound at 19:45 to put Robert Morris back out in front at the end of 20 minutes of play.
The scoring came to a halt in the second period although Robert Morris carried the momentum, territory and shots on net, compiling a 26-15 shot on goal advantage through 40 minutes, as Blessing stood tall, making save after save look routing. Falcon forward Sam Stitz then tipped a puck past Kochendorfer at 4:11 of the third to tie it up at two goals each. Unlike Friday night’s contest, the Colonials responded when sophomore forward McKay Hayes deflected a puck off the stick of defenseman Michael Craig to put Robert Morris back in the lead while keeping the pressure on immediately afterward until Hedden’s goal sent the game to overtime at 15:02.
The Colonials will now play a single elimination playoff game at Air Force next Saturday night.
