NEVILLE TWP, Pa. — In 
Robert Morris’ 3-0 loss to Bentley on Friday, the stats looked pretty even. The shots were dead even at 28-28. The Colonials out-attempted the Falcons, 53-47. Faceoffs were 38-30 in favor of RMU.
The game was seemingly close everywhere except where it counts, as a pair of second period goals that came just 1:06 apart were all that the Falcons would need to skate to the first shutout of RMU in over two years.
It was also Bentley that blanked the Colonials on Jan. 10, 2015. That time, it was then-freshman goaltender Jayson Argue that backstopped the Falcons. Argue, now a junior, is still Bentley’s go-to netminder, but he was unexpectedly scratched on Friday, with freshman Aidan Pelino making his 10th appearance of the season instead.
Pelino was more than up to the task, stopping all 28 shots, including a pair of incredible saves against Robert Morris forward Timmy Moore.
“It’s frustrating,” Moore said. “You just have to get more traffic and get more shots. We weren’t good enough is the bottom line.”
“I don’t know if [Argue] is hurt or what, but [Pelino] played well,” added head coach Derek Schooley. “We just didn’t have an answer for him. There were a lot of rebounds floating around, we just couldn’t convert on our chances.”
Moore, 23, was Robert Morris’ “best player” according to Schooley. He had seven shot attempts and five on goal, but couldn’t find the back of the net behind Pelino.
FRIDAY FEELING
The loss marked the fourth straight Friday night loss for the Colonials despite Schooley pulling out pretty much every trick he could think of to try to change up the team’s recent run of play.
“We tried changing the routine, we tried changing the meal, we tried changing game day, we tried changing a lot of things,” Schooley said “Obviously, whatever we’re trying to change, isn’t working. It’s frustrating. I’m kind of at a loss.”
That frustration was also expressed by alternate captain Alex Bontje.
“It’s a bit of an unfortunate theme going on with us losing the first game on Friday and then coming back on Saturday and winning it,” he said. “That was the theme this week. We tried to switch stuff up. … When it came down to it, we just got outplayed tonight.”
HOT START, NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT
The Colonials level of effort, while questioned by Bontje, was sufficient to build an 8-3 lead in shots on goal through the first 7:40 of the game. But then what had been a back-and-forth even strength game became a chippy, penalty-filled affair. The teams combined to commit five minors the rest of the first period and any momentum RMU had built was gone.
When the Falcons capitalized early in the second, Robert Morris could never get the offense going again.
“It definitely gets in our head when they score first,” Bontje said. “We have to come out ready to play and get that first goal.”
“We don’t want to chase the game and that’s what we’ve been doing,” Schooley said. “You would hope that with the shot attempts and the chances we had … we were just a little too cute tonight.”
A puck rests inside a light above the ice at 84 Lumber Arena. — BRIAN MITCHELL
LIGHTS OUT PERFORMANCE?
For the second time this season, a puck struck one of the light standards above the ice surface, delaying the game while the ice crew cleaned up the pieces. This time, however, the puck remained lodged inside the light while play continued.
The Colonials and Falcons will skate again Saturday at 5:05 p.m.
