ROCHESTER, N.Y. — On Friday evening, the Robert Morris Colonials spent each of t
he first two intermissions with the advantage on the scoreboard over the RIT Tigers. But in the third period, they lost the momentum — and the game.
The Tigers received an extended 5-on-3 power play when defensemen Alex Bontje and Sean Giles took minors only seven seconds apart at the 4:23 mark of the final stanza.
Francis Marotte and the penalty kill unit were impressive, as he stopped the first six shots on net, one being a cross-crease chance that had to be reviewed and ultimately deemed not to be a goal. But the Colonials allowed a goal by RIT’s Jake Hamacher three seconds after the first penalty expired.
Then, Erik Brown stepped out from behind the net and fired a shot over Marotte with just over 11 minutes left in regulation to take the lead for good.
Head coach Derek Schooley boiled it down to not being able to capitalize on one thing: momentum.
“It was a fairly even hockey game,” Schooley said. “We just didn’t seize the momentum swings that were at the right time. We had six seconds to kill with the faceoff in our own end, and they score. That gives them momentum when it should’ve given us momentum. They got the momentum swings in the game, and we did not stop the momentum, nor did we gain the momentum at the right time.”
Alternate captain Timmy Moore had a hand in two of the goals on the night, assisting on goal by both Brady Ferguson and Luke Lynch. Moore echoed his coach’s thoughts.
“We’re up 3-2 going into the third,” Moore said. “We killed off a 5-on-3 and have a draw in our own end, win it, and they end up scoring. We have to learn to capitalize, learn to finish. We’ve got a team there, instead of sitting back, we’ve got to go. We have to keep playing our game.”
POWERED UP
Ferguson’s tally on the power play was part of a stronger, more intense power play that included quicker strikes to the net due to increased puck movement. The Colonials used that momentum to head into the first break with a 1-0 lead, only to watch the Tigers’ Myles Powell split two defensemen on the way to the net for one goal, and Max Mikowski convert on odd-man opportunity for another in the first seven minutes of the second.
The Colonials came out strong the remainder of the second period and netted goals by Luke Lynch and Spencer Dorowicz, the latter scoring on a play set up by a backhand pass from a falling Michael Louria.
NOTES
Ferguson scored his ninth career goal against RIT. He and Dorowicz each tallied 5 shots on net … Lynch registered his team-leading eighth goal in his 11th game of the season, one shy of his 2016-17 total. … Louria assisted on both Ferguson’s and Dorowicz’s goals, extending his team-high assist total to nine on the year. Louria has points in ten of the first eleven games on the year. … While the shot total ended in RIT’s favor, the Colonials had more effort in the offensive zone, as they out-attempted RIT 54-51. RIT was credited with 2- blocks.
UP NEXT:
Robert Morris and RIT face off in the second half of the series at the Gene Polisseni Center at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday. The Colonials will return to Neville Island to face American International Nov. 17 and 18.
