Robert Morris head coach Derek Schooley said before his team departed for a weekend series in Buffalo, New York, that he was looking for 60 minutes of effort.
Friday night in a 4-3 win over the Canisius Golden Griffins, his Colonials gave him about 50.
Robert Morris (1-1-0; 1-1-0 AHC) built a 3-0 lead through two periods, but in a 10-minute span in the third, they gave it all back, as Canisius tied the game on a Dylan McLaughlin goal at 9:57 of the third.
Four minutes later, senior center Spencer Dorowicz whacked a loose puck in the slot past Canisius goaltender Simon Hofley to give RMU a final lead.
It wasn’t exactly what the Colonials were looking for as far as a rebound performance after a season-opening overtime loss to Niagara last Friday, but they’ll take the win and move on.
“We took 10 minutes off and then we had to ramp it back up for the final 10,” Schooley said. “During those 10 minutes we were off, we gave up three goals.”
Special teams provided the margin of victory for Robert Morris. The Colonials committed eight minor penalties and gave up just one power play goal against, and that came on a 5-on-3. On the other side, Matthew Graham and Michael Louria each cashed in with power-play tallies in the first period. It was the first goal of the season for each player and the first at Robert Morris for Louria.
“I though we were pretty good killing penalties,” Schooley said. “We lost our composure a little bit in those 10 minutes, but we regained it and obviously happy to get out of here with a win.”
For the second straight game, the Colonials closed well. They scored two goals late to force overtime against Niagara and Dorowicz’s clutch marker pushed them over the edge against Canisius.
“You don’t have a choice,” Schooley said. “When you give up three in 10 minutes, if you sit back, you’re going to lose. You have to ramp it up. We did a good job of responding when it was 3-3, but we should have never been in that situation. We’ve got an older, veteran team that should be able to close out a three-goal lead heading into the third period.”
ROAD AHEAD
The Colonials will finish their two-game set in Buffalo against the Golden Griffins on Saturday. That game will face off at 7:35 p.m. The Colonials return home for their home opener next Friday against Army West Point.
