NEVILLE TWP, Pa. — It was a play that probably couldn’t have been executed any better. A 4-on-2 rush over the blue line with traffic in front of starting Robert Morris netminder Francis Marotte, a near=perfect pass and a hard shot from Alex Wilson that went through clean doomed the Colonials as the Army Black Knights earned a key weekend split on Saturday night at RMU Island Sports Center.
The Colonials’ effort was enough, but the opportunities were limited. However, the capitalization on those opportunities, a huge part of Friday night’s 4-2 Colonial victory, was desperately lacking in the 3-1 loss to the Black Knights on Saturday.
“I thought we had a real good effort, I thought we worked hard,” head coach Derek Schooley said. “We out shot them 32-21. The scoring chances were in our favor 10-4 after two periods. I think the main thing was special teams. They got a power play goal and we didn’t, going 0 for 4 didn’t get the job done.”
EARLY LEAD KEY
Unlike Friday, the Knights found the early lead on a power play goal from Michael Wilson at 7:02 of the first period, and it played a factor in how the night played out. Army played the way they needed to play, giving little in the way of good looks for Colonials opportunities while keeping the tempo at their pace and not feeling pressure to pinch defenseman and avoid a more transitional game that could have played into the Colonials hands.
But perhaps what was lacking was a goal from anybody not named Luke Lynch, who tied the game with his third goal of the weekend at 4:23 of the second frame when he took a pass from Brandon Watt and beat Army goaltender Cole Bruns from the top of the left circle. The Colonials hunted for the go ahead marker for the remainder of the game, but a combination of well executed defense, timely saves from Bruns, and some shots that missed the net kept the score knotted at one.
“We didn’t give up many chances and didn’t have any glaring turnovers,” Schooley said. “We put a lot of energy and a lot of effort into this game and it’s disappointing that we didn’t get the result we wanted. Our best players have to be our best players and I don’t know if I can say that tonight. We have to make sure we do things as a group.”
POWER OUTAGE
The golden opportunity for the Colonials came in the third period, when defenseman Eric Israel was checked from behind into the boards by the Black Knights’ Brendan McGuire, who was assessed a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct. The ensuing power play yielded no goals, and very little in the way of prime scoring chances and seemed to give Army a lift after it expired. The Colonials went 0 for 4 with the man advantage on Saturday night and 1 for 13 on the weekend. Most power plays are a work in progress to start the season, and the Colonials’ will need some fine tuning going forward.
“We have to play as a unit instead of as individual players,” Schooley said. “We’re not working well as a five-man group. We’re working as each individual. We take some ill-advised shots. We have to make sure we do a better job whether it’s the personnel, whether it’s the setup, or other things, our power play has to be better.”
MOVING FORWARD
The game and weekend saw the Colonials make improvements in maintaining a more consistent battle level and they will look to make even more improvement heading into their weekend home-and-home series with Ohio State next Friday and Saturday. One Colonials player who didn’t hit the score sheet this weekend, but played inspired hockey with passion and intensity was sophomore Jacob Coleman who made several of the Robert Morris scoring opportunities happen through hard work and hustle. Coleman remained optimistic that only a few minor adjustments would be all it took to see the end results turn to his team’s favor.
“I think we played well,” Coleman said. “We came out with energy and did what we wanted to do. I think the biggest thing is they capitalized on their chances and we didn’t, so that’s one thing that we need to sharpen up. We worked hard enough to get chances and when we do, we just have to make sure we put them in the back of the net. We came out with jump yesterday and today we came out a little on our heels but as the game went on I think we started getting more physical and once we started getting into the game more physically, that’s when everyone started buying in and getting in on the fore check. I think we had success whenever we got in on their defense, created turnovers and moved pucks through and (got) traffic in front. I think it would have helped out a little bit more. Little things decide winning a game and losing a game. We just have to tighten up in all areas of the game and I think we’ll be fine.”
The Colonials will travel to Columbus, Ohio on Friday night and then return home for the Saturday completion of the weekend series.
