NEVILLE TWP., PA. — Robert Morris hosted the Simon Fraser in an exhibition at Clearview Arena on Saturday night with the Colonials defeating the Red Leafs 3-1 on two goals from Cameron Garvey and a power play tally from Gavin Gulash.
The game contest was overly physical, but played into what Colonials bench boss Derek Schooley was looking for.
“We played hard, we competed,” Schooley said. “That’s all we need to do is to make sure we checked all the boxes. We wanted to play a competitive hockey game, get a win and get our young guys some experience.”
EXHIBITION BLUES
The Colonials took advantage of the mid-season exhibition by dressing 16 forwards, six defenders and two forwards while notably scratching captain Rylee St. Once, defender Trevor LeDonne and goaltender Chad Veltri. Having the exhibition come part of the way through the season comes with it’s advantages and disadvantages. While most players have been rotated in for half of the games, the two net minders hadn’t seen action in 2023.
“I thought they handled themselves well,” Derek Schooley said. “Some of them played better in the game than they do in practice. It was good to get Francis Boisvert in there, I thought he played outstanding. I know he wasn’t challenged as much as we’ve been putting Chad Veltri into the microscope, but I thought he did a really good job. I know the win doesn’t count, but it was good that he got his first, unofficial collegiate win.”
THE GAME
The Colonials found the cage first as Cameron Garvey beat Simon Fraser starter Kolby Matthews at the 2:58 mark of the period. Nick Wicks fired a shot through the five hole of Francis Boisvert at 19:06 that tied the contest up on the power play before the first ice cut.
Colonials forward Gavin Gulash’s power play goal at 4:30 held up the remainder, and was enforced by Garvey’s second of the contest into an empty net at 18:18 of the third.
“We put some guys in new spots,” Schooley explained We had some guys on the power play that weren’t in the lineup or that we wanted to get some extended looks to. Gavin Gulash’s first time as a Colonial on the power play, his first one he gets a goal.”
UP NEXT
The Colonials head to Anchorage, Alaska to face the University of Anchorage Seawolves on November 10 and 11. Faceoff from the Avis Alaska Sports Complex takes place at 11:00pm Eastern on Friday and 10:00 Eastern on Saturday.
