Photo courtesy of RMU Athletics
NEVILLE TWP.,PA- The hopes for a potential home playoff game for the Robert Morris Colonials in the upcoming Atlantic Hockey America playoffs were dashed by an Austin Schwartz hat trick as his two, third period goals broke open a tied game, pushing the Air Force Falcons to a 4-2 victory on Friday night at Clearview Arena. Once again, the Colonials found themselves in a winnable contest against a tough conference foe late in the game, but a mix of Falcon speed and skill plus a lack of discipline on the Colonial side at crucial times were both factors in the mix as the Falcons sealed up a home playoff date for the opening round next weekend.
“It’s a familiar story,” Robert Morris head coach Derek Schooley remarked. “We have to find a way to win these types of games. We had four guys caught on the wall and gave up a slide slot goal and then we get one and take a five minute major. We can’t keep taking five minute majors.”
The Falcons got on the scoreboard just 3:55 into the game as Schwartz deposited his first of the night past starting Colonial goaltender Croix Kochendorfer for his ninth tally of the season. Forward Michael Felsing then knotted the game at a goal apiece when he put home a rebound past Guy Blessing in the Falcon net at 1:25 of the second frame. Brendan Gibbons put the Falcons back in the driver’s seat at 9:37 of the second period for his ninth goal of the season as the shots and momentum seemed to be breaking the Falcons way in the middle stanza as they accumulated a 26-15 shot advantage through 20 minutes. Colonial forward Cody Monds then brought his side back to even terms with a goal from close range at the 13:58 mark and the stage seemed set for a thrilling finish as the teams headed to the dressing room tied at two.
Schwartz then took over with goals on back to back shifts just 25 seconds apart at 5:20 and 5:25 in the third period which both stunned and took the life out of the Colonial attack for a large portion of the final 20 minutes. Defenseman Luke van Why then beat Blessing at 16:29 to pull the Colonials back to within a goal which was eventually disallowed following an official review that revealed forward Walter Zacher had committed a contact to the head penalty. Zacher was given a major and a game misconduct and the Colonials never threatened again in the final minutes.
The teams resume their weekend series tomorrow night at Clearview Arena with puck drop scheduled for 7 PM.
