COLUMBUS, Ohio — Over the last few years, the Robert Morris men’s hockey team has gained something of a reputation as giant killers.
The Colonials have beaten numerous ranked non-conference opponents, from Penn State, Quinnipiac and UMass-Lowell in the Three Rivers Classic to road victories over Michigan and Ohio State.
In fact, Friday’s matchup between Robert Morris and Ohio State came nearly a year to the date from when the Colonials knocked off the then-No. 11 Buckeyes at Value City Arena and stopped a seven-game Ohio State unbeaten streak.
So when the Colonials jumped out to a two-goal lead against the Buckeyes Friday night, it seemed like David was set to knock off another Goliath.
This time, the giants had another idea. Ohio State stormed back, erasing the early deficit and going on to a 5-3 victory.
The Buckeyes did it in true giant fashion, as well, taking their strong cadre of forwards straight to front of the net and outmuscling the Robert Morris defense to a string of net-front goals. For the Colonials, it was an opportunity that was let slip as some better defensive work might have helped goaltender Francis Marotte hold the early lead.
“We showed we can play with them,” senior defenseman Robert Powers said. “It was just self-inflicted wounds, really. Coach [Derek] Schooley said it. We played a hard game. Our effort is there. We just need to execute in the D zone better, pick up guys and pick up sticks. We were right there, we just need to be a little bit better.”
Schooley was succinct in evaluating his team’s defensive effort.
“We need to pick up our men,” he said. “Yeah, they were very good around the paint. Four goals were easily avoidable if we pick up our men. … We can’t give up four goals right inside the paint. They were tap-ins. We lost men.”
The issue raised by the Buckeyes isn’t necessarily one that’s plagued the Colonials in the past. On hand, that should make it easier to correct. On the other hand, it’s presented Schooley with a bit of a “what next” situation as his team has found several different ways to lose in its 2-4 start.
“It’s almost like you fix one thing and then …” he trailed off. “At Canisius, it was our rush defense. We fixed our rush defense. We’ve been really good. Then our backcheck effort has been really good, and then we find another way to give up goals. You can’t give up this many goals in a game and expect to win in college hockey.”
But Schooley did echo Powers’ sentiment that the team gave a winning level of effort. They simply didn’t execute at a high enough level.
“I liked our energy, I liked our effort, I loved our start, I loved our fight,” Schooley said. “Even when it was 3-2, we came back and made it 3-3, but you can’t give good teams easy goals. We gave them four easy goals and they converted on them. You can’t do that. Like I said, I liked our energy. I loved our effort. We’re close, but not good enough in certain areas every game.”
POWER PLAYS
Coming into the game, the Robert Morris power play had gone 5 for 36 on the young season for a 13.9 percent success rate. That’s well below the standard the Colonials have established the last few seasons. They converted at a 22.8 percent clip in 2016-17 and the year before, they scored 28.1 percent of the time.
As a result, Schooley switched things up with the power play units, putting Luke Lynch and Matthew Graham with Brady Ferguson, Timmy Moore and Eric Israel on the first unit. Michael Louria, Alex Tonge and Daniel Mantenuto joined Powers and Brett Beauvais were the second squad.
The Colonials got one power play goal when Powers found Mantenuto coming late on a 4-on-2 rush to tie the game at 3-3 in the second period. With Louria going to the net, Mantenuto ripped a wrist shot past Ohio State goaltender Sean Romeo.
“It was nice to get once there,” Powers said. “Our power play has obviously been struggling a little bit. It’s not a secret. I thought we had a good look. That was a great job by Daniel Mantenuto. If you give him that shot, he’s going to bury it more times than not.”
The Colonials had just absorbed an aggressive attack by the Ohio State penalty killers and Powers used his skating to trap two men deep and open up space.
“I was a little bit late coming back, obviously, with pinching there,” he said. “The guys did a great job managing the rush and forcing the loose puck. As soon as you see two guys caught, you’ve just got to go up ice. It was a good job by the guys driving the net and then finding space with Manny.”
But Schooley still wasn’t completely satisfied with the effort with a man advantage.
“We scored a goal off the rush,” he said. “They came hard with pressure. We didn’t have a lot of zone time. We’ve got to find ways to relieve the pressure a little bit and take some pucks to the net. But I thought, we went 1 for 4, they went 1 for 4. The special teams battle was even.”
DEPTH CHARGES
Before the game, Schooley announced that junior forward Brandon Watt will miss six to eight weeks with a lower body injury. Watt has been a consistent presence in the bottom six for Robert Morris over the last two seasons, and his loss will open up opportunities for other players.
Friday night, Kyle Horsman and Kevin Lavoie flanked Alex Dagnal on the fourth line, but Schooley didn’t feel that any of the players did enough to cement a permanent role going forward.
“We’re just trying to figure out who wants to take that spot,” he said. “I love all of the guys that have played in that spot’s energy and effort, but you can’t play 6 to 10 minutes a night and get one shot from a line.”
Schooley has plenty of other options with sophomore Michael Coyne and freshmen Nick Prkusic and Ryley Risling all watching on Friday.
“I want somebody to take that,” Schooley said. “I’m happy with my top nine. I liked their effort. It could have been a little bit better. But somebody’s got to step up with Brandon Watt out and take some spots. Until that happens, you’ll just see it keep rotating.”
