NEVILLE TWP, Pa. — Senior forward Ben Robillard supplied a perfect ending to Robert Morris’ 3-2 overtime victory over Mercyhurst on Saturday night.
With two very large points in the standings on the line, Robillard came down the right wing boards with speed and unleashed a shot that went through starting Lakers netminder Brandon Wildung 1:58 into overtime.
It was a special moment in Robert Morris hockey history, one that a Hollywood script writer might have come up with, and it came off the stick of a very deserving player. Robillard has had a career full of ups and downs in his time at RMU. He missed most of the last two seasons due to multiple injuries that required multiple surgeries. But when he’s been healthy, he’s contributed in many ways that the scoreboard doesn’t necessarily indicate.
“It’s indescribable,” an emotional Robillard said. “To contribute in that way is something special, especially because I’ve contributed in other ways. It’s been a hell of a year and I’m just glad I do anything I could to help the team and as soon as I saw it go in I couldn’t believe it. It’s an amazing feeling.”
No one in the building was more proud than head coach Derek Schooley, who had a hunch that Robillard might come though with an important goal.
“He’s battled through ups and downs, he’s battled through adversity and he’s the definition of a guy that just keeps coming back,” Schooley said. “He scored the game winning goal at UConn in his freshman year in game two of the series and hasn’t really been healthy since the end of that year. I’m so happy for him. I put him out there with that line and that’s not even his line, just because it was senior night and [I had] a gut feeling and it paid off.”
DOMINANT PERFORMANCE
From the drop of the puck, the Colonials were the better team. The game bore a strong resemblance to the two-game series the two teams played in December that saw Robert Morris outplay Mercyhurst for five out of six periods, yet only come away with one point. The Colonials out shot the Lakers by a 38-28 margin on Saturday, but despite the shot and scoring chance disparity, Robert Morris spent a good portion of the game chasing their opponent on the scoreboard.
Jack Riley opened the scoring for the Lakers on a first period power play with a shot from the left circle that got past Colonials goaltender Dalton Izyk at 14:37.
Robert Morris tied the score at 6:33 of the second frame when Timmy Moore sent a centering pass from behind the net and found Daniel Mantenuto, who beat Wildung from point-blank range.
It appeared that the Colonials would be off and running after Mantenuto’s goal but the Lakers responded with late second period goal from Taylor Best that set up a drama-filled third period. The Colonials were the stronger team through 40 minutes, winning a majority of the loose puck battles, and they kept their focus without succumbing to frustration.
“That was a playoff hockey game tonight and that’s how we have to make sure we play,” Schooley said. “We have to play for 60 or 65 or however long it takes to win. We really focused on playing a complete game tonight. … We just wanted to play a complete game and prepare for the playoffs. I thought our work ethic was outstanding and our compete level was good. We got pucks in and were really good down low. We were dominating for two periods and we were down 2-1.”
MORE THAN ONE HERO
The emotional win would not have been possible without two other contributions as the minutes wound down. On a critical mid-period power play, with his team desperate for the tying goal, Moore found the back of the net with a power play goal at 9:27 to tie the score at two.
“Our power play has kind of been struggling a little bit and we haven’t been getting the bounces we wanted,” Moore said. “Leavens made a good pass and I just kind of closed my eyes and shot it and it went in. It’s been a struggle the past month or so, but there’s no quit in this team. We’re ready to go and we finally got some bounces and kept the puck out of our net. We just have to finish up next week and get four points and we’re rolling into the playoffs.”
Moore’s goal seemed to energize the entire team as they put the rubber to Wildung for the remainder of the game with a new level of urgency. The Laker goaltender took his game up a notch in the waning minutes of the final period and made save after save as he kept his team in the game.
“I thought Timmy Moore was great tonight,” Schooley said. “I thought he played hard, he was down low and I thought that line played really well. They did stuff down low that was outstanding and created a lot of chances. And Mantenuto scored a goal on the scoresheet which was big and that line of Lynch, Mantenuto and Moore, they were arguably our best line.”
Another moment that could have changed the outcome of the game occurred just moments into the overtime when Izyk thwarted a two man attack with no defenders in front of him. Izyk made a highlight reel save and made a snow angel upon controlling the rebound to keep the score tied at two.
“We worked hard. That was a complete game,” Schooley remarked. “We needed that for our mental health, and we needed that going into our last weekend and we got it. Hats off to the seniors, I can’t say enough good things about what they’ve done. I thought Dalton Izyk was very good tonight, if he doesn’t make that big save on the 2-0 in the third period, we’re not talking about Ben Robillard tonight.”
COLONIALS NOTES
Robert Morris inched closer to a first-round bye in the AHC Tournament and home-ice advantage in the second round. The Colonials will need one point next weekend against Niagara to clinch a bye and two points to clinch home ice in the second round.
