Photo courtesy of Kylee Surike/RMU Athletics
NEVILLE TWP.,PA-
NEVILLE TWP.,PA- Led by three straight goals off the stick of forward Josh Barnes, the American International College Yellow Jackets managed to rattle off four unanswered goals en route to an important Atlantic Hockey Association victory over the home standing Robert Morris University Colonials on Saturday night at Clearview Arena by a final score of 4-2. The Colonials looked to be in complete control early on as they took a 2-0 lead into the dressing room after twenty minutes of hockey, but watched their lead evaporate as an opportunistic Yellow Jacket effort turned the momentum midway through the second frame.
“It was a tough second period, Robert Morris head coach Derek Schooley said. “We had a tough second period. We took an offensive zone penalty followed by a bad change which ended up in our net and our power play basically gives up a shorthanded goal coming out of the box. I think the tale of the game was their penalty kill was better than our power play. We had all these chances and couldn’t get a result.”
Colonials Off and Running Early
It took less than three minutes for the Colonials to get on the board as forward Cameron Garvey managed to beat starting Yellow Jacket goaltender Chase Clark from the top of the slot during the game’s first power play for his second goal of the season to give Robert Morris the early 1-0 lead. For Garvey, it was the second time in as many seasons that he scored the goal that made teddy bears rain on the ice as the annual Teddy Bear Toss took place. Forward Michael Felsing then doubled the Robert Morris lead at 11:54 of the first when he deflected a shot from defenseman Michael Craig for his third tally of the season. The Colonials held a 12-7 shot advantage and had the upper hand in terms of territory through 20 minutes until the tide turned after the puck dropped in period two.
Yellow Jackets Strike Back
During a Yellow Jacket power play early in the second period, a Colonial stick broke on a clearing attempt which was quickly gobbled up by Barnes who beat Dylan Meilun on the resulting breakaway to slice the Robert Morris lead in half and struck again at 11:31 to knot the game at two goals apiece. The Colonials were able to stabilize their game for the remainder of the second stanza but lost their focus early in the third period that saw Barnes score his third straight goal on the scores sheet at 4:14 which was followed by Meilun’s removal from the net as freshman Croix Kochendorfer entered the game. Kochendorfer fared no better as he gave up a goal just 30 second later to Josh Biro to give the Yellow Jackets their final margin of victory, followed by Meilun’s return to the net immediately after. Robert Morris was able to send more pucks Clark’s way in the Yellow Jacket net and were close on several chances, but could not capitalize on two critical third period power plays, nor could come up with an answer at even strength as the Yellow Jackets killed the remaining balance on the clock to secure the victory.
“We didn’t score enough goals five on five,” Schooley added. “We had one yesterday and we had one today so we need to make sure we score enough five on five goals. We need some guys to get out of their funk and step their game up a little bit. Right now we’re fine in certain scenarios but we need to be better in others.”
Robert Morris travels to Rochester, New York next Friday and Saturday for a two game series with the Rochester Institute of Technology .