The Robert Morris men’s hockey team ended its regular season over the weekend by sweeping Mercyhurst in a home-and-home series to finish third in the Atlantic Hockey America standings and secure a playoff series with Air Force.
Friday’s first game, played at Clearview Arena on Neville Island, ended in 5-3 Robert Morris win and the Colonials followed up on Saturday by traveling to Erie and posting a 4-1 victory over the Lakers.
RMU kicked off Friday’s game with forward Patrick Johnson breaking the ice halfway through the first period to give RMU the 1-0 lead. Later in the period, Mercyhurst forward Brendan Lamb tied the game for the Lakers at 1-1.
The Lakers grabbed their first lead of the night 29 seconds into the second period as forward Ryan Coughlin buried a goal. Soon after, RMU forward Julian Beaumont tied the game at 2-2.
In the third period, Mercyhurst forward Dominik Bartecko wristed home a goal around the midway mark to give the Lakers a 3-2 lead. Later in the period, with around five minutes remaining, RMU defenseman John Babcock blasted a shot from the point to tie the game for the Colonials.
Just 32 seconds later, Robert Morris defenseman Luke van Why fired a shot past Mercyhurst goalie Salvatore Evola to give RMU a 4-3 lead. The Colonials added an empty net goal in the final minute by forward Trent Wilson to seal the 5-3 win.
In Saturday’s victory, the goal scoring opened up late in the first period when Babcock buried a one-timer to give RMU a 1-0 lead after the first period.
Early in the second period, Colonials forward George Krotiris buried a feed from forward Bruce McDonald to give RMU the 2-0 lead.
With just over six minutes remaining in the third period, Robert Morris forward Cameron Garvey buried a shorthanded goal to extend the RMU lead to 3-0.
Shortly after, Coughlin would get Mercyhurst on the board to make the score 3-1. RMU forward Jackson Reineke added an empty net goal in the final minute to give the Colonials the 4-1 win.
These two wins secured a third-place spot for the Colonials in the AHA standings, and a playoff matchup against Air Force. The first game of the three-game series kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday, March 6, at Clearview Arena, and Game 2 will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday at Clearview Arena. If necessary, a third game would be played at the same site at 5 p.m. Sunday.
The two teams split a pair of regular-season meetings at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, with Air Force prevailing 4-1 on Dec. 5 and Robert Morris rebounding to defeat the Falcons 6-3 the following day.
Robert Morris finished the regular season with a 13-11-2 record in AHA play and 13-18-3 overall. Air Force wound up 13-10-3 in conference play and 17-13-4 overall.
Photos by Mike Longo Jr.
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