The Robert Morris men’s hockey team was no match for Bentley Friday night as the Falcons — led by Jake Black’s hat trick — scored at least once in every period to post a 5-0 victory in an Atlantic Hockey America conference game at Clearview Arena on Neville Island.
Both teams came into the game on three-game winning streaks, with the Colonials sweeping Holy Cross last weekend after defeating Army 3-0 on Saturday, Jan. 17. Two of Bentley’s previous three wins came in shootouts.
But the conference-leading Falcons would not need extra time Friday night.
Both goalies dominated the early going, which featured a lot of back-and-forth play. It was not until with less than four minutes left in the period when RMU got its first power play opportunity of the game, when Bentley forward Arlo Merritt was sent to the box for hooking.
But the Colonials had a shaky power play and could not convert to take the lead. Bentley, using its momentum from the penalty kill, struck first with 2:12 left in the period, with Black banging home his 11th goal of the season to give the Falcons the 1-0 lead.
Bentley continued its reign in the second period. With 11:15 left, Black scored his second goal of the game after a shot from the left corner somehow beat RMU goaltender Lucas Massie. RMU would challenge the play for offsides, but after a review, the the play was deemed to be onside, and the goal stood.
Bentley extended the lead to 3-0 just over a minute later, as Falcons captain Stephen Castagna buried a rebound for his eighth goal of the season.
The hits for RMU kept coming, as just under five minutes into the period, RMU forward George Krotiris was called for a charging penalty. The Falcons took full advantage, as just 38 seconds into the power play, Black netted his third goal of the game to extend the Falcons’ lead to 4-0.
Then less than three minutes later, Bentley’s Alec Leonard would snap home a shot off a rebound to finish the scoring at 5-0.
With 9:47 left to play, RMU decided to switch goalies, pulling Massie, and putting in Croix Kochendorfer. RMU went back to the power play with 5:28 left after Bentley forward Peter Kramer was sent to the box for holding, but Bentley remained strong on the PK and was rewarded with its own power play as RMU forward Michael Felsing was called for a slash with 3:13 left to play.
The Colonials successfully killed off the penalty, although it was too late for it to mean anything.
Bentley goaltender Nicholas Bevilacqua picked up a 24-save shutout.
The two teams meet again at 7 p.m. Saturday back on the Island. RMU will bring an overall 7-16-2 record into the game and a 7-9-1 mark in AHA action.
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