Moon, PA- The Men's D3 Club Ice Hockey team recorded their best weekend in well over a season with a tie against California University of Pennsylvania and a win over Mercyhurst. Cal U was one of the top teams in the Atlantic Division last season picking up 13 wins. For Robert Morris (a squad that recorded only 1 win last season), tying Cal U is a big momentum boost for the team. The Colonials were able to ride that momentum to an astonishing win against Mercyhurst 12-3 in which the team recorded 100 shots on goal. These games elevate the the D3 team's record to 2-1-1-0.

Game 1: RMU ties Cal U 3-3

The Colonials would take the lead early in the first thanks to the stick of Joseph Petti. Petti's 4th goal of the season was assisted by Darrin Sloan and Lance Cotton. That would be the only goal of the period as the Colonials took the 1-0 to intermission. Cal U answered early in the second with a goal of their own to make it 1-1. Blake Loges fired back for RMU, and his goal 6 minutes into the second made it 2-1. Kian Kooros and Jason Defelice with the assists. The shots kept coming from both squads but neither team would find the back the net for the second period. Goaltender Nicolas Arcaya performed brilliantly in net for the Colonials in this one. By game's end he turned away 50 of 53 shots.

The third period had enough tension you could cut it with a knife. Both teams traded chances along as the minutes ticked away. The Colonials maintained the 2-1 lead for the majority of the third, but it was with less than 3 minutes to go the avalanche of scoring happened. Cal U scored right after a successful penalty kill to make it 2-2 with two and a half minutes left. The game was tied for only 17 seconds before Camron Smith and Defelice set up Nolan Puhala to help the Colonials regain their lead. Cal U got one last one out of desperation, scoring with 21 seconds left in the game to tie it 3-3. Overtime would not be long enough for the 2 teams as the Colonials had to settle for the tie, despite having never trailing in the game. 

Game 2: RMU defeats Mercyhurst 12-3

Finally, here's the recap for the historic 100 shot game for the Colonials. They outshot their opponent 100-17, and they scored 6 goals in the first period. Nolan Puhula, Kian Kooros, and Camron Smith all scored in the first 7 minutes of the game to make it an early 3-0 lead for Robert Morris. Brandon Luff made it 4-0, and Norman Riffner scored another to make it 5-0 still in the first period. The Lakers scored one back, but the Colonials regained their 5 goal lead with Puhula scoring again. 

The 2nd period was actually a fairly even period on the score sheet, with each team scoring once. Granted, the shots were still lopsided in favorite of RMU. Mercyhurst scored first in the 2nd period to make the game 6-2. The Colonials scored a few minutes later to take the 7-2 lead. It was Puhula's third of the game, and first hat trick of the season.

Joseph Petti scored seconds into the 3rd for his first of the game, and then Matthew Simkovic scored 18 seconds later to make it a 9-2 advantage for the Colonials. Riffner added his second of the game to make it 10-2 before Mercyhurst got their final goal. Luff got his second of the contest and than Puhula got his fourth and final goal of the game with less than 2 to play. Puhula had a monster night, putting up 4 goals and 3 assists for 7 points in the blowout victory. Brandon Luff and Camron Smith also had big offensive games. Luff had 2 goals and an assist, while Smith had a goal and two assists.  

Alexander Gagnon '21
Club Sport Information Director