Moon, PA- The RMU D1 Club Hockey Team continues to add to the win column, picking up another two victories over Kent State. The Colonials entered the series ranked for the first time this season. In the most recent ranking update from the ACHA, the Colonials were ranked 21st in the nation. Fellow CHMA rival Pitt was also ranked, they slotted in at #24 on the Top 25 list. As for the games at hand, the Colonials won both contests by a score of 3-2. The Friday night game was decided in a shootout that ended in RMU's favor, and the Saturday game ended in overtime.
Game 1: RMU wins 3-2 (Shootout)
Lewis Richardson got the start in this one, and continued to look sharp in net. He turned away 25 shots on the night and was rock solid in the shootout. The traditional wheeling and dealing style of hockey RMU had played in previous games was not apparent from the score sheet. Particularly, the Colonials had a stronger commitment to discipline in this one than they had in games prior. Robert Morris only took 3 penalties all game and all of which were minor penalties. They still were able to generate plenty of shot attempts, registering 34 shots on goal by games end.
Despite finding themselves down 1-0 early, RMU got back into it late in the first with a
Zach Gielarowski goal to tie it.
Matthew Butson and
Andrew Hachmeister got the credit for the assists. Kent State would retake the lead in the second period and would hold it for the majority of the remaining time in the game. With the minutes starting to count down, defenseman
Andrew Hachmeister scored his first goal in close to a month, assisted by
Steven Ralston and
Noah Raymundo. This forced the game to overtime with the 2-2 game.
Overtime would not be long enough to determine a winner in this game though. So the game got sent to a shootout. Ultimately, it would be freshman
Tyler Draper who would net the game-winning goal for RMU. On his attempt he did not try anything flashy, and he didn't need to. He came straight in on the goaltender and launched a wrister low blocker side. It found its way between the goaltender's blocker and leg pad and hit the back of the net.
Here's the game winner in all its glory:
Game 2: RMU wins 3-2 (Overtime)
Hachmeister opened up the scoring in this game with his power play goal less than 4 minutes in. Gielarowski and Butson with the assists to make it 1-0 Colonials. Kent State would draw back even before the period ended to make it 1-1. Freshman
Justin Adamski gave Robert Morris the advantage again with the team's second power play goal of the day. Raymundo and forward Antoni Chrigott got the assists to give RMU the lead.
Kent State fought back even a few minutes later, and both teams were solid defensively in the third. Each team traded chances, but the goalies stood tall for each squad.
Parker Rutherford started the Colonials and turned in an excellent performance. He faced 41 shots and turned away 39 in what was a busy afternoon for the freshman goaltender. RMU launched 43 the other way, with the 43rd shot being the one to end it. In overtime and shorthanded,
Trevor Johnson and
Zach Gielarowski set up Hachmeister for the game winning goal. RMU improves now to 11-2-1 on the season.
There's an expression that it just takes one crack to cause a flood. That's exactly what happened to
Andrew Hachmeister in the second game. After ending a goal scoring slump the night prior, the goal column got a couple more additions in this game. The team leader in points added two goals including the game winner on Saturday. He currently has 5 goals and 14 assists for 19 points in 14 games played. His 19 points as a defenseman is the most of any defenseman in ACHA Division 1 as of November 4th!
Alexander Gagnon '21
Club Sport Information Director
