Coroapolis, PA- Club D1 Hockey picked up a huge win both on the rink and in the community during their AHA Charity Night on Friday night. In addition to raising over $3500 for the American Heart Association, the Colonials defeated visiting John Carroll University by a score of 8-0. It was a wonderful night for hockey and raising money for a good cause. The following night, the Colonials took on rival Pitt in a battle of the top two teams in the College Hockey Mid-America Conference. RMU lost the close game 3-2.
RMU defeats John Carroll 8-0
There was already a buzz in the air before the Colonials hit the rink thanks to the pre-game festivities for the charity night. Friends and Family of the players were bidding in a silent auction for the jerseys the players would wear for the game that night, with all proceeds going to charity. A number of prize baskets were also on display to be raffled off at the end of the night. The custom jersey's while unique for this event, looked as if they belonged to be on the ice on a regular basis. Here's a beautiful shot of the jerseys in the locker room the afternoon of:
When RMU did finally take the ice for the start of the game, the offensive firepower was put on display in a hurry. It started midway through the first period, thanks to a power play goal from
Justin Adamski to open the scoring. RMU added a second 4 minutes later. Senior
David Roebuck found himself in front of the net with the puck and put a shot on. The rebound was found by teammate
Dillon Joyce who buried the rebound low glove side into a near open net and made it a 2-0 game. The final goal of the period came with less than a minute to go.
Nathan Mickey made it 3-0 to go into the intermission.
The second period saw another 3 goal effort from RMU to make it 6-0 before the end of the period. It started with
Steven Ralston scoring to make it 4-0 five minutes in. Junior defenseman
Andrew Hachmeister added a power play goal of his own with a point shot that found its way through the crowd and in. The captain,
Tanner Orr got a goal late in the period for the final goal of the 2nd.
The game was ended by a pair of goals to send the Colonial faithful home happy.
Nathan Mickey got his second of the night to be RMU's only mutli goal scorer of the evening. RMU's final goal was a sight that needs to be described in full. Ian Mclean had the puck for RMU in the neutral zone, and was looking to dump it into the JCU end. However, the goalie left his net early to go play to puck behind the net expecting the dump in. Mclean redirected the dump in on goal at the last second and with the goalie heading behind the net, he couldn't recover in time to make the stop.
It was a bizarre way to cap off an excellent night for the Colonials. Goaltender
Lewis Richardson picked up the 17 save shutout.
RMU loses 3-2 to Pitt
It was a highly contested game, but the Colonials found themselves on the wrong side of a 3-2 game after 60 minutes. RMU opened the scoring midway through the first with a goal from Joseph Zottola. Pitt tied it up a few minutes later with a power play goal to make it 1-1 at the intermission.
RMU struggled to find their rhythm in the second period, and the Panthers made them pay for it. Pitt scored twice in the period, both coming under 5 minutes to go. Pitt led 3-1 at the intermission. Despite the back to back goals, it was the only glitch in what was otherwise a very strong night for goaltender
Parker Rutherford. He stopped 42 of 45 shots on the night for a .933 SV%.
The final period began optimistically for Robert Morris as they cut the deficit in half less than 4 minutes into the period.
Steven Ralston picked up the goal to make it a 3-2 game. Unfortunately that was the last time RMU would find the back of the net. They put on 43 shots in total during the game, but it was enough to pick up a conference victory against a tough opponent. Both
Nathan Mickey and
Andrew Hachmeister picked up 2 assists in this game.
RMU now sits with a record of 21-9-1 this season, and have a big upcoming weekend with a two conference games this weekend. They start with a Friday night match up against IUP, and follow it up with a Saturday night contest against Slippery Rock University.
Alexander Gagnon '21
Club Sport Information Director
