Weekend Round-up: 1/18/19 – 1/20/19

Ryan Giacobbi, Contributor

A lot of RMU sporting events occurred on the road over the past few days. Here is a round-up to bring you up to speed on what happened.

1/18/19:

Men’s Hockey: RMU – 7; Canisius – 2

In the first game of a weekend set in Buffalo, N.Y., RMU men’s hockey (9-13-1, 8-8-1 AHC) won over the Canisius College Golden Griffins (8-12-2, 5-10-1 AHC) 7-2 on Friday evening.

RMU opened up the scoring in the first period with a goal from Nick Lalonde with assistance from Nick Prkusic and Sean Giles just 17 seconds into the period, putting Robert Morris up 1-0. The next goal came from RMU on a power play in the first period from Alex Tonge with help from Grant Hebert and Alex Robert, putting the Colonials ahead 2-0 at 8:53. Canisius followed suit with their first goal at 12:17 from Cameron Heath with help from Alex Jaeckle and David Baskerville, cutting RMU’s lead to 2-1. The Golden Griffins tied it at 2-2 with less than a minute in the first period on a power-play goal from Felix Chamberland who had assistance from Heath and Jimmy Mazza. The two first-period goals ended up being the only two goals that Canisius picked up for the afternoon against Robert Morris. The Colonials scored the remaining five goals against the Griffins.

During the second period, RMU managed to score four more goals against Canisius. The first goal Robert Morris got in the second period was the second from Lalonde, who scored the goal unassisted to take a 3-2 lead over Canisius. The next goal was on a power play at 4:39 from Daniel Mantenuto with assists from Alex Tonge and Eric Israel that took the Colonials to a 4-2 lead. The third goal Robert Morris got in the second period was near the halfway mark when Aidan Spellacy scored RMU’s fifth goal of the game with help from Prkusic to lead 5-2. The fourth and final goal of the second period was scored by Michael Louria, who had Robert and Kyle Horsman to back him up to take a 6-2 lead.

The final goal of the game and for Robert Morris was scored by Mantenuto for his second of the game with an assist from Jacob Coleman.

Women’s Hockey: RMU – 2; Syracuse – 3

RMU women’s hockey (8-11-1, 6-2-1 CHA) fell short in overtime on Friday afternoon against the Syracuse Orange women’s hockey team (5-16-1, 5-4 CHA) by a final score of 3-2.

Emma Polaski opened up the scoring for the Orange around the 8-minute mark with assistance from Allie Munroe to put RMU down 1-0. Syracuse added another goal to their collection when Lauren Bellefontaine scored shortly after the halfway mark of the first period with some help from Kelli Rowswell, subsequently ending the first period with a 2-0 lead over the Colonials.

Robert Morris got on the scoreboard in the second period when Natalie Marcuzzi scored for the Colonials with backup from Maggie Lague and Sarah Quaranta. After RMU got to a 2-1 barrier, Emilie Harley scored for the Colonials to tie the game at 2-2 on a power play. Harley received help from Jaycee Gebhard and Wasyn Rice. RMU and Syracuse ended the second period in a 2-2 tie.

After neither team was able to break the tie in the third period, Syracuse was able to finish off the game with a win after Lindsay Eastwood played the hero of Syracuse with a goal with Jessica DiGirolamo to help secure the win at 2:37 for the Syracuse Orange in the first game of the weekend set.

1/19/19:

Men’s Hockey: RMU – 4; Canisius – 6

Robert Morris wasn’t so lucky in the second game of the weekend set as the RMU men’s hockey team (9-14-1, 8-9-1 AHC) ended up splitting the set with Canisius (9-12-2, 6-10-1 AHC) after RMU lost 6-4 to the Golden Griffins on Saturday.

The first period saw Robert Morris put themselves into an early hole. The Golden Griffins put up three unanswered goals in the first period. The first goal Canisius grabbed was a power-play goal from Matt Hoover at 7:02, who got help from Austin Alger and Ian Edmondson. The second goal was scored by Mitchell Martan with assists from Dylan McLaughlin and Matt McLeod, putting RMU in a 2-0 basement. The third goal the Griffins got was scored by Kevin Obssuth with assists from Nick Hutchison and Felix Chamberland.

After RMU put themselves in a 3-0 deficit at the end of the first period, they started their climb back up with a goal, which was their first of the game, in the second period. The goal was scored by Nick Prkusic with an assist from Eric Israel. Unfortunately for RMU, Canisius was able to get that goal back when they got their fourth goal of the game. Nick Hutchison scored with help from Austin Alger and Matt Hoover on a power play, leading the Colonials 4-1.

In the third period, Robert Morris worked at trimming down the lead again, which worked for the time being after Israel scored for the Colonials with help from Luke Lynch to be down 4-2 against the Griffins. The Griffins again made sure to not let the Colonials take over their lead when they scored on a power play, thanks to Dylan McLaughlin, who had help from Hutchison and Hoover at 6:17. Robert Morris continued to be aggressive against Canisius as they scored on a power play of their own. Michael Louria scored the goal with backup from Alex Robert and Jake Coleman at 17:33. This put the Colonials down 5-3. Robert Morris inched closer to tying it when they scored another goal from the efforts of Alex Tonge, who had Prkusic and Lynch for support. The Golden Griffins sealed the deal with one last goal for good measure against the Colonials. Matt McLeod scored the final goal for Canisius with less than a minute left in the game with assistance from Cameron Heath and Jimmy Mazza.

The Colonials head back out on the road next weekend, this time to the midwest, to face off against the Air Force Academy Falcons (, AHC) on Friday, Jan. 25 at 9:05 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 26 at 7:05 p.m.

Women’s Hockey: RMU – 5; Syracuse – 1

RMU women’s hockey (9-11-4, 7-2-1 CHA) was able to avenge their overtime loss from Friday night against the Syracuse Orange (5-17-1, 5-5 CHA) with a 5-1 win.

After a slow start to the first period, the Colonials’ Natalie Marcuzzi picked up her team’s first goal of the game at 19:08 with an assist from Maggie Lague and Sarah Lecavalier. This wound up being the only goal scored in the first period, putting RMU up 1-0 over Syracuse.

The rest of the goals scored in this game were all on power plays. Two of them were scored in the second period, both of them Robert Morris’. The first power-play goal of the period was by Emily Curlett who got help from Lexi Templeman and Maggie Lague near the halfway point of the period. The second power-play goal of the period came from Amber Rennie. She was able to score because of assists from Templeman and Jaycee Gebhard. Robert Morris finished the second period with a 3-0 lead over the Orange.

Syracuse got their only goal of the game at the beginning of the third period when Lindsay Eastwood scored unassisted. Robert Morris got their fourth goal of the game and their third power-play goal at 12:13 from Caitlyn Sadowy with an assist from Sarah Quaranta. The Colonials came back to Robert Morris happy after they sealed the victory with their final power play goal from Templeman, who scored unassisted.

Robert Morris returns home to Colonials Arena next weekend to face the RIT Tigers for RMU’s “Skate for the Cure” event on Friday and Saturday night. Friday night is “Mental Health Awareness Night” and also “Skate with the Colonials.” Saturday continues the “Skate for the Cure” event at Colonials Arena. Friday’s game starts at 7:05 p.m. Saturday’s game starts at 3:05 p.m.

Men’s Basketball: RMU – 79; Bryant – 65

RMU men’s basketball (9-9, 4-1 NEC) made it past the Bryant University Bulldogs (5-11, 2-3 NEC) with a final score of 79-65 on Saturday.

The first half started with RMU getting out to a 5-0 lead. Bryant was eventually able to take over the lead when a three-pointer from Bryant’s Adam Grant made it a one-point game with a 9-8 lead. However, the Colonials were able to regain the lead to make it 10-9 from a layup by Malik Petteway and then subsequently get on a 7-point run until the score was 16-9, made by a jumper from Petteway. Bryant followed that when they scored three points to make it a 16-12 game. Robert Morris started climbing back away from the Bulldogs when they made it 23-16, This happened due to a layup from Charles Bain that made it into the paint. After Sayveon McEwen scored to make it 32-20 RMU on a jumper, RMU was able to hold on until they finished off the first half with a 36-25 lead.

The second half started off with two points from the Bulldogs to make it a 36-27 lead for the Colonials. After the score became 38-30 by Bryant, the Colonials got on an 11-point run to make it 49-30 thanks to Matty McConnell’s fastbreak layup in the paint. After Bryant made it 49-32, RMU got three points back following Bryant’s actions. From there, Robert Morris held Bryant at a steady pace until RMU finished off Bryant in the Northeast Conference matchup 79-65.

RMU men’s basketball moves on to face off against the Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils (8-10, 2-3 NEC) on Martin Luther King Jr. Day at 3:30 p.m. at CCSU.

Women’s Basketball: RMU – 60; Bryant – 57

RMU women’s basketball (8-8, 5-0 NEC) continued to surge past a forgettable non-conference season to beat the Bryant University Bulldogs (4-12, 2-3 NEC) 60-57 on Saturday.

Robert Morris jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first quarter. After Bryant scored on a free throw to make it 4-1, Honoka Ikematsu scored a three-pointer to make it 7-1 RMU. Bryant scored on a layup to get two points back and cut RMU’s lead to 7-3. Robert Morris proceeded to get on a seven-point run to make it 14-3. Just before the first quarter ended, Bryant added an additional point from a free throw on a fastbreak from Bryant’s Masey Zegarowski, cutting RMU’s lead to 14-4.

Robert Morris picked up two points to start the second quarter to lead 16-4. RMU kept Bryant at bay long enough to eventually get to a 21-10 lead over the Bulldogs. After Robert Morris got to a 27-15 lead, the Colonials nearly let that slip away until the end of the quarter, where RMU was barely able to hold a 27-24 lead by the end of the quarter.

The third quarter involved RMU starting to slow down to the point where Bryant was able to catch up. RMU’s Isabella Posset scored a three-pointer to start the third quarter to help Robert Morris distance themselves away from the Bulldogs. This put RMU up 30-23. After a free throw from Nia Adams and a layup from Nneka Ezeigbo to place the score at 33-25, the Bulldogs got on a 10-point run to take a 35-33 lead over RMU, only for it to go away shortly after when RMU managed to tie the Bulldogs at 35 points each. After RMU and Bryant tied again later on at 40 points each, the Colonials finished out the quarter with a 48-42 lead.

The fourth quarter is where the quarter really mattered because it meant suffering the first Northeast Conference loss for RMU and also losing the game as well, but Robert Morris was able to hold on in the final quarter. After Ezeigbo scored with a free throw to lead 49-42 for Robert Morris, the Bulldogs were able to pull themselves within a one-point difference of the Colonials to make it 56-55 RMU. Robert Morris was able to hold on through the end to win it 60-57 for the Colonials.

RMU travels to Central Connecticut State University to play the Blue Devils (4-11, 1-4 NEC) on Martin Luther King Jr. Day at 1:00 p.m.

Track & Field: Youngstown College Invitational

At the Youngstown College Invitational on Saturday, Madison Mueseler finished fifth and Brooke Oldfin finished ninth in the women’s 400 meter dash. Robert Morris finished fifth in the 4×400 meter relay with a time of 4:03.89 with a group that consisted of Museler, Oldfin, Nina Radisavljevic and Anna Chasovskaia. Ivanna Jones and Nicole Florio were involved in a three-way tie for eighth place with Olivia Miller of Carlow University with a distance of 1.46 meters in the women’s unseeded high jump. Jones was also involved in the women’s triple jump and placed in ninth with a distance of 10.96 meters. Sam Buck finished in ninth place in the women’s weight throw with a distance of 15.99 meters. Estelle Katende finished second in the women’s shot put with a distance of 14.19 meters. Zoe Roush finished in fourth in the women’s long jump with a distance of 5.53 meters. Robert Morris’ next invitational is on Saturday, Jan. 26 for the VMI Keydet Invitational all day.