NEVILLE TOWNSHIP– After winning game one of this weekend’s series 5-2 on Friday night, RMU men’s hockey looked to sweep their series against Mercyhurst. The Colonials were four points behind the Lakers tonight in the AHA standings, making this a very important game for both sides.
RMU 9-18-3 (6-12-2) welcomed Mercyhurst 7-17-3 (5-11-3) to the Clearview Arena Saturday night and returned with the victory 4-3.
An early penalty from Gabriel Lunn hurt the Colonials as he was sent to the box for a hooking. The Lakers would convert on their power play chance and were up 1-0 early. The Colonials would respond almost immediately and tied it up at one a piece. Dominic Schimizzi scored his second of the year.
RMU did a good job of keeping possession and getting shots off with 23 at the end of the first, but Mercyhurst also did a good job of blocking those shots with eight at the end of one. The Colonials only had three shots that did not reach the net end in the first.
“We need to hit the net, and especially the 2nd period, we’re missing nets,” Schooley said. “I thought we passed up a few too many shots, especially in the first period, but found a way to get it done.”
The Colonials would open the second again, being down a man after another Lunn penalty. But this time, they would get a shorthanded goal, giving RMU the momentum. The Lakers would respond with their own goal to take a 3-2 lead.
RMU would start the third period like the other three periods with a penalty, but this time, they would get a second penalty to put themselves down two men. However, they would kill both penalties and go down and score a goal to tie the game at three a piece.
Not all was bad for RMU, as Dallas Tulik had a nice game with two goals. Tulik is third on the team in points but only had three goals on the year, so getting a spark from him in such an important game was much welcomed.
“He’s one of our leading scorers,” Coach Schooley said. “He hasn’t scored the goals, but he is a distributor. He’s a point-producing guy. He’s getting towards his career high, so I wouldn’t say that. We’d love to some offensive goals from him, but we’ve been getting production from him.”
The Colonials have had their best play of hockey since their return as a program, winning three of their past four games.
“We’re at a point right now where, in the first year as a program, we won eight games this year, now nine,” Coach Schooley said. “We want to get in double digits. We want to climb into getting a home ice advantage in the next round and go from there.”
RMU will be back in action next Friday, Feb. 9, as they will take the trip up to West Point, N.Y., to take on the Army.
