Colonials sweep ‘Bama-Huntsville
January 16, 2010 by Gary Heeman
Filed under Men's Team
USCHO.com Reporter – Gary Heeman
In yet another hotly contested conference showdown, the Robert Morris Colonials managed to get four pucks past Alabama-Huntsville goaltender Cameron Talbot en route to a 4-2 win, completing a weekend conference sweep for the first time since February of 2009.
The Colonials used two point nights apiece from their top scorers, forwards Chris Kushneriuk, Nathan Longpre and Trevor Lewis. Colonials’ goaltender Brooks Ostergard continued his stellar play with 18 saves on 20 Charger shots.
The game started out in a completely different manner than Friday night’s contest with the Colonials garnering the bulk of the first period scoring chances. Robert Morris used their speed to their advantage and consistently were the first team on the puck throughout the first frame, earning three power play chances in the period.
The Chargers however, used a textbook perfect penalty kill, clogging shooting and passing lanes left and right, and their best penalty killer, Talbot, was very much in the game early on, stopping all 14 Colonial shots.
The second period started off in bizarre fashion when at the :44 second mark, Charger forward Sebasian Geoffrion laid a bone crunching check on Colonial captain Dave Cowan, shattering a pane of glass near the penalty boxes, causing a delay of nearly 35 minutes. When the dust had settled and play resumed, the Colonials seemed to be the different team.
At the 4:08 mark of the second period, Kushneriuk finished off a three on two rush, unleashing a shot which managed to get behind Talbot, putting the Colonials in the drivers seat with assists from Nathan Longpre and Zach Hervato. The Chargers almost evened the score during a Colonial power play just moments later when Matt Baxter was stoned on a shorthanded breakaway by Ostergard near the six minute mark of the second.
From that moment on, the Chargers tilted the ice in their favor, finding all sorts of prime scoring chances and outworking the Colonials. Their fortunes looked bright when they were awarded a five on three man advantage for 37 seconds at 17:01 when Colonial defeneman James Lyle was sent to the box for roughing. However, they could not dent the twine as Ostergard made a spectacular glove save on Charger forward Matti Jarvinen from close range, stopping the best scoring chance for Alabama-Huntsville during the power play.
The game looked as if it was going to end with the Colonials in the drivers seat going into the third period for the second night in a row until Chargers’ forward Keenen Desmet netted his second goal on the weekend, putting in a rebound at 19:09 of the second, giving the Chargers an extra lift going into the final stanza, and setting the stage for yet another thrilling finish.
The Colonials however, had other ideas. Just 20 seconds into the third, Longpre found a loose puck in neutral ice which he converted into a breakaway, beating Talbot with a shot at the last possible moment giving his team the lead back. Robert Morris then took to dominating the rest of the game, spending an eternity in the Charger end, not giving their opponent even the slimmest amount of time with the puck.
Colonials’ freshman Andrew Blazek gave his side some much needed insurance at 7:49 of the third, finishing off a hard working shift and beating Talbot with a low shot from close in to put the Colonials in front by two with less than 13 minutes to play. Ron Cramer added another tally at 17:09 with assists from Denny Urban and Brandon Blandina.
The Chargers would make the score closer when forward Chris Fairbanks beat Ostergard on a rebound at 19:42, but it was too little too late for Alabama-Huntsville who fell to the College Hockey America basement with the loss.
“That was a pretty complete hockey game on our part,” said Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley. “That third period might have been our best period of the year; we kept getting pucks deep and they couldn’t get anything going. I’m just really pleased with this weekend, we couldn’t have written a better script, It’s been an emotional two weeks.”
The Colonials travel to Hamilton, NY next weekend for a series with Colgate while Huntsville will enjoy their first home weekend series since November as they entertain conference foe Niagara.
*** The Alabama-Huntsville coaching staff was given the opportunity to go on record with comments following the game which they declined, according to assistant coach Tyler Eaves. ***
College Hockey News: Team of the Week
January 15, 2010 by Dave Weldon
Filed under Men's Team
Robert Morris has been named College Hockey News’ Team of the Week
Here are a few quotes from the article:
“Our goal was to weather the storm and get out of that first period either tied or ahead,” Schooley said. “We were out-shot 17-3 and the attempts were 35-6 or something awful such as that, but we weathered the storm.”
In the immediate aftermath Schooley said he received 11 text messages and had seven missed phone calls “before we even got off the ice on Sunday.
“The president of our university (Dr. Gregory G. Dell’Omo) sent an email, and he’s in Cancun,” Schooley said. “It’s been a whirlwind.”
“I think we all believed since Day One that we were a very good hockey team and it was only a matter of time before we got the result we got (last) weekend,” Ostergard said. “It came from the coaching staff and the captains telling us to stay focused and be patient and it’ll come.”
“Bob Errey (the Pittsburgh Penguins TV color analyst) called,” Schooley told the local media. “I’ve gotten calls from the St. Louis Blues … I know a lot of people in their organization. Hopefully, more people will jump on our bandwagon. … Friday showed that we have a very good product. Sunday validated it. Now it’s up to our players to continue to keep moving forward, and to keep the fans coming back. We only have five home games left, but it’s great timing to be home this weekend, that’s for sure.”
Brooks Ostergard, INCH Player of the Week
January 12, 2010 by Dave Weldon
Filed under Men's Team
It seems that knocking off the #1 team in the nation…twice…grabs you a little attention, some floating toward Sophomore Goaltender Brooks Ostergard, being named Inside College Hockey’s Player of the Week.
In comparison, it’s like being named the NHL’s #1 Star of the Week. Pretty sweet.
Coach Schooley was pleased to see this award come to his goaltender after having a successful weekend, “Brooks made the saves he was supposed to make, and some that he wasn’t expected to,” said head coach Derek Schooley. “When he plays that way, our team has a tremendous amount of confidence in him and it translates into success. I was very proud of his performance.”
It wasn’t expected by any means that the team would play this well, nor the backbone of this team, it’s goaltender. It’s interesting as Coach Schooley has been somewhat critical of wanting to see his netminders play stronger, noting that both Ostergard and Levine have had some rough starts in net.
It’s not surprising though that this could be the turning point for this team in the middle of the season, going up against an opponent that no one figured they would stand a chance, only a set of games after the winter break before these two, but in the reality of it all, the Colonials did exactly what they expected, they played THEIR game, and stuck to it, for 120 minutes.
Congratulations to Brooks, if anyone ever doubted his poise in net, this weekend certainly changed a few minds.
BROOKS OSTERGARD
Robert Morris
So. | G | Chagrin Falls, OhioHis Statistics: 2 GP, 2-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .975 save pct.
His Impact: The sophomore goalie for Robert Morris was at his best this weekend in helping the Colonials to a pair of victories over previously top-ranked Miami. In Friday’s game at Mellon Arena, home of the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, Ostergard made 39 saves and allowed just a power-play goal in a 3-1 win.
Sunday in Oxford, Ohio, Ostergard stopped 38 Miami shots and again was only beaten by a power-play goal. He made 14 saves in the third period when the Colonials were protecting their 2-1 lead, which held up as the final margin.
Ostergard was named First Star of the game after both wins. For the season he has a 4-9-21 record in 17 games with a .907 save percentage and 3.43 goals-against average.
His Runners-Up: Bobby Butler, New Hampshire; Brandon Coccimiglio, Mercyhurst; Mike Connolly, Minnesota Duluth; Mike Embach, Ferris State; Allan York, Rensselaer
FSN coverage from last week on Showcase
January 12, 2010 by Dave Weldon
Filed under Men's Team
Courtesy of Youtube, and our good friend Gary F. Smith, over at Empties Crushed, here is the FSN Pittsburgh Intermission coverage/preview of the College Hockey Showcase (last Friday), which aired during the Atlanta Thrashers vs Pittsburgh Penguins game.
Colonials continue sweep, grab all CHA-Honors
January 11, 2010 by Dave Weldon
Filed under Men's Team
Sweeping seems to be a trend this week for RMU, as the Colonials have grabbed all three honors in the CHA Weekly Awards.
CHA – Robert Morris Sweeps CHA Honors
Brooks Ostergard – Defensive Player of the Week
-Ostergard played out of his mind at Mellon Arena, grabbing the first upset. After Coach Schooley’s staff decided to keep him in net on Sunday, going against their original thought of letting Eric Levine start Sunday’s match, he played the difference stopping another 38 shots, for the 2-1 victory on the road.
Denny Urban – Offensive Player of the Week
-Urban saw his second time at the Mellon Arena go a bit better, grabbing a goal and an assist, on the goal, Denny not only made a great play, but he carried a stick to the face, literally a Redhawk stick was stuck in his cage as he came into the offensive zone after stealing the puck.
Stefan Salituro – Rookie of the Week
-Salituro played valuable minutes, and scoring from the third line in Friday’s game at Mellon Arena, earning him the weekly award.
Derek Schooley on Mark Madden
January 11, 2010 by Dave Weldon
Filed under Men's Team
This is from Mark Madden’s show on 105.9 WXDX on January 6th, Coach Schooley’s first appearance of 2010 on the show, right before the college hockey showcase.
105.9 WXDX – Mark Madden Podcast – with guest Derek Schooley
Coach Schooley was on Mark’s show this evening in the 6 o’clock hour for about 10 minutes, talking about the sweep of Miami (OH), now the former #1, and what it will take for this Colonial club to keep improving and their goals for the remainder of the year.
Once that podcast is available in some format, we will be sure to post it.
Reactions to the Redhawk sweep
January 11, 2010 by Dave Weldon
Filed under Men's Team
In the wake of the weekend sweep of soon to be former #1 Miami (OH), here are how some places are reacting:
Two days after Robert Morris had a stunning victory over No. 1 Miami partially obscured by the big event of the day — Frozen Fenway — the Colonials went out and did it again, just in case anyone missed it. Brooks Ostergard made 38 saves as Robert Morris beat the RedHawks 2-1 in Oxford, Ohio.
CHN: Friday’s win in Pittsburgh was amazing. A still-young program in a “mid-major” conference knocking off the No. 1 team in the country. But this one, on Sunday, is just ridiculous — in Miami’s building this time. What in the world? … The conventional wisdom holds that a team like Robert Morris would expend everything it had in Friday’s win, and just be happy to be there on Sunday. But au contrare. One is fluke — two is a pattern. Wow. … All the scoring came in the second period. And in the third period, not once but twice, Robert Morris had to kill off too many men on the ice penalties. Jitters? … Brooks Ostergard made 38 saves. Friday he said that was the best feeling of his life. How about now?
All season long, we’ve wondered what it would take to bump Miami from the top of the INCH Power Rankings. This week, our answer arrived when the RedHawks dropped a pair of games to Robert Morris, a team that entered the weekend with just three wins. It leaves Denver atop the Power Rankings in a week that also sees Minnesota Duluth and Ferris State making big moves after impressive sweeps.
“We hit a lot of posts, but posts are a part of the game,” head coach Enrico Blasi said. “We’ve got to execute better. Ultimately the goal is to play the best hockey at the right time and that’s still a couple of months away. This is a little bump in the road and I have faith in our team and Tuesday for practice they’ll be ready to go.”
Colonials sweep series against Redhawks
January 10, 2010 by Dave Weldon
Filed under Men's Team
In Sunday’s showdown in Ohio, Robert Morris put in two power-play goals (Longpre and Urban – both unassisted) to top the #1 Miami Redhawks, again, this time 2-1.
Brooks Ostergard picked up the win making 38 saves on 39 shots, as RMU was badly out-shot 39 to 15, but was 2-7 on the power-play, versus Miami’s 1-9 on the power-play.
All three goals were scored in the 2nd period.
Great sweep for Bobby Mo’!
The Oxford Press – ‘Hawks Swept by RMU
OXFORD — The Miami University hockey team won plenty of battles over the weekend, but somehow found a way to lose the wars.
The RedHawks likely will lose their No. 1 ranking as well after a home-and-home sweep by Robert Morris, which hadn’t registered a win in nearly two months before Miami appeared on its radar screen.
The Colonials won 3-1 in Pittsburgh on Friday, Jan. 8, and followed that up with a 2-1 triumph Sunday at Steve Cady Arena.
“This might be a good thing,” MU coach Enrico Blasi said. “We’ve been No. 1 from the beginning, and it hasn’t changed what we do from week to week. So whether we’re 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, it doesn’t matter. There’s only two rankings that matter, the one that leads into the national tournament and the one at the end of the year.
“Ultimately, the goal is to play the best hockey at the right time, and that’s a couple months away still,” he added. “I have faith in the guys in the locker room.”
The RedHawks (13-4-5) didn’t play terribly in the series, outshooting RMU 40-24 on Friday and 39-15 on Sunday.
But scoring is the bottom line, and the Colonials (5-12-3) got power-play goals from Nathan Longpre and Denny Urban in the second period Sunday. Goalie Brooks Ostergard racked up 38 saves (he had 39 on Friday).
“I thought Friday’s game was a little bit more balanced,” Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley said. “Our goaltender kept us in it tonight. They were swarming, and our goaltender was very good.”
Read more
Colonials shock #1 Miami (OH) in 3-1 win
January 9, 2010 by Dave Weldon
Filed under Men's Team
(The Video above is a highlight cut from the Pittsburgh Penguins Game Entertaimnet Department, RMUs Gero von Dehn has the call)
Friday Night, RMU took on the #1 Miami (OH) Redhawks in the third College Hockey Showcase at Mellon Arena. In this Friday night, the Colonials stole the show, winning their first game at Mellon Arena and shocking the #1 Ranked team in the nation.
With eight NHL draft picks on their roster, Miami could not find an answer for the Colonials uptempo play and their aggression in the offensive zone. This very well may have been the best game the Colonials have played all season, so good that it many people were asking the question during the game, “Is Miami really good enough to be #1?” -YES, but RMU is playing that good right now, was the appropriate answer.
Brooks Ostergard was named the #1 Star of the night, and for good reason. He didn’t have to be the major force to keep his team in the game, but he played great in net stopping 39 of 40 shots, leading as the anchor on the Colonial defence.
Speaking of defence, there is nothing like creating a scoring chance on the penalty kill, let alone scoring a short-handed marker, which is exactly what #17 Chris Kushneriuk did with 21 seconds left in the 1st Period.
RMU got their second goal in transition in a 2 on 1 situation, when #29 J.C. Velasquez took a pass in the slot from #11 Cody Chrichton to ram it home to put the score to 2-1.
The Colonial scoring didn’t stop there either, the final goal of the night came from #19 Stefan Salituro, the freshman, when a scramble in front of the net turned into opportunity for offense and the Colonials capitalized on poor defence by the Redhawks.
RMU improved to 4-12-3 overall on the season, with 13 games remaining in their season. They will see Miami again on Sunday on the road at 4:05pm (check back later for site information on where to listen/watch).
If you have Comcast, look for the game soon to be on Comcast on Demand under the PensTV folder, with Gero von Dehn bringing you the play-by-play, with a special 3rd Period appearance from Bob Sebastian, MSA High School Hockey Legend. The video is provided from the Pittsburgh Penguins Scoreboard crew. Check back here for a date of when that game will become available.
RMU Colonials.com – RMU shocks No. 1 Redhawks
Post Gazette – Pittsburgh Hockey Showcase: Colonials Upset Miami, 3-1
Tribune Review – RMU knocks off No.1 Miami at Mellon Arena
USCHO.com – Gary Heeman Recap
