After Quinnipiac shut out Robert Morris on Saturday by a 4-0 score, the Colonials returned the favor as Eric Levine stopped all 48 shots Sunday in a 4-0 win.
“We used our assets which are our speed, our forecheck and a fantastic penalty kill,” Levine said. “The credit has to go to the coaches. They made adjustments and we were just more aggressive today.”
With such a young team, Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley noted how important a road win like this is for the team’s future.
“That could be the most complete game we have had in a long time,” Schooley said. “I am really happy for our youth to come into a tough place to play and come out with a win.”
It took Robert Morris nearly 78 minutes to score its first goal on the weekend, but it only took 53 seconds to score two.
At 17:27 of the first period, Tyler Hinds’ shot from the left point was blocked by the Bobcats’ defense. The rebound came right back to Hinds who wristed a screen shot that David Friedman tipped to beat Eric Hartzell in the top left corner.
Just 53 seconds later, the Colonials extended their lead on a two-on-one with Jeff Jones and Zach Hervato. Jones shuffled the pass to Hervato who tipped the puck towards the net. Hartzell made the initial save, but Hervato followed up his shot and poked it through Hartzell’s legs for the 2-0 lead.
“It gave our team a little bit of swag,” Levine said about the two-goal lead. “That’s what we were missing last night. We had no swag. But to score two goals like that on the road, I think it settles everyone down and we played well with the lead which we haven’t done in the past.”
The Colonials only needed one of those goals thanks to the outstanding performance from Levine.
“We know what we have in Eric Levine and he has what it takes to be a top-flight Atlantic Hockey goalie,” Schooley said. “He had shown it in spurts, but to bounce back today after yesterday is a big feather in his cap.”
After shutting out RMU yesterday, Hartzell was pulled mid-way through the second period for freshman Michael Garteig.
“I wanted to get Garteig in this weekend and I was going to go with him at the start, but Hartzell was just so good yesterday with the shutout, so we decided to just split the two,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said.
RMU extended its lead 2:41 into the third period on Hervato’s second goal of the game. After an interference call against Hinds, the Colonials went on the penalty kill. A deflection at the Bobcats’ blue line spurred a race in the neutral zone that Hervato won. Hervato walked in all alone and roofed a backhanded shot over Garteig’s sprawling attempt.
“Defensively, we weren’t very good,” Pecknold added. “Two of the goals were breakaway goals and we were just sloppy defensively. We need to be a great defensive hockey team and I thought we did well yesterday, but today, we were poor.”
