The Robert Morris University NCAA men’s hockey team defeated the Miami Red Hawks in the inaugural Three Rivers Classic 1-0 in front of a crowd of 10,797 at ConsolEnergy Center.
Senior goaltender Eric Levine made 51 saves tonight bringing his overall total to 99 on the weekend earning him “All-Tournament Goaltender” honors.
Head Coach, Derek Schooley was very proud of his teams effort.
“We played hard. We competed. We did a lot of the little things that we needed to do to be successful,” said Schooley. “We showed a lot of determination and guts killing off a lot of penalties.”
Schooley was also proud of Levine’s performance in net this weekend.
“Your best penalty killer is your goaltender,” said Schooley. “Eric was very good this weekend.”
Scoring the lone Colonials goal was freshman forward Brandon Denham at 7:54 of the third period.
“Brandon has been gripping his stick because he hasn’t been scoring. What a time to get your first goal his first career tongue lashing after taking a penalty in the first,” joked Schooley. “He was redeeming himself for angering me.”
“It’s an unbelievable feeling to get your first goal in college hockey especially in such a big game on such a big stage,” said Denham. “It’s definitely a fun time.”
The Colonials have been dedicating each and every win this season to former captain, Chris Kushneriuk who is battling testicular cancer. During the teams post game photos with the trophy, they had Kushneriuk’s jersey out on the ice with them.
“I remember watching my freshman year in Mellon Arena. I watched Kush score our first period goal. He just has so much heart and with everything he’s gone through, and the amount of fundraising we’ve done and support have all been for him,” said Levine.
“His jersey hangs in our locker room every game. Everything we do is for him, and guys like him help build the program,” added Levine. “At the time it was one of our biggest wins and he scored the first goal, but it’s good for him and good for our team.”
The Colonials are currently unbeaten in their last seven games going 5-0-2 over that span of time. Up next for RMU will be Army when they travel to West Point, New York for games on Friday, Jan. 5 and Saturday, Jan. 6.
Friday’s game against Army will also be on CBS Sports Network and will begin at 7:30.
