Robert Morris welcomed Canadian travel team Simon Fraser for an exhibition game at the Clearview Arena Saturday night. In a close contest throughout the match, the Colonials would end up slowing Simon Fraser’s quick attack and winning 3-1.
TRYING NEW TACTICS
With tonight being an exhibition, the Colonials wanted to try and give a new look to some of the younger players or players who don’t get much playing time. Tonight, we saw Francis Boisvert get the start in net for Robert Morris, and while he did not face much pressure, he stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced tonight. Coach Schooley spoke more on Francis Boisvert.
“I thought he played excellent,t and he wasn’t challenged as Veltri has been under the microscope, but he played good, and I know it doesn’t count, but I’m glad he got his first unofficial collegiate win.”
THE POWER PLAY
Tonight, the Colonials decided to mix things up in the match. The one part of the game Robert Morris decided to mix up was the power-play. While the power-play has seen its struggles in recent games, Gavin Gulash found the back of the net in his first power-play appearance.
Coach Schooley was delighted with Gulash’s play and said, “He might see some more action down the line throughout the season.”
The Colonials got to play some of the younger players tonight, who usually would not see as much ice time in a regular game.
WINNING FACE-OFFS
The Colonial, throughout the early part of this season, has seen a bit of struggle in the face-off circle. Tonight, the Colonials won 30 out of the 67 face-offs.
Coach Schooley commented, “We want to win 55% of the face-off, so winning under 50 tonight is not great, but I know we will get better.”
FACING TOUGH COMPETITION
As Coach Schooley said, “Some of our guys played better tonight than they do in practice.”
These types of games allow for other guys on the team to see some more game action and show what they can do.
It is tough to play in practice because it can lead to distraction, and sometimes, some players do not take it as seriously as a game-like scenario like tonight. It was great to see some of the players that we don’t see as much shine tonight in today’s game and maybe have earned themselves some more playing time down the road.
Robert Morris will be in action in Alaska this upcoming weekend as they will play Alaska Anchorage in a two-game series, with game one starting at 11 p.m. and game two starting at 10 p.m. Both games can be streamed on FloHockey.
