The Robert Morris men’s hockey team took the ice Friday in the first of two games against RIT this weekend.

Robert Morris started the contest out strong showing good tempo and control in both zones, creating several good scoring opportunities. Both teams seemed to be playing well when a bad pass in the defensive zone by Eric Israel led to an easy goal for RIT, the first goal of the night.

After outplaying their competition for most of the first period, the Colonials found themselves trailing, 1-0.

The game was chippy off the bat with each team having three power play opportunities in the first period. The second period began with a little more confidence from the Colonials, who were finally able to take advantage of the power play to tie the game up at one with a goal on the deflection from Alex Tonge.

RMU was in a good position to step up its play and put itself in a place to win when a well set-up goal from the Tigers sent the Colonials back to being behind by a goal.

Even though the team came out flat and was outplayed for most of the second and third periods, the game remained close until halfway through the third.

RMU fell apart towards the end of the game, with the final score of a dismal 4-1.

The problems that the Colonials ran into during this game are things that the team usually sees success with, like the power play and tempo. But tonight, Robert Morris was 1-for-9 on the power play, which is never a good stat and makes it incredibly hard to win hockey games.

Another big factor in tonight’s sub-par performance was that the players did not seem to be playing at full speed at times, rarely looking to be on the same page. Usually, Robert Morris has a great rhythm in passing among its players.

With all that in mind RMU still was able to create several great chances at goal scoring but could not finish at the net all night.

“Yeah, it seemed like we had a handful of chances and didn’t seem to finish, but you know, I think we could have had a lot more if we ended up playing the right way,” captain Rob Mann said. “We will watch video, watch the things we do well and get back to it tomorrow.”

The Colonials look to come away with a win tomorrow and avoid a weekend sweep. Puck drops Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. from 84 Lumber Arena.

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