The Colgate Raiders are the 2014 Three Rivers Classic champions after defeating the Robert Morris Colonials by a resounding 6-1 margin at Consol Energy Center on Tuesday.
The Colgate offense overpowered the Robert Morris defenders all game long, and the Raiders were able to keep the Colonials own high-powered attack in check.
“When you walk by [Mario Lemieux’s] 66 and pictures of Stanley Cup champions, it’s very motivational,” said Colgate head coach Don Vaughn. “It really is, that’s where all these guys aspire to be, and it couldn’t have been in a better place to help motivate them.”
“It was a phenomenal trip for us.”
A back and forth first period saw Robert Morris score a spectacular goal to take a 1-0 lead. Matt Cope took a Brandon Denham pass and split Colgate defensemen Ryan Johnston and Anthony Sanniti and took off on a breakaway. The puck got a little bit ahead of him but he dove after it and one-handed it through the five-hole of Colgate goaltender Charlie Finn.
Colgate dominated the period offensively, despite only outshooting Robert Morris 17 to 12. Dalton Izyk was up to the task, making several difficult saves, but a broken play allowed the Raiders to tie the game. Izyk attempted to cover a puck near his crease, but Tyson Spink was able to poke it free. The puck went behind the net to Kyle Baun, who banked it off Izyk and into the net.
Izyk seemed out of sorts after the goal, and Colgate was able to capitalize. Defenseman Jake Kulevich took a Darcy Murphy pass and walked down from the left point and beat Izyk cleanly with a slapshot from the boards.
In the middle of the second period, Colgate got another goal from a puck in the equipment of Izyk, as the Robert Morris netminder was unable to freeze a shot in his pads and Colgate took a two-goal lead when senior forward Joe Wilson poked in into the net.
“We were just trying to get pucks to the net tonight,” said Baun “It’s one thing we’ve been struggling with, just battling through. It paid off. We got a few greasy ones tonight.”
The Raiders kept up the pressure, outshooting the Colonials 25 to 9 in the middle frame and were rewarded when freshman center Mike Panowyk scored his fifth of the season on a rebound of a Murphy shot just after a Robert Morris penalty had expired. Wilson got the other assist, giving each player two points on the night.
“That was a very fast hockey team we played,” said Robert Morris head coach Derek Schooley. “They were a step quicker than us. We’ve got a lot of speed, we played hard and with tenacity, but for whatever reason, we were a step behind, a step slow, and we had our ears pinned back in our end a lot the time.”
The third period was all Colgate as the Raiders piled on with two more goals to put the tournament out of reach. Twin brothers Tyson and Tylor Spink each scored a goal. In total, the Raiders took 52 shots against Izyk, a season high against the Colonials.
Finn was named the tournament’s most valuable player, winning both games while making 53 saves on 56 shots, and keeping Robert Morris captain, and the nations’ third-leading scorer, Cody Wydo off the scoresheet.
“Cody Wydo’s a good hockey player, and I think the last time he went three straight games without a point was, I don’t even know when,” said Schooley. “He’s had chances, it just didn’t go for him.”
“I would hate to be on the other side when he breaks out again.”
The Colonials will now turn their attention to the next big game on their schedule, an outdoor game against the Bowling Green Falcons in Toledo, Ohio on Saturday.
“Well we just have to put this behind us,” said Schooley. “Last time I checked, it’s one of 34 [games this season]. Obviously, we’re disappointed. We wanted to win a championship in our hometown, but you can’t take anything away from what we’ve done so far. We’re 12-3-3, we won 29 games in 2014 … it’s unfortunate that we weren’t able to get the job done tonight, but that’s a good hockey team.”
All tournament team:
Aiden Muir, Western Michigan forward
Curtis Loik, Penn State forward
Daniel Leavens, Robert Morris forward
Kyle Baun, Colgate forward
Jake Kulevich, Colgate defenseman
MVP: Charlie Finn, Colgate goaltender
Photo credit: Brian Mitchell
