Sophomore Dalton Izyk continued his strong season for Robert Morris; stopping all 34 shots as he earned his third shutout of the season as he backstopped the Colonials to a 3-0 victory over the Bentley Falcons on Friday night. Izyk improved his record to 7-3 on the season. The Colonials improved to 13-4-4 overall and 10-2-3 against Atlantic Hockey foes.
“Everyone played amazing tonight,” Izyk said. “I just did my job and made a few simple saves.”
“Hopefully, we keep it up, because if we play like that, it’s hard for us to lose.”
His teammates in front of him did yeoman’s work against Bentley freshman netminder Jason Argue. The Colonials tallied 43 shots, but with five minutes remaining in regulation, the score remained knotted at zero.
That’s when the Colonials’ third line cashed in. Juniors Greg Gibson and Brandon Denham skated in on a two-on-one. Gibson got the pass to connect and Denham lifted a backhand shot over Argue’s pad for the only goal the Colonials would need. It was Denham’s sixth goal of the season
“I knew all game that were skating well and forechecking well and keeping the puck in their zone,” said Denham. “I had a feeling; we had our chances early on, and we couldn’t get it in in the second period. We just kept believing in ourselves, and eventually, it came through”
David Friedmann got an insurance goal just over three minutes later when he tallied his ninth of season on the power play. Daniel Leavens got the lone assist. The Colonials finished one-for-four on the power play with five shots.
Junior right-winger Zac Lynch potted an empty netter to seal the victory.
Despite both teams having potent offensive attacks (eight players in the game are in the top 15 of conference scoring), it was a physical, defensive battle.
“We know that they have some bigger guys over there, and they like to finish their checks,” said Denham. “Our physicality sort of brought it out of them, too. That’s more our game, so it’s nice to see.”
In addition to his goal, Denham was a force on the forecheck and drew two penalties by going to the Falcon’s net.
“That’s my game, to bring the puck to the net and always drive to the net hard,” he said. “Luckily, they were feisty enough to try to take something extra. It’s kind of my job to push them that far but not take anything myself.”
Denham and the rest of the Colonials were sure to be disciplined against the nation’s top power play, only taking two minor penalties.
The Colonials and Falcons will be back in action at 7:05 p.m. at Saturday night at 84 Lumber Arena on Neville Island.
Photo credit: Brian Mitchell
