The Robert Morris Colonials unveiled new red sweaters as they hosted the Penn State Nittany Lions in the second semifinal of the Three Rivers Classic at Consol Energy Center.
They certainly had the Lions seeing red as the Colonials frustrated the nation’s top shooting offense with strong goaltending from junior netminder Terry Shafer and physical defensive play.
Goaltenders Eamon McAdam and Shafer dominated the first half of the game, but everything opened up when Penn State defenseman Nate Jensen was called for a controversial major for checking to the head and received a game misconduct.
Image courtesy of RMU Hockey.
“It was a 0-0 game, I thought it was a great hockey game, I really. I though you had two teams that were playing to score goals, I thought it was evenly matched,” said Penn State head coach Guy Gadowski of the game up to that point.
“It’s too bad that the whole game was changed on one call because it was an excellent hockey game ”
On the ensuing power play, Robert Morris scored twice in rapid succession, with Brady Ferguson scoring on a wrist shot from between the circles at 14:11 of the second. Tyson Wilson and Daniel Leavens assisted.
Just 30 seconds later, an innocent looking John Rey wrist shot from the point found its way past McAdam and the Colonials had a two goal lead. Brandon Denham and David Friedmann assisted on Rey’s second goal career goal.
Penn State was down, but not beaten as they fought back late in the third as Scott Conway scored after a faceoff in the Robert Morris zone. Dylan Richard and Curtis Loik had the assists.
Robert Morris added on in the third period, with Daniel Leavens deflecting home a Chase Golightly shot from the point to give the Colonials a 3-1 lead.
Shafer was strong in the third period, including a series where David Goodwin and Casey Bailey had two or three chances from in tight late in the third. Bailey was finally able to find the back of the net on an unassisted goal at 18:11 of the final frame. Shafer finished with 35 saves to earn his sixth win of the season.
“I thought Terry was outstanding tonight. There was a flurry with about three minutes to go where he made some huge saves. That’s the kind of goaltending we’ve been getting all year. You have to have good goaltending to be a good team, and we’ve been getting that,” said Robert Morris head coach Derek Schooley.
The Colonials will face the Colgate Raiders in the championship game Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. Robert Morris will have a chance to win their second title in three seasons. Penn State will face Western Michigan in the consolation game at 4:30 p.m.
Photo credit: Gillian Belich
