Last Friday, Robert Morris was smoked 8-0 by North Dakota. By all accounts, the beatdown was not as bad as the score indicated, but the Colonials never recovered after getting into an early a hole thanks to some bad bounces. The first Sioux goal went off an RMU defender’s stick and the second off a skate.
“I don’t think we’ve gotten two bounces like that against us the whole year, and then we get two in the first five minutes of the game,” said Robert Morris head coach Derek Schooley after the game. “They had two goals on zero shots. It’s tough when you put yourself behind the eight ball with just some bad luck.”
The following evening was an entirely different story. The Colonials went toe-to-toe with the No. 2 team in the country before finally falling 2-1.
“I couldn’t be prouder of our guys the way we responded after yesterday,” Schooley said. “We played hard and we played how we should have played last night. Very rarely do you say that you’re excited about your performance when you lose, but we left it all out there.”
It was a similar story in Wisconsin. After dropping a 3-0 decision to the Badgers of Friday, Canisius rallied from a 3-0 deficit to eventually lead before dropping a tough 6-5 contest with Wisconsin’s Justin Schultz getting the game winner with eight seconds remaining in overtime.
“I thought we played very well against a very good hockey team,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith after the game on Saturday. ”Both teams had chances so that the game could have gone in either direction. From the goaltender position on out, we gave ourselves a chance to win tonight.”
To cap a winless but interesting weekend of non-conference play American International fell 1-0 and 5-2 to Minnesota State. With very few exceptions, it’s all about conference games now.
USCHO.com AHA Player of the Week:
Bryan Haczyk, Niagara – The senior had four goals to help the Purple Eagles to a split at Holy Cross. He had a hat-trick in Friday’s 5-2 win and added a goal on Saturday to extent his point scoring streak to 16 games.
Honorables:
Adam Roy, Holy Cross – Roy stopped 55 of 56 shots to lead the Crusaders to a 5-1 win over Niagara on Saturday. The senior has 1,502 career saves, second all-time at Holy Cross.
Shane Madolora, RIT – The sophomore stayed unbeaten on the season (9-0-2) by making 74 saves on 87 shots as the Tigers took three points at Army.
Taylor Holstrom, Mercyhurst – The rookie had a pair of goals and a pair of assists in a 9-4 Lakers win at Connecticut.
Everett Sheen, Holy Cross – Sheen had a four point (two goals and two assists) last weekend. His 43 goals are ninth all-time at Holy Cross.
Ahead of Schedule
Connecticut continues to impress. The Huskies split with Mercyhurst last weekend and are now tied for fourth overall and first in the Eastern Scheduling pod. The Huskies have scored 63 goals so far this season – last year they had 59 for the entire 2009-2010 campaign.
Getting My Vote
My USCHO.com Men’s D-I Poll ballot this week:
1. Yale
2. North Dakota
3. BC
4. UNH
5. Duluth
6. Denver
7. Notre Dame
8. UNO
9. Michigan
10. Miami
11. Wisconsin
12. Union
13. RPI
14. Merrimack
15. BU
16. Maine
17. Colorado College
18. Alaska
19. WMU
20. Ohio State
Benjamin Worgull and Patrick C Miller contributed to this report.
