Colonials Close Out Regular Season with Pair of Wins

(Pittsburgh, PA) -- After a week off due to inclement weather, the RMU Colonials closed out the regular season with a pair of wins on home ice.

Friday night found RMU trailing Pitt 3-2 in the third period of a tight contest, but sophomore Karl Taylor (Windsor, ON/Harrington College Icebergs) put the team on his back and exploded for four straight goals to give the Colonials the 6-3 win.  Bryan Chiavetta (Hummelstown, PA/New York Applecore) also had a big night with four points.  “We were rusty with the layoff and it wasn't our best effort, but we found a way to win,” said RMU head coach Jason Evans.  “I thought we were very good defensively, only giving up 12 shots, and we didn’t give them many good chances all game.”

Saturday afternoon saw the Colonials honoring their five seniors, Ben Konecheck, Steven Kobert, Matt MacQuilliam, Jasen Bange, and Nick Friedhoff. “These guys have been the backbone of our program the last four years, and they've played a huge part in the success we've had,” said Evans.  After the ceremonies, RMU dominated the University of Rochester 13-3. Sophomore Nick Lewis (Palmyra, PA/Hershey Jr. Bears) had his first career hat trick, while Luke Bennett (Anchorage, AK/Marquette Rangers) had 2 goals and 2 assists.  The seniors got on the board too, with Kobert, Konecheck, and Bange all finding the net.  “It was a great night for us,” said Evans.  “That's a great way for the seniors to go out in their last home game, and we got a lot of points from a lot of different guys.  Again, we were pretty good defensively only giving up 12 shots, although I'd like to have seen us give up less than six goals in these two games.”  RMU outshot UR 96-12 on the night.  “I don't think I've ever seen a game with 96 shots,” RMU Goaltending Coach Sean Moloney said.  “I have to give UR goaltender Ryan Sigurdson a ton of credit, because we could have had 30 if he wasn't as good as he was.  That's four straight wins for us heading into playoffs, so we have some momentum as we try for three championships in a row.”

The Colonials now travel to Rochester, NY, on Thursday for the ECHL playoffs. They will open with RIT on Friday afternoon at 2:00 P.M., with the semi-finals on Saturday, and the championship game on Sunday.  “We're the two-time defending champions, so even though we're the number two seed everyone will be gunning for us,” Evans said.  “It would be a huge accomplishment to win for the third time in a row, our last year in the league, and erase some of the disappointment of us not qualifying for Nationals. It should be a great weekend of hockey.”

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* RMU has played in three of the last four league championship games, winning the last two.  Their only finals loss came to Buffalo.
* RMU has a league record of 44-4-0-2 over the past four seasons heading into this weekend's playoffs