January 14, 2010
Team of the Week: Robert Morris
CHN Staff Report
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January 14, 2010
CHN Staff Report
Some Team of the Week picks are hard, and some are easy.
A 3-win team knocking off the No. 1 team in the country — not once, but twice in the same weekend — pretty much defines easy. And so Robert Morris is the CHN Team of the Week, with a 3-1, 2-1 sweep of Miami. Friday's game was at the former home of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sunday was at Cady Arena in Oxford, Ohio.
“The only real period where the ice was tilted all weekend was the first period on Sunday,” RMU head coach Derek Schooley said.
After beating Miami, 3-1, on Friday night at Mellon Arena in the Pittsburgh College Hockey Showcase, Robert Morris anticipated the RedHawks hitting the ice flying in Sunday afternoon’s rematch.
The Colonials weren’t disappointed.
“Our goal was to weather the storm and get out of that first period either tied or ahead,” Schooley said. “We were out-shot 17-3 and the attempts were 35-6 or something awful such as that, but we weathered the storm.”
It was 0-0 after that first period. And once Nathan Longpre opened the scoring with a 4-on-3 goal 11 seconds into the second, the Colonials were on their way to a sweep that almost defies description.
The RedHawks out-shot the Colonials 14-2 in the third period but couldn’t crack goaltender Brooks Ostergard, who wound up stopping 77 of 79 shots on the weekend.
“He made the saves he had to make and he threw a couple of big one in there,” Schooley said. “That’s all you can ask of a goaltender, to make the saves he should make and then throw a couple of big ones in there that he shouldn’t make.
“That’s what Brooks did all weekend. He was just in a zone.”
Miami didn’t score an even-strength goal in the two games and wound up just 2-for-14 on the power play, an area where Robert Morris had been especially vulnerable for much of the season.
And the Colonials were as opportunistic as they needed to be in both games, scoring on a short-handed breakaway (Chris Kushneriuk), a 2-on-1 (J.C. Velasquez) and during a delayed penalty (Stefan Salituro) on Friday night, and twice with the man-advantage on Sunday.
That’s how a team with a 3-12-3 overall record knocks off a 13-2-5 team that’s ranked No. 1 in the nation.
Twice.
In the immediate aftermath Schooley said he received 11 text messages and had seven missed phone calls “before we even got off the ice on Sunday.
“The president of our university (Dr. Gregory G. Dell’Omo) sent an email, and he’s in Cancun,” Schooley said. “It’s been a whirlwind.”
But no matter how much Derek Schooley might like his hockey team, it is still a three-win team playing the No. 1 team in the country. There has to be something to it beyond, "well, I knew we were a good team."
“I think we all believed since Day One that we were a very good hockey team and it was only a matter of time before we got the result we got (last) weekend,” Ostergard said. “It came from the coaching staff and the captains telling us to stay focused and be patient and it’ll come.”
Robert Morris had been close before, losing to Ferris State (5-4 in OT), Bemidji State (2-0 including an empty-net goal) and Colorado College (4-3), all of which are ranked in this week’s Top 11.
“It does frustrate you,” senior defenseman and RMU captain Dave Cowan said. “Nobody likes to lose, especially the guys on our team as close as we are and as competitive as we are.
“Losing games like that pushes you harder in practice to get better and put you over that hump and eventually win those games. We believe we’re capable of great things and that showed this past weekend.”
The kudos continued to come in throughout the week.
“Bob Errey (the Pittsburgh Penguins TV color analyst) called," Schooley told the local media. "I’ve gotten calls from the St. Louis Blues ... I know a lot of people in their organization. Hopefully, more people will jump on our bandwagon. ... Friday showed that we have a very good product. Sunday validated it. Now it’s up to our players to continue to keep moving forward, and to keep the fans coming back. We only have five home games left, but it’s great timing to be home this weekend, that’s for sure.”
The players were given a well-deserved day off on Monday.
“I told our guys to hold their heads high and be proud of what they accomplished because we did accomplish something pretty special, something they’ll remember forever,” Schooley said. “But now it’s time to move forward and get ready for Alabama-Huntsville.”
This story was compiled from press reports and Mike Prisuta's articles at rmucolonials.com.
