By Mike Prisuta
www.rmucolonials.com
Nov. 5, 2009

Prisuta On Pucks Link

Pittsburgh, Pa. - Lacking consistency, the Robert Morris University Colonials dug deep and found a resiliency that was revealing.

The lesson learned?

Stray from the plan and bad things can happen.

The message reinforced?

Trust the system, and anything is possible.

Those two concepts were reinforced this week in advance of an upcoming series at No. 11 Bemidji State (7:35 p.m. Friday and 7:05 p.m. Saturday).

Their significance was obvious in both ends of last weekend's split with then-No. 18 Quinnipiac, a 5-0 loss on Friday night followed by an 8-5 victory on Saturday night at the Island Sports Center.

“On Friday night we had it handed to us pretty good,” head coach Derek Schooley acknowledged. “They were better than us in all aspects. They won all the races to the puck. We were spectators and we saw why they were ranked.

“On Saturday we just competed very hard. We worked, we were resilient. We got pucks in deep (into the offensive zone) and kept our game very simple. And we got a performance from Nathan Longpre that was nothing short of heroic.”

Longpre, still looking for his first goal of the season after Friday night's blanking, responded with four goals and an assist on Saturday.

“I had a talk with the coaches and they said 'just keep it simple,' so I just started firing pucks at the net,” Longpre said.

New linemate Chris Kushneriuk supported Longpre's effort with a goal and three assists.

And goaltender Eric Levine came up with 58 saves in a game in which the Colonials were out-shot, 63-33.

Levine had replaced Brooks Ostergard 11:32 into Friday night's game after Quinnipiac had increased its lead to 3-0.

The change in goaltenders failed to snap the Colonials from a funk that included trying too often to win one-on-one battles on the rush, making careless passes in the neutral zone and turning the puck over as opposed to clearing the defensive zone.

“We wanted to prove we could play with them and a lot of guys played outside of their abilities and made some passes that we're not capable of,” defenseman Denny Urban said. “It just goes to show you don't always have to make pretty plays.”

Robert Morris found itself trailing again early on Saturday, but by then the right approach had been re-established.

“Coach brought the right mindset the next day,” Kushneriuk said. “He told us he was happy it had happened in Friday's game instead of Saturday's so we could get back at them. He brought a really positive mindset to the rink and that got everyone going.

“It was kind of funny on the bench (when Quinnipiac grabbed a 1-0 lead) because everyone was like, 'Oh, my God.' But we were able to get it right back a couple of shifts later, we had a pretty good crowd in here, it was pretty loud and everyone felt the energy. We didn't want to get embarrassed again.”

Instead, the Colonials reminded themselves what they're capable of just in time to open College Hockey America play at Bemidji.

“We know we can beat any team we go up against,” Kushneriuk said. “It's a matter of playing simple, getting pucks deep, getting shots on net and playing the way we did at the end of last year.”