BUFFALO, N. Y. – Feb. 4, 2012 –The Robert Morris men’s hockey team picked up the first win in program history at Canisius in 2004, but the Colonials couldn’t duplicate the result when looking for win No. 101, dropping a 2-1 contest in Saturday’s series finale at the Buffalo State Sports Arena.

“We stuck with the process tonight and battled hard, unfortunately we just couldn’t find the equalizer,” RMU head coach Derek Schooley said. “The effort from our guys was good, but we need to generate more than one goal to be competitive every night in this league.”

A furious rally in the third by Robert Morris (13-12-3 overall, 11-7-3 Atlantic Hockey) provided plenty of action to close out the weekend highlighted by junior forward Adam Brace (Cobden, Ontario / Canisius), who cut the Golden Griffins’ two-goal lead in half with his eighth goal of the year – an extra-attacker score – with 1:03 remaining in the game. The junior, who returned to the lineup last weekend after missing five games, tallied his second goal of the weekend as Robert Morris accounted for 13 of the game’s final 14 shots. Senior defenseman Josh Jones (Scenery Hill, Pa. / Hawkesbury Hawks) and freshman defenseman Tyson Wilson (Brockville, Ontario / Brockville Braves) each earned their second assists of the weekend on the goal. The Golden Griffins (9-15-4, 9-9-3) tallied just one shot in the last five minutes of play – a breakaway attempt by Patrick Sullivan that was turned away by junior netminder Eric Levine (Wheeling, Ill. / Pembroke Lumber Kings).

Mitch McCrank gave the Golden Griffins their first lead of the weekend when he knocked in a rebound for his second goal of the season at 16:19 of the first period. Levine turned away the initial offering from Kyle Gibbons but left just enough space for McCrank to come crashing towards the net to put Canisius up 1-0. The Golden Griffins would add to their lead 4:33 into the second stanza when Stephen Farrell threaded a shot from the point into the net for his first career goal for Canisius. Patric Sullivan and Matthew Grazen recorded assists on the goal.

The Griffins defense stifled the Colonials offense and specifically the RMU power play with 18 blocked shots in the contest. The Colonials would be held scoreless in seven power-play chances despite 13 shots while on the advantage. The Colonial penalty kill went four-for-four on the night for another unblemished weekend. Levine made 23 saves to fall to 6-4-1 on the year. Tony Capobianco made 29 saves to pick up the win and improve to 5-7-2 on the year.

Robert Morris closes out a stretch of three-straight home-and-home series next weekend against Mercyhurst. The Colonials travel to Erie next Friday for the season opener before Saturday’s finale at the RMU Island Sport Center. Both games are scheduled for 7:05 faceoffs. Robert Morris is 2-0-0 against the Lakers this year.

-Robert Morris University, 2013 NCAA® Frozen Four® Host Institution-