PITTSBURGH, Pa. – March 3, 2012 –The Robert Morris men’s hockey team fell 5-7 to American International on Saturday night as the Atlantic Hockey playoffs first round series moved to 1-1. Sunday’s deciding game will be 7:05 p.m. at Clearview Arena.

Five different skaters tallied goals for Robert Morris (16-15-5) including freshman forward Cody Wydo (Allen Park, Mich. / Motor City Metal Jackets), who snapped a 12-game goal drought to tie Chris Margott’s RMU rookie record with his 13th goal of the season.

In a five-goal first period, AIC (8-25-3) struck first when Jon Puskar tallied his first of the night just 42 seconds into the night. Senior forward Cody Crichton (Palgrave, Ontario / Brampton Capitals) evened the score less than four minutes later with his eighth goal of the season and team leading 29th point at 4:38. Junior forward Adam Brace (Cobden, Ontario / Canisius) and senior forward Trevor Lewis (Lititz, Pa. / Syracuse Stars) earned assists on the goal. Robert Morris would strike again 39 seconds later when senior forward Ron Cramer (New Wilmington, Pa. / Indiana Ice) fed junior forward Zach Hervato (Stittsville, Ontario / Smith Falls Bears) for Hervato’s third goal of the season. The assist was Cramer's 39th career helper -- tying the senior for tenth on RMU's all-time career list.  The lead wouldn’t last long however as Alexander MacMillan would make it 2-2 with a goal less than a minute later at 5:55. Brace would send the Colonials into the first intermission with a 3-2 lead after tallying his team-high 14th goal on a delayed penalty at 14:30 of the first period. Freshman forward Cody Cartier (Sylan Lake, Alberta / Canmore Eagles) and Lewis would earn assists on the play. Lewis and Cartier would each end the night with a pair of assists while Brace would record a goal and an assist to lead RMU.

In an even more hectic second period, the two teams combined for six goals, starting with back-to-back goals for AIC from Jason Popek and Nick Sandor at 2:21 and 4:53, respectively. Wydo’s timely unassisted goal at 9:23 would even the score at 4-4, but the Yellow Jackets would score two unanswered goals to close out the period to reclaim a two-goal lead. Sophomore defenseman Evan Renwick (Calgary, Alberta / Canmore Eagles) gave the Colonials hope with his first career goal at 17:25 of the second from Cartier, but Puskar’s second goal of the night sealed the win for AIC at 9:35 of the third period.

Senior Brooks Ostergard (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Bay State Breakers) took the loss for RMU to fall to 10-11-4 on the season, making 23 saves in just shy of 50 minutes of work. Junior Eric Levine (Wheeling, Ill. / Pembroke Lumber Kings) made a relief appearance, making five saves. Ben Meisner made 42 saves for AIC as RMU outshot the Yellow Jackets 47-35. Saturday’s loss marks the first time this year that Robert Morris has suffered a loss when putting 40 or more shots on net (4-1-1).

Robert Morris and AIC close out their best-of-three series on Sunday night at 7:05 p.m. at Clearview Arena.

-Robert Morris University, Host Institution of the 2013 NCAA Frozen Four at Pittsburgh’s CONSOL Energy Center -