North Andover, Mass. - In the opening game of the 2008-09 season, the Robert Morris University men's hockey team got off to a sluggish start on Saturday evening against the Merrimack Warriors at J. Thom Lawler Arena. Although they managed to fight back and tie the score in the second period, the Merrimack offense proved to be difficult to overcome.
Merrimack's offense set the tone from the opening puck drop as they outshot the Colonials 10-2 in the first five minutes, and 17-6 in the first period. However, it would take the Warriors nearly 18 minutes to tally their first score of the night. At the 17:39 mark, Merrimack's Francois Ouimet picked up a rebound off Joe Cucci's shot and pushed it past Colonial goaltender, Wes Russell (Springfield, Ill. / Quinnipiac University), to make the score 1-0.
Late in the second period, freshman Ron Cramer (New Wilmington, Pa. / Indiana Ice) grabbed a rebound off the stick of sophomore Branden Gay (Calgary, Alberta / Drayton Valley Thunder) to slip the puck past the Warrior goalie, Andrew Braithwaite. The goal was Cramer's first of the season, and his first colligate goal.
The second period ended with the score tied at two, but just 1:57 into the third Merrimack would strike back. J.C. Robitaille recorded the game-winning goal for the Warriors as he fired a slap shot from the slot past the blocker of Russell to give Merrimack a 2-1 lead.
Robert Morris continued to fight back throughout the third, outshooting Merrimack 9-7. The Colonials had a 5 on 3 power play opportunity for nearly two minutes midway through the period, but were unable to convert for a score.
In a last effort, the Colonial's pulled Russell for an extra attacker with under a minute left in the game. With an empty net, the Warriors were able to tack on another score as Ouimet tallied his second goal of the night.
Overall, Russell made 29 saves and was named the third star of the game. Robert Morris was 0-9 on the power play and was outshot 32-24.
The Colonials (0-1-0) will host their home opener on Friday, October 17 at the Robert Morris Island Sports Center at 7:35 p.m. against Ferris State.
