Robert Morris’ chance at 3-peat is thwarted
Penguins prospect lifts Providence to 2-1 triumph
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A three-peat won by a Pittsburgh hockey team at PPGPaints Arena? Alas, it wasn’t to be. Robert Morris fell to No. 11-ranked Providence, 2-1, Saturday night in the final of the Three Rivers Classic. The Colonials (8-12-1) were going for a third consecutive championship in the tournament, whichbegan in 2012.
“That’s a very good hockey team we just played, but for 40 minutes I thought we were just as good or even better, and they were outstanding in the first period,” Colonialscoach Derek Schooley said.
Providence won the NCAA tournament in 2015, and the Friars’ appearance in the Classic gave Pittsburgh hockey fans an opportunity to see Finnish left winger Kasper Björkqvist, a Penguins second-round draft pick in 2016, in action. As they did in the past three years of this tournament, the Colonials faced a ranked opponent in the championship (Robert Morris also was rankedin 2014).
“I think we were right there with them for 40 minutes, so I thinking looking forward and taking the positives from that, I think we can play with anyone in the country with that effort,” Colonials center Brady Fergusonsaid.
Robert Morris entered the championship riding a threegame winning streak, after they swept Mercyhurst in a home-and-home series two weeks ago and defeated Lake Superior State Friday night in the tournament semifinals.
The Friars drew first blood at 13:23 of the opening period when Scott Conway buried a rebound past Colonials goaltender Francis Marotte. Marotte, a Quebec native who has trained with MarcAndre Fleury, kept Robert Morris competitive by turning away 17 shots in the first. Schooley was happy with how his team turned around after a tentative opening period.
“Scoring chances by our video guys’ calculation were 5-1 after the first period, them,” Schooley said. “It ended up 8-8. … When you’re down, 5-1, after one, and end up having 7-3 in the second and third, pretty good job of bouncingback.”
Colonials winger Ryley Risling evened it at 3:52 in the second with his third goal of the season, assisted by Nick Jenny and Ferguson. But later in the period, Björkqvist, whom Providence coach Nate Leaman has compared with fellow Scandinavian Patric Hornqvist, restored the Friars’ lead with a power-play goal offa rebound.
“He’s by far our best netfront guy on the power play,” Leaman said of Björkqvist. “He’s very good at screening. … I think he’s got a lot more of those goals in him, not only with us but hopefully down theroad for somebody else.”
The Friars outshot the Colonials, 30-26; the Colonials gave up one power-play goal and went 0 for 6 on the power play.
“It allowed their best players to start touching the puck and allowed their best players to get some confidence, and the momentum of the game shifted a little bit because we were on the kill so much,” Leaman said of the Colonials’power play.
Earlier Saturday, Lake Superior State defeated Arizona State, 4-1, in the consolation.
The Sun Devils occupied the Lakers’ zone for much of the game, taking 49 shots on goal to Lake Superior State’s 21, but they struggled to convert against the feisty Lakers defense and goalie Nick Kossoff.
“[Kossoff]was tremendous in net and the difference in that hockey game,” Lakers head coach Damon Whitten said.
After going ahead, 2-1, in the first period and fending off 14 shots from the Sun Devils in a scoreless second, the Lakers extended their lead in the third with a nifty backhander from winger Ian Johnston, who recorded his first career goal with Lake Superior State. They added an empty-netter to seal the game.
“I like that we bounced back” after the loss to the Colonials, Whitten said. “I thought we played a lot more urgent in our game.”