By Marty Joseph, QBSN Staff Writer

The men’s ice hockey team (2-1-0) fell to Robert Morris (1-1-0), 4-0 on Sunday afternoon. Colonial’s goaltender Eric Levine slammed the door on the Bobcats’ offense with 48 saves in the game. Zach Hervato led the charge offensively for the Colonials with two goals in the game. David Friedmann and Adam Brace also tallied for the Colonials in the win.

The Bobcats lacked energy from the start and were unable to capitalize early to keep momentum on their side from the previous two games. The team put 15 shots on net in the opening frame but was unable to beat Levine who was focused from the opening puck drop.

Tyler Hinds put the Colonials on the board for the first time in their early season late in the first period. With just over two and a half minutes remaining Hinds corralled the puck at the point and wristed a shot over the right shoulder of Eric Hartzell (White Bear Lake, Minn.).

Fifty-three seconds later, Zach Hervato scored his first of two goals on the afternoon to give the Colonials a two-goal cushion. Jeff Jones skated into the zone with the puck and hit a wide-open Hervato in the slot with a pass. Hervato pulled the puck to his backhand and slide it between the legs of Hartzell.

Levine made timely saves when the Colonials needed him to the most. Levine’s biggest save came late in the second period when the Bobcats’ were threatening on the power play. Levine went from right to left across his crease and made a left pad save on a Matthew Peca (Petawawa, Ontario) one-timer. The save came with only five seconds remaining in the second period and preserved the Colonials’ two-goal lead heading into the intermission.

Hervato scored his second goal of the game just under three minutes into the final frame to swing the momentum fully in the favor of the Colonials for the remainder of the contest. Hervato pressured Kellen Jones (Montrose, British Columbia) at the Robert Morris blue line and stole the puck to go on a shorthanded breakaway. Hervato cut from right to left across the ice and forced Michael Garteig (Prince George, British Columbia) to commit to the shot before Hervato slipped the puck to the top right corner of the net.

“Defensively, we weren’t very good,” head coach Rand Pecknold said. “Two of the three goals were breakaway goals, and we can’t do that. We need to be a great defensive hockey team.”

Adam Brace added an empty net goal with 45 seconds remaining in the third to cap off the scoring for the Colonials.

Hartzell stopped 15 of the 17 shots he saw in the game before being replaced by Garteig midway through the second period. Garteig stopped seven of the eight shots he faced in the game.

The Bobcats are back in action with a two game weekend set against the Ohio State Buckeyes next weekend. The action begins on Friday night at 7 p.m.