Moon Township, Pa. -- For the second straight season, the Robert Morris University (RMU) Division I club hockey team won the Eastern Collegiate Hockey League (ECHL) championship.
During the conference tournament in Rochester, N.Y., the Colonials defeated the University of Buffalo 6-1 in the semifinal, before adding a 6-2 triumph in the title game over Mercyhurst College. "This is a great moment for our players, coaches, the university, and the program," said RMU head coach Jason Evans.
Friday's semifinal game against Buffalo was close most of the way thanks to UB goaltender Nick Edson, who, as he did earlier in the year, single-handedly kept the Bulls within reach at 2-1 after two periods. But RMU captain Jake Javitt (York, Pa./Philadelphia Little Flyers) scored a natural hat trick in the third to blow the game open en route to the win.
The top line of Javitt, Luke Bennett (Anchorage, Alaska/Marquette Rangers), and Bryan Chiavetta (Hummelstown, Pa./NY Applecore) did most of the damage, combining for 11 points. RMU outshot UB 51-25 on the evening, as Robbie Fallick (East Stroudsburg, Pa./Laconia Leafs) stopped 24 shots to record the win.
Before the semifinal Friday night, the ECHL handed out its annual awards, and several Colonials earned accolades. All-Academic awards went to forwards Bennett, Javitt, Chad Fritz, Ryan King, Joe Ferriero, John Kalichuk, Brant Fisher, Matt Javitt, and Chris Chavez, defensemen Kory DuMond and Steve Kobert, and goaltender Brent Baburich. All-Rookie team honors went to defenseman Kevin Miller, forward Matt Javitt, and goaltender Brent Baburich.
Evans, an RMU graduate, won his third straight ECHL Coach of the Year award, and Jake Javitt was awarded the highest league honor as ECHL MVP.
“Jake's been the heart and soul of this team for four years, and this program wouldn't be where it is now without him. He’s definitely going to be missed," said Evans.
Saturday's championship game saw the Colonials control play from the drop of the puck, outshooting the Lakers 14-4 in the first period and 19-6 in the second, but Mercyhurst goaltender Adam Falkner kept it close at 2-1 after two periods. Just 35 seconds into the third, sophomore defenseman Paul Dittrich (Sewickley, Pa./Boston Bulldogs) took a beautiful saucer feed from Chiavetta to give RMU some breathing room at 3-1. Javitt got the second assist on the play, earning him his 200th career point, the most in RMU history.
RMU added three more goals before the final buzzer, two into an empty net, to take the game 6-2. RMU outshot Mercyhurst 47-17 on the night, and Fallick stopped 15 of 17, giving him a .929 save percentage for the playoffs. Chiavetta had a big night with two goals and two assists, Miller had a goal and an assist, and Javitt had two assists.
"I'm so happy for all these young men," said RMU goaltending coach Sean Moloney. "From early September these guys have worked so hard for this, and everyone on the roster contributed from day one, so to see them achieve it is so incredible. I'm so lucky to be a part of this. But we set three goals for the team back in September, and we're only two-thirds of the way there."
Bennett, Javitt, and Miller were named to the All-Tournament first team, while Chiavetta and Kobert were named to the second team. Chiavetta also took home his second consecutive Tournament MVP award, recording seven points in two games. He scored the game-winner in overtime last season.
"Everyone really stepped up this weekend," said Evans. "Chevy had a ton of points, but this championship was really a team effort."
RMU now prepares for the American Collegiate Hockey Association National Tournament, March 14-18, in Gates Mills, Ohio. RMU will enter as the No. 9 seed, where they will face No. 8 Liberty University. RMU and Liberty split four games this season, each winning a pair on home ice. The first-round matchup will take place on Saturday, March 14, at 4:30 p.m..
RMU is now 33-1-0-2 in ECHL play over the past three seasons. Their lone regulation loss was to Niagara University at home in November 2007 by a score of 4-3.