clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

A team with two first names and a team with two state names await Buffalo

Indiana ofPennsylvania Robert Morris

Last week the Bulls took advantage of what is, perhaps, the softest weekend they will have all season. This weekend, on the road, the Bulls have one of their harder weekends. The #24 Bulls face #17 Robert Morris and #22 Indiana of Pennsylvania.

The two teams we face played each other tonight with ECHL leading Robert Morris pulling out an overtime win. The two points earned by the Colonials, along with strong play by Canton and Niagara puts added pressure on Buffalo.

School GP W L SOL OTL PTS
Robert Morris 15 10 5 0 0 20
Canton 15 8 6 0 1 17
Niagara 15 7 5 1 2 17
Buffalo 14 8 6 0 0 16
Syracuse 16 5 11 0 0 10
Mercyhurst 17 5 12 0 0 10
Rochester 11 3 8 0 0 6
R.I.T 19 2 17 0 0 4

Ideally Buffalo needs to sweep this weekend to keep pace in the EHCL but a split against these two teams would be a substantial victory. UB is still hanging tough in the top 25 but that will change if they don't at last manage to take one of these games.

1) Who does UB have to watch out for?

Robert Morris: The Colonials have a deep arsenal of explosive players. Bryan Chiavetta, Zach Stern, Matt Javitt, Kory DuMond, Karl Taylor, and Ryan King all average more than a point a game.

IUP: The Crimson Hawks are not as explosive a team as Robert Morris but they are very balanced. The leading scorers Ford, Cupelli, Robertson, and Regula all have more assist than goals and are all pulling nearly a point a game.

2) How good are their Goalies?

Robert Morris: The Colonials rely on a trio of net minders Robbie Salerno, Brent Baburich, and Phil Salerno all have a better save percentage than any UB Goalie.

IUP: The Hawks have a very solid duo in net Brian Matesevac, and Padraig Carey both have save percentages in the mid .8's and a GAA at or below 3 goals.

3) How are they on the Power play?

Robert Morris: In their past four games they are 2/31 even considering the strength of their recent opposition its pretty clear that they can be stopped.

IUP: Of late they are scoring less than five percent of the time, IUP is a solid team but they seem to be more dangerous when the teams are even.

4) How are they Short Handed?

Robert Morris: Here the colonials are very strong, they have played some solid teams recently and they held those teams to 13% with the advantage.

IUP: The Crimson Hawks more than make up for their flaccid power play by holding opponents to only 2 goals in 43 attempts over their past 4 games.

5) What to expect form the game?

Robert Morris: How UB goal tending is going to hold up under the assault potential of the Colonials is the key to the game. The Bulls are not going to be able to stop Robert Morris from getting their chances so Rich Latona is going to have to come up big, otherwise this game can get out of hand, fast.

IUP: This is probably the more winnable game for UB but they are going to play a great defensive game, IUP will not let this turn into a shootout so every good chance UB gets is going to have to count. Low scoring (whoever gets to 4 goals first will likely win this game).