RMU offense explodes on special night for community

Ian Kidd and Ian Kidd

It was a historic night for the Robert Morris men’s hockey team (12-3-3 AHA) as it routed in-conference foe American International College (3-10-5 AHA), 9-4, at the 84 Lumber Arena.

The team donned camouflage uniforms as part of a fundraiser in cooperation with the “It’s About the Warrior Foundation,” an organization that works to improve the lives of post 9/11 veterans in the Tri-state area.

“Anytime you can support the troops, especially with my brother being a Marine, it’s a good feeling,” senior captain Cody Wydo said. “It gives you some extra motivation to come out and do the best that you can.”

After a lackluster first period, the Colonial offense erupted into a scoring frenzy with three players netting multiple goals.

Junior forward Zac Lynch, playing in his 100th career game, notched his 10th and 11th goals of the season.

Junior forward Greg Gibson boosted the team with his fifth and sixth goals of the year, while Wydo tallied three goals and two assists on his way to claiming the all-time scoring record as a Colonial.

Previous to Saturday’s game, the new record holder had not scored a goal since December 13.

“No more ‘Where Are They Now?’ segments about Cody Wydo,” head coach Derek Schooley joked. “I really liked the second half of our game.”

The captain adds the scoring title to his long list of accolades; he already holds the all-time record for most goals in a career with 79.

“I completely forgot about [the record],” Wydo said. “It’s a great feeling being on top of the leaderboard. Hopefully I’m not up there too long, maybe Lynch will get me.”

Rather than focus on his individual accomplishments, the uncontested leader strives for overall team success.

“It was good for us to have to play a tight game,” Schooley said. “Hopefully we’ll have a successful four game trip.”

The first place Colonials spend the next two weeks on the road, with conference matchups against third place Holy Cross (7-5-5 AHA) and an Air Force team (7-6-2 AHA) that has consistently proven itself to be a tough opponent.

RMU will attempt to pull further away from the rest of the conference while away, beginning with a Jan. 23 date with the Crusaders in Worcester, MA.