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FAIRBANKS — The Robert Morris Colonials will have to savor their first victory of the season from about 30,000 feet.

Less than a half hour after their 5-3 victory over the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves in the Brice Alaska Goal Rush on Saturday afternoon, the Colonials were rushing out of the Carlson Center to catch a plane back to Pittsburgh.

“It’d be a bad flight if we lost, but now it’s going to be fun,” RMU coach Derek Schooley said, luggage in hand.

The postgame hustle was almost as frenetic as the second period, in which the Colonials and Seawolves went back and forth, scoring three goals apiece.

RMU took a 1-0 lead into the second with a goal just before the horn sounded.

Colonials center Chris Kushneriuk swooped behind the net and fed the puck to right wing Scott Kobialko in front of the crease. Kobialko beat UAA goalie Jon Olthuis stick side with 6.6 seconds left.

It capped a frustrating opening stanza for the Seawolves.

“The first period, we played terrible,” UAA coach Dave Shyiak said. “We had no urgency.”­­

The next 20 minutes was a swap meet of goals. The Seawolves tied the game thrice, but Robert Morris took the lead back after each UAA score.

Seawolves defenseman Curtis Leinweber knotted the score at 1 with a power play goal 4:20 into the second.

Then, UAA suffered a crippling string of penalties. In the final 15 minutes of the second period, Robert Morris was on the power play for 7:45 and had a two-man advantage for 3:28.

“When you kill that many penalties, it starts to wear on you,” Shyiak said.

With 12:44 to go in the second — moments after a Colonials’ 5-on-3 advantage expired — RMU left wing Trevor Lewis used a baseball-type swing to bury a rebound of a shot that hit the crossbar.

Seawolves center (and native Fairbanksan) Nick Haddad struck back, scoring from the right circle with 10:06 left.

Colonials center Brandon Blandina re-established his team’s lead with 7:47 remaining.

UAA right wing Kevin Clark evened the score at 3 with a short-handed breakaway backhander with 3:19 to go, but RMU capitalized on another two-man advantage and Leinweber ailing after blocking a hard shot as Denny Urban scored with 1:55 left.

Despite allowing three goals, Shyiak said the Seawolves tremendously improved their puck control and intensity in the second.

“That was one of our best periods of the year,” he said. “That’s how we should play.”

Colonials Nick Chiavietta rounded out the scoring with 7:47 remaining in the game as he chipped the puck past a stickless Olthuis. Despite the game’s eight goals, no player scored twice.

Robert Morris went 1-1-0 in the Goal Rush, which also began their season. The Seawolves notched a 1-1-0 tournament record and fell to 2-2-0 on the season.

UAA’s loss broke a seven-game unbeaten streak in the Carlson Center that dated back to Dec. 31, 2005.

In the final minute-and-a-half, the Colonials sent four shots at an empty net, but all went slightly wide. Another goal would have kept RMU’s chances for the Goal Rush title alive.

Contact staff writer Joshua Armstrong at 459-7583.