Pittsburgh sports media veteran and college hockey aficionado Mike Prisuta returns to RMUColonials.com to provide insights on the Colonials throughout the season.

As it turns out, Derek Schooley's rotation in net includes a reliever as well as two starters.

The Robert Morris head coach called the bullpen with the Colonials trailing 5-3 midway through the third period last Friday night at American International.

But it was freshman Andrew Pikul who was summoned to replace starter Dalton Izyk rather than Terry Shafer, the goalie who has been starting when Izyk isn't this season.

"Andrew is our backup, our No. 2," Schooley explained. "Any game that we run into an issue with our goaltending or with an injury he'll be the guy we go to, most likely. Terry and Dalton have had some injury history. To put them in cold with their injury history probably isn't the smartest move.

"We have a tremendous amount of confidence in all three of our goaltenders."

Pikul justified Schooley's confidence by stopping all six of the shots he faced in his RMU debut, including a breakaway late in overtime, and the Colonials rallied for a 5-5 tie.

Shafer started on Saturday night as initially planned and RMU responded with a 6-0 victory that completed a three-point weekend at AIC heading into the Colonials' Thanksgiving break.

It wasn't enough for Robert Morris to maintain its No. 20 ranking in the USCHO poll. (The Colonials dropped to first among those in the "others receiving votes" category with 96 points, 19 behind No. 20 Providence.)

But the Colonials improved to 8-1-3 overall and 6-1-3 in the Atlantic Hockey Association. RMU has a five-point lead over Holy Cross (3-1-4, 10 points) and Sacred Heart (4-4-2, 10 points) in the AHA.

The trip to AIC also revealed the extent of the depth the Colonials have available in net, as well as Schooley's ability to handle a bullpen like Tony La Russa.

"I didn't have a problem with the first four goals against Dalton," Schooley assessed. "The fifth goal was a goal he'd like to have back. And we were down 5-3 so I tried to spark the team a little bit.

"We got two goals right after that."

Pikul came on at 9:42 of the third period.

Brady Ferguson cut the 5-3 deficit in half just 1:48 later and Rob Mann brought the Colonials all the way back a mere 1:59 after Ferguson's goal.

Pikul stopped two shots in the third period and four more in the extra session, including what Schooley characterized as a "massive save" on Jason Popek's breakaway.

Izyk, a sophomore, came out of the weekend No. 8 in the NCAA with a 1.72 goals-against average and No. 6 in save percentage at .946.

Shafer, a junior, is No. 18 in GAA (1.95) and No. 16 in SV% (.930).

They'll continue to alternate starts in the crease.

"If it's not broken," Schooley observed. "At the start of the season we wanted to see how it would play out and it's played out pretty well so far. They push each other in the right ways and they're supportive of each other."

Pikul's first 15:18 of NCAA ice time at AIC continued a family tradition.

His father, Mike Pikul, had seven goals, 30 assists and 37 points in 41 games as a defenseman for the 1983-84 National Champion Bowling Green State University Falcons.

"(Pikul) is another decent-sized goaltender that's very good with his angles, using his size, and he's pretty athletic," Schooley said.

Pikul is also apparently as perceptive as he is competitive.

"He knew the situation coming in and he's embraced the challenge," Schooley said. "He believes in himself, he wants to play Division I hockey and he wants to be a part of our program.

"He's in a difficult situation behind two guys that have proven at the Division I level that they have the ability to be No. 1s. To have another quality goaltender with youth behind them is a big deal for us."

A longtime member of the WDVE Morning Show, Prisuta also previously served as a reporter for the Beaver County Times and as a columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The Michigan State University graduate got his start in the profession covering the Spartan hockey program. Follow him on Twitter at @DVEMike.