Pittsburgh, Pa. - Rather convenient that the Robert Morris University men's hockey program achieved a notable milestone Saturday with a bye week approaching, since that leaves a little more time to look back.

Not that the 18th-ranked Colonials are necessarily in a mood to reminisce, since the present looks so promising. Still, reaching 150 all-time wins gave the only man who's been around for all 11 seasons the opportunity to reflect.

"As far as 150 wins go, that's more of a program milestone than a coach's milestone," said head coach Derek Schooley. "I give all the credit to the players. Those guys are the ones who have helped our program get better year after year. My hat's off to all the players who have ever skated for the Colonials."

Robert Morris played its first NCAA game on Oct. 22, 2004, a 3-1 victory at Canisius. The Colonials reached 50 wins in almost exactly four years, and it took another 3 1/2 seasons to get to No. 100. The next 50 wins arrived more quickly, with 20 victories in 2012-13 and 19 more last season, leading into this year's 7-0-1 start.

"We've always had very good hockey players," Schooley said. "Guys like Chris Margott and Ryan Cruthers and Nathan Longpre, Denny Urban and the goalies we've had with (Eric) Levine, (Brooks) Ostergard and (Christian) Boucher. The difference is we have a lot of depth now. It's helped this program grow.

"Now the next step is to get to 200 wins as fast as possible."

RMU went about that business this week at the Island Sports Center, with a little extra strength training thrown in with the usual complement of on-ice activities. Despite outscoring opponents 31-12 this season and outshooting them consistently, the Colonials have targeted aspects for improvement.

"We've got some things we need to work on," Schooley said before Wednesday's afternoon session. "We've only had five weeks of practice, so we have little things in our game that we can do better - little things that we haven't had time to work on yet."



A week without games can feel unnatural to a college hockey player, most of whom come directly from the junior ranks, where three- and four-game weeks are common.

"Obviously you love to play the games," said sophomore forward Ben Robillard. "But practices are always fun, too. You always love coming to the rink. We look at it as a week to get better."

Not only did practice take on increased importance this week, so did rest and additional work on specific skills. Senior forward Scott Jacklin took a moment to discuss his usual off-week routine after a session on the RapidShot training booth that was recently installed at the Island Sports Center.

"I usually just try to rest and recover," said Jacklin, who is on a point-per-game pace (5g, 3a) so far. "Guys are making sure they're getting back into shape and getting ready for the next game. The coaches expect a lot from us every practice."

Robillard also mentioned rest as a key point of emphasis, but recovery is the goal for injured forwards Greg Gibson and Jeff Jones, who won't have to worry about missing more action this weekend.

Air Force soars into Pittsburgh for a two-game set Nov. 14-15, with the Colonials aiming to recreate their winning formula against another Atlantic Hockey foe. They'll hope their brief respite from the five-month march to the postseason doubles as a refreshment.

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Here's an interview with RMU freshman forward Spencer Dorowicz, who was named one of RMU's Student-Athletes of the Week after a two-goal, three-point performance last Friday against RIT: