Pittsburgh, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's hockey team is receiving votes in the preseason USCHO.com poll, released on Monday.

The Colonials wrapped up the 2016-17 campaign with their fourth 20-plus win season (22-12-4), all coming in the last five years. The Colonials finished as Atlantic Hockey conference tournament runners-up in each of the last two seasons, finishing fourth in the regular season in 2016-17 after a regular season title in both 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Robert Morris returns nearly 80-percent of its high-powered offense from a season ago. Senior forward Brady Ferguson is the NCAA's leading active career scorer with 118 points and had the highest scoring season in 2016-17 of any returning NCAA men's hockey player with an RMU single-season record 58 points. Ferguson was a unanimous all-conference first team selection last season while taking home the 2016-17 Atlantic Hockey scoring trophy.

Ferguson's linemate, junior Alex Tonge (44 points), and fellow senior forwards Timmy Moore (25) and Spencer Dorowicz (16) are among the double-digit scoring returners, along with sophomore forwards Luke Lynch (20), Daniel Mantenuto (14) and Matthew Graham (10).

Defenseman Eric Israel racked up 30 points as a major contributor on the power play. The sophomore was the conference's leading scoring defenseman and earned AHC third team honors as well. Captain Alex Bontje scored 10 points and blocked 61 shots, ranked ninth in Atlantic Hockey. Israel was 17th in the conference with 54 blocked shots and senior Elias Ghantous blocked 51 shots (19th).

In goal, the Colonials return senior Andrew Pikul and all-rookie team goaltender Francis Marotte. Marotte returns for his sophomore campaign after finishing the season ranked fourth in the NCAA in save percentage with a .931 and eighth in goals against with a 2.08 average. Marotte played in 29 games making 27 starts, recording an 17-8-3 mark with two shutouts.

The Colonials will play en exhibition contest against the University of Ottawa on Saturday, September 30 at 7:05pm at Colonials Arena in the RMU Island Sports Center, before opening the regular season on October 6 at Niagara University.

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