College hockey aficionado and Pittsburgh media personality Mike Prisuta contributes regular commentary on the RMU men's hockey team. This is his latest:
 
Moon Township, Pa. – After securing six of a possible eight points to open conference play, the Robert Morris Colonials are eager for a test on a different level.
 
A pair of games at No. 10 Michigan this weekend (7: 30 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday) provides the perfect early-season opportunity.
 
"You want to see where you stack up nationally," head coach Derek Schooley said. "You want to play against teams that have done well nationally and see where you fit into the mix."
 
Michigan's 3-0-1 record includes 6-4 and 3-2 victories over Mercyhurst, one of RMU's rivals from the Atlantic Hockey Conference. The first of those two meetings (Oct. 16) was tied at 4-4 after 40 minutes. The second (Oct. 18) was tied at 2-2 late in the second period. So the precedent has been set in terms of an AHC team competing with Michigan.
 
But can the Colonials beat the Wolverines?
 
RMU hasn't played a team ranked in the Top 10 in the USCHO.com Top 20 since it lost to No. 2 Minnesota, 7-3, in the NCAA West Regional semifinals on March 29, 2014, in St. Paul, Minn.
 
The Colonials haven't beaten a Top 10 team since a 1-0 victory over No. 5 Miami on Dec. 29, 2012 at CONSOL Energy Center in the championship game of the Three Rivers Classic.
 
Michigan hasn't made it to the NCAA Tournament for three consecutive seasons, as the Colonials have actually participated more recently than have the Wolverines.
 
But prior to the current drought head coach Red Berenson's teams made 22 straight appearances, went to the NCAA Frozen Four 11 times and captured two national championships (1996 and 1998).
 
Berenson, who played and coached for the NHL's St. Louis Blues when Schooley was growing up in St. Louis, is in his 32nd season behind the bench at Michigan and has an all-time college record of 813-399-85.
 
"I got a chance to meet him a couple of time when I was playing junior hockey," Schooley remembered. "He knew I was from St. Louis and I was very appreciative of him taking an interest in St. Louis and St. Louis hockey players even after he left the Blues.
 
"He was a coach in the NHL when I was nine years old. Now we're going to be coaching against each other. It's a true feather in his cap to be able to coach this long and to have been so successful."
 
RMU's Top 10 history during its first 11 NCAA Division I seasons also includes wins over No. 1 Miami (twice), No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 8 Boston University.
 
The Colonials figure to have subsequent opportunities to test their Top 20 mettle down the road. Their schedule currently includes No. 7 Massachusetts-Lowell and No. 19 Clarkson (RMU will see one of the two in the Three Rivers Classic), and No. 17 Merrimack and others-receiving-votes designee Union (one of the two will oppose RMU in the Ledyard Bank Classic in January at Dartmouth). Penn State, Mercyhurst and Bentley also earned others-receiving-votes recognition in this week's USCHO.com Top 20.
 
It all begins with Michigan.
 
"Any time you have 12 NHL (draft) picks on your roster those players are very highly thought of," Schooley said. "It'll be very good competition before we get into the meat of our conference schedule (10 consecutive AHC games follow this weekend's series) against a nationally-recognized program.

"You jump at that opportunity. It'll be a great experience for our guys."

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