College hockey aficionado and Pittsburgh media personality Mike Prisuta contributes regular commentary on the RMU men's hockey team. This is his latest:

The road ahead is destined to be as challenging as it is unpredictable, but it won't be unfamiliar.

Robert Morris knows the way to Rochester, N.Y., and to the NCAA Tournament.

And the No. 20 Colonials will open the postseason convinced they have what it takes to make it back.

"This team's built for that," head coach Derek Schooley announced. "This team is old. This team is experienced. This team has been through playoff wars. This team has been through a lot of one-goal games.

"This team is ready for playoffs."

RMU will put its postseason readiness on display for the first time on Friday night at 84 Lumber Arena, in Game 1 of a best-of-three, Atlantic Hockey Conference quarterfinal series against Niagara.

Up next would be a trip back to Blue Cross Arena in Rochester for the AHC Final Four and, if all goes according to plan, a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.

The Colonials made it that far for the first time as a program last season, when they turned a 2-12-2 start into a 17-6-3 resurrection that ended with a 7-3 loss to No. 1-seed Minnesota in the NCAA West Regional semifinals in St. Paul, Minn.

Armed with 19 returnees that included the players responsible for scoring 132 of the 145 goals Robert Morris netted in 2013-14 (91 percent), the Colonials picked up where they left off.

They reeled off a nine-game unbeaten streak to open this season and they crafted a program-record, seven-game winning streak down the stretch along the way to a program-record 22 victories (22-7-5 overall) and the first conference regular-season championship (19-5-4 for 42 points, six ahead of AHC runner-up Canisius) in RMU's 11-year history at the NCAA Division I level.

Robert Morris opens the postseason fourth in the nation in victories (22), fourth in the nation in scoring offense (3.53 goals per game) and fourth in the nation in winning percentage (.721).

The Colonials also have the right mindset, senior center Scott Jacklin maintained.

"Guys have confidence in themselves and as a group," he said. "We've all been here before. It's not like we're going to have nerves or anything.

"I think it's more excitement within the room right now."

Perhaps the most significant development has been the Colonials' ability to lower their goals-against average from 3.05 in 2013-14 to 2.34 this season.

The 2014-15 Colonials, while still potent offensively, are less willing to trade scoring chance for scoring chance with opponents, a characteristic of last season's team that ultimately proved fatal against an opponent the caliber of Minnesota.

"We had hoped to shave half a goal off our average," Schooley said. "That was our big focus coming into the year. We wanted to be better defensively.

"We know we have the ability to score goals. We know we have offensive players. We knew we had to be better defensively."

Having accomplished all of that, the only thing left on the agenda is to continue winning.

"I think we have a lot to prove still," redshirt-junior defenseman Tyson Wilson said. "No one is satisfied yet. I think they know, even though we finished in first place, if you don't win the league (postseason tournament) it doesn't mean anything.

"Guys are ready for the challenge."

Added Schooley: "Any time you're a champion you want to defend your championship. What we've done so far has put us in the best position possible but the season comes down to how you do in the playoffs. Not that the season would be unsuccessful (should an NCAA return ultimately prove out of RMU's reach), but it would leave a hole in the season.

"You want to complete the season. And then once you get to the (NCAA) Tournament you want to go even further."

A Michigan State University graduate, Prisuta is a longtime member of the DVE Morning Show and previously served as a reporter for the Beaver County Times and as a columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Follow Mike on Twitter at @DVEMike.