Men's Hockey | 1/15/2016 11:26:00 AM

College hockey aficionado and Pittsburgh media personality Mike Prisuta contributes regular commentary on the RMU men's hockey team. This is his latest:
 
Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Colonials got it right against Bentley.
 
Now they have to do it again.
 
RMU's 5-0, 5-1 sweep last weekend was its first in Atlantic Hockey since late November (6-3, 5-4 over Sacred Heart Nov. 28-29) and easily the most impressive back-to-back efforts by the Colonials in conference play.
 
On the way to outscoring Bentley by a combined nine goals, RMU went 4-for-11 on the power play and 8-for-8 killing penalties.
 
Goaltender Terry Shafer became the first RMU goaltender to start and finish a series this season and stopped 75 of 76 shots while doing so.
 
The Colonials even got contributions at the offensive end from defensemen Rob Mann (his first of the season) and Alex Bontje (his second).
 
"It's good to get as much production from your blueline as possible," head coach Derek Schooley said.
 
It's also good to be in first place. That situation is subject to change the rest of the way, starting with this weekend's series at Holy Cross (7:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday, in Worcester, Mass.).
 
RMU is 13-6-3 overall and 10-3-3 in Atlantic Hockey play, for 23 points.
 
Holy Cross (12-7-1 overall) is 10-3-1 in conference for 21 points and has played two fewer Atlantic Hockey games than RMU.
 
That being the case, it shouldn't require a math major to grasp the impact this weekend's proceedings are destined to have on the conference standings.
 
First place is important to Schooley and the Colonials.
 
But more important to the coach is how his team is playing at tournament time.
 
"We've been saying the team that has played the best down the stretch (in Atlantic Hockey) has gone to the NCAA Tournament," Schooley said. "We want to put ourselves in position to be playing the best down the stretch."
 
First place at the conclusion of the regular season guarantees nothing but a banner, as the Colonials found out last season.
 
But there's no reason the Colonials can't win the conference regular season and then win the AHC Tournament on their way to a second NCAA appearance in three seasons.
 
RMU's performance against Bentley suggested such lofty goals are within reach.
 
The Colonials played with energy, effort and execution, Schooley said, in the first win against Bentley. While he didn't think they were as sharp in the second game, "our effort and energy was very good," Schooley added. "You have to find ways to win when you don't have your 'A' game."
 
The goaltending, with Shafer starting both games while Dalton Izyk dealt with an injury, was what RMU will need it to be to keep winning.
 
"Terry saw the puck extremely well," Schooley said. "He looked very calm and cool, and when we had a breakdown he was there."
 
The goals from low-scoring defensemen Mann and Bontje resulted from the type of decision-making and savvy upon which RMU will depend the rest of the way.
 
"Mann jumped into a play and created a 2-on-1 with (David) Friedmann," Schooley said. "And Bontje took a puck wide and went to the net."
 
The sweep might not have been quiet as satisfying as RMU's back-to-back wins over No. 14 Penn State and No. 8 Massachusetts-Lowell Dec. 28-29 in the Three Rivers Classic.
 
But what the Colonials were able to achieve against Bentley could prove every bit as significant, particularly if it can be repeated on a regular basis the rest of the way.
 
Starting with Holy Cross.
 
"We're getting to that final stretch time and guys know the importance of it," Schooley said. "With nine seniors, they know they're running out of college hockey. I think they're cherishing it, realizing they have to be ready every night, making sure they're focused every night.
 
"We've put ourselves in a good spot. It's how we finish that counts."

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