Rochester, NY – The Robert Morris University men's hockey team opens the 2016-17 on the road against Atlantic Hockey foe Rochester Institute of Technology. The season-opening meeting marks a rematch of the AHC Tournament Championship game that sent RIT to the NCAA tournament with a 7-4 victory, ending the season for the back-to-back regular season champion Colonials.
GAME INFORMATION | RMU Game Notes (.pdf)
Friday, October 7 7:05pm
Live Stats |
Live Video ($)
Saturday, October 8 7:05pm
Live Stats |
Live Video ($)
Both games will be aired live on Time Warner Cable Sports television in Rochester.
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Robert Morris graduated more than sixty-five percent of its scoring, but welcomes a talented crop of ten freshman into the fold. The Colonials return five seniors, nine juniors and four sophomores, in the form of nine forwards, six defensemen and two goaltenders. The Colonials closed the 2015-16 campaign with a 24-11-4 record, scoring more than 20 wins in back-to-back seasons.
Leading returners on the RMU offense include junior
Brady Ferguson who played in all 39 games last season, scoring 13 goals and notching 24 assists, with 15 of his 34 points coming on one of the NCAA's best power plays. Senior
Daniel Leavens is the Colonials leading returning goal-scorer with 18 goals and 11 assists, also an impact performer on the power play. Junior forwards
Spencer Dorowicz and
Timmy Moore are also double-digit scorers returning to the Robert Morris lineup, posting 16 and 12 points, respectively.
On defense, Robert Morris returns three major contributors in senior captain
Rob Mann, junior
Alex Bontje and sophomore
Eric Israel. Mann was ranked in the top ten in the NCAA in blocks and blocks per game through much of the 2015-16 season, finishing sixth in the nation with 94 blocks and fourth with an average of 2.52 blocks per game. Bontje was a double-digit scorer with 13 points on 2 goals and 11 assists with 50 blocked shots. Israel's freshman campaign included 63 blocked shots to go alongside 2 goals and 9 assists.
The Colonials return senior
Dalton Izyk and junior
Andrew Pikul at the goaltender spot. Both returning goalies saw game time in the 2015-16 season. Izyk's season was sidelined with injury in January of 2016, but prior to that, his junior season included a 34-save shutout of #10 Michigan and a season-best 40-save performance against Air Force. Izyk posted a 5-1-1 record in 10 games played and holds a career record of 25-8-1 entering the 2016-17 season. Pikul played in four games, making 53 saves including 19 in his longest career outing, a 55-minute stint at Air Force in February.
RIT returns 19 players and adds seven newcomers. Coming back for the Tigers are 12 forwards, four defensemen and all three goalies from last year's NCAA Tournament team. The Tigers have seven seniors, five juniors, seven sophomores, and seven freshmen. Myles Powell is one of the Tigers bigger threats, scoring 15 goals and 17 assists for 32 points en route to AHC tournament MVP honors.
The Colonials hold a 10-7-4 advantage in the all-time series. RIT won two of three meetings between the teams last season, splitting the series at the Polisseni Center and taking the win at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester in the conference final.
