Pittsburgh, Pa. - Robert Morris University men's ice hockey heads into the weekend facing a home-and-home series with No. 11 Ohio State University. The Colonials will travel to Columbus on Friday before returning to host the Buckeyes on Saturday.

Ohio State leads the all-time series between the schools with a 5-3-2 record. The Colonials three wins in the series have all come in Columbus, the most recent victory coming with a 3-2 win on December 7, 2012. Robert Morris is 18-25-2 all-time against ranked opponents, going 8-8-1 against nationally ranked teams in the last five seasons including a 3-1-0 mark last season.

RMU GAME NOTES (.pdf)

Friday, November 4, 2016  |  7:00pm  |  Value City Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Live Stats   |   Radio ($)   |   Live Video ($)

Saturday, November 5, 2016  |  7:05pm  |  84 Lumber Arena, Pittsburgh, Pa.
TICKETS   |   Live Stats   |   Radio   |   Live Video ($)

FOLLOW PITTSBURGH'S HOCKEY TEAM ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Snapchat  |  YouTube 

BLUE OUT!
We encourage all Colonials fans to wear their RMU Blue to 84 Lumber Arena for Saturday night's game. Check out a special message from RMU President Dr. Chris Howard below!


CONFERENCE HONORS
Brady Ferguson is the Atlantic Hockey Conference Player of the Month for October, leading the league in scoring with 10 points on 5 goals and 5 assists. The junior forward is second in goals behind Holy Cross' T.J. Moore (6) and RIT's Erik Brown. Ferguson is 2nd in the AHC in points per game (1.67), leading the league in power play points (7), shots (30), and shots per game (5.00).
 
FAST FRANKY
Freshman goaltender Francis Marotte holds a 2-1-1 record, making three starts. Marotte has stopped 105 of 111 shots and is second in the AHC with a .946 save percentage & 1.61 GAA. Francis Marotte is 4th in NCAA hockey in save percentage and sixth in GAA.  (More than 1GP & 50% of minutes)

POWER UP
The Colonials power play is converting at a 25% rate, first in the league, tied for fourth in the NCAA along with this week's opponent #11 Ohio State. RMU's 10 power play goals are tied for 6th nationally & lead the AHC. The AHC's top three power play scorers are Brady Ferguson & Eric Israel (7 points), Alex Tonge (5).

QUICK ON THE DRAW
Ferguson (59.3%) & freshman Daniel Mantenuto (57.1%) lead RMU in faceoffs.

SO FRESH
The Colonials have ten freshmen on the roster and eight of them have seen game action: Forwards Matthew Graham and Luke Lynch have played in every game, Jacob Coleman, Kevin Lavoie, Daniel Mantenuto and goalie Francis Marotte have each played in 5, defenseman Sean Giles has played twice & forward Michael Coyne has made one appearance.

CHASING 200
Head Coach Derek Schooley is 7 wins shy of reaching 200 career victories.

NCAA CAREER RANKINGS
Ferguson: 35th in Points, 38th in Goals, 44th in Assists, 21st in Power Play Goals
Izyk: 49th in save %, 14th in win % (.708), 13th in shutouts (5)
Leavens: 53rd in Points, 49th in Goals, 66th in Assists, 67th in Power Play Goals

LAST TIME OUT
COLONIALS   |   Robert Morris split its home-opening series with Army West Point, each team taking a 2-1 win. Freshman Francis Marotte started both contests, running his record to 2-1-1. Daniel Mantenuto scored his first career goal Friday & added an assist Saturday. Timmy Moore netted his third goal of the season with the game-winner Friday. Ben Robillard scored his 2nd of the season in Saturday's loss.

BUCKEYES   |   OSU stays unbeaten with a 10-2, 6-2 sweep of Atlantic Hockey opponent Niagara. In Friday's game, Nick Schilkey scored a hat trick. Nine Buckeyes had multiple points in the 10-2 win, 13 recorded a point Saturday. Goalie Matt Tomkins made 19 saves Friday and 22 saves Saturday, making his fifth consecutive start, holding a 1.85 goals-against average & .928 save percentage.

SCOUTING #11 OHIO STATE
Steve Rohlik is in his 4th season as the head coach of OSU, ranked 11th in the latest polls. The Buckeyes are a veteran team, returning 20 letterwinners and adding seven newcomers. Four 30+ point-scorers return at forward in the form of Captain Nick Schilkey, David Gust, Matthew Weis and Mason Jobst. Assistant Captains Josh Healey and Drew Brevig lead the defense, 21 and 19 point-scorers respectively. Seniors Christian Frey and Matt Tomkins solidify the Buckeyes in goal.

The Buckeyes are the first team in the NCAA this season to get through their first seven games without a loss, going 5-0-2 to open the season.Ohio State is undefeated in its first seven games for the first time since the 1983-84 squad began its campaign with 13 wins in a row. Ohio State is in the Top 5 in scoring nationally, scoring 4.86 goals a game.

Freshman Tanner Laczynski leads the Buckeyes and the Big Ten (3-8-11) & is fifth in scoring among NCAA rookies with 1.57 points per game. He has nine points in his last four games (3-6-9). Rookie Ronnie Hein (5-4-9) is tied for eighth in the nation among freshmen with 1.29 points per game. Nick Schilkey (8-2-10) and Matthew Weis are tied for second on the team with 10 points. Schilkey's eight goals lead the Big Ten & he rank in the Top 10 in the NCAA with 1.14 goals per game. He has three more goals than any other B1G player.

Every Buckeye who has skated in more than one game this season has at least one point, with 21 skaters getting on the scoresheet. The squad has 11 goal scorers and 21 players with at least one assist.

Defensively, Ohio State is holding opponents to 2.14 goals per game, ranking in the NCAA Top 15.